Confessed to the murder of Sunniva

The pedestrian path where the body of Sunniva Ødegård (13) was found at Varhaug. Photo: Rune Vandvik / Private

A 17-years-old has confessed to the murder of Sunniva

A 17-years-old from Varhaug has admitted to the murder of 13-years-old Sunniva Ødegård. Sunniva was a random victim, according to the police.

 

The indicted teenager has during interrogations admitted to the murder of the 13-years-old Sunniva Ødegård at Varhaug, in the south of Rogaland.

The police announce that the accused has changed his testimony this week In his latest explanation he assumes responsibility for the death of the younger girl.

– The accused at first explained that he accidentally found the body the night before Monday last week, but that he did not have anything to do with the murder, Police Spokesperson, Lars Ole Berge, told at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

Killed on her way back home

Later he explained that the murder occurred while Sunniva was on her way home.

– He has also explained that Sunniva was a random victim, says Police Inspector Lars Ole Berge.

– That is something the police will investigate further, Berge says to Aftenbladet.

Killed by blunt force

The police believe that she was inflicted damage by violence on an outdoor staircase and later transported to the scene where she was discovered.

– The police assume that she was killed by blunt force near the scene where she was found dead. The indicted teenager has explained that violence was carried out at two different locations. One of these locations has been confirmed by police technicians and is a stairway at Åveien 20, says Inspector Dahl.

The accused has described the supposed weapon that was used, and the police believe that they have secured that. The police will not say anything more about when the murder took place.

the police will not inform, about the time when she was moved to the crime scene, but says she was moved shortly before she was found on the pedestrian path at 03.09 am.

She had then been missing for about five hours, since around 10.30 pm on Sunday. Sunniva was on her way home from a friend. She left the friend’s home at 10.15 pm. At 10.30 pm she spoke with her boyfriend on the phone when the conversation was abruptly cut short.

The police say that they will keep information pertaining the details of the murder secret for the sake of the investigation.

The interrogations are held at a sheriffs office in Bergen, near the Bjørgvin prison, where the accused is held in custody in the youth unit.

The prosecutor will request for extended custody in the Bergen District Court on Tuesday.

Indicted the day after the murder

The accused 17-years-old was on Tuesday last week indicted, charged with intentional killing and was detained for two weeks with limited rights of communication. He denied having committed the murder at the time, but already during the first interrogations on that fateful Monday, he linked himself to the crime scene.

The police have not wanted to provide much information about either the crime scene(s), the murder weapon, a cause of death or any motive until now.

The accused refused to be questioned during the first week in custody. After one week, on Tuesday this week, he agreed to answer questions. The interrogations continued on Wednesday and Thursday.

The police until Thursday did not publish any information about what the accused has told during the interrogations.

This we know

  • The police have previously stated that Sunniva Ødegård was on her way home after visiting a friend at 10.15 pm. The walking time is 10-15 minutes.
  • Sunniva’s boyfriend from the nearby town of Egersund talked with her on the phone until about 20.30 pm, the boyfriend’s mother has informed Aftenbladet. Then the conversation was abruptly broken off. The boyfriend did not achieve contact with her after that.
  • At 11 pm, Sunniva’s father went out to search for her and came in contact with a police patrol who was in the area in connection with a burglary at a nearby kindergarten.
  • Later, the accused 17-years-old has acknowledged trying to break into the kindergarten by breaking a window.
  • The police patrol participated in the search for Sunniva together with family and friends. Not until 3.09 am the night before Monday she was found by an adult who knows the family. She was found on or close by a pedestrian path.

Defender for the 17-years-old, Tor Inge Borgersen, has not responded to Aftenbladet’s inquiries.

Basic facts

  • At 3.09 am Night before Monday, July 30ieth, 13-years-old Sunniva Ødegård was found dead on a pedestrian path in Varhaug, just 150 metres from her home.
  • The police the day after the murder charged a 17-years-old teenager with intentional murder. The young man is from Varhaug and is known to the police from earlier encounters, but not for any violent episodes.
  • The teenager reported himself to the police as a witness in the case. His defence lawyer is Tor Inge Borgersen. The accused refuses to have done what he is charged with but admits that he has been at the scene of the crime.
  • The police pleaded for two weeks in detention with a ban on letters and visits as of last Tuesday. He is detained at the Bjørgvin youth prison in Bergen.
  • The indicted refused to be questioned during the first week, but has now been interrogated for three days straight; on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
  • He has finally admitted being guilty as charged.
  • Support attorney for Sunniva Ødegård’s family is Harald Øglænd.

 

© Aftenbladet / #Norway Today