Man accused of murder in Lørenskog imprisoned for four weeks

The man accused of killing another man in Lørenskog this weekend has been remanded in custody for four weeks with a letter and visitation ban.

According to the latest information, the man accused of murder – a Pole in his 40s – agreed to the police request, and the prison meeting, therefore, took place as office business in Romerike and Glåmdal District Court on Monday afternoon. 

In the ruling, the court pointed out that the investigation is in an initial phase and that it is important that the accused is not given the opportunity to influence witnesses or tamper with clues.

“The court further points out that the accused has shown some lack of cooperation at the initial stage of the investigation,” the ruling states. The court also points out that the man has little connection to Norway apart from his employment relationship.

Will conduct questioning

Police Attorney Eirik Braathen in the Eastern Police District would not go into what kind of cooperation problems the police have had with the accused but referred to what the court wrote.

“We hope to have an interview with him eventually, but no final decision has been made on when it will happen, and he must also consent,” Braathen told NTB.

He said that the police will now wait for answers to investigations that have been made and then work further based on the answers they receive.

“Not much new has happened in the case today. We are in the process of completing forensic work at the scene,” Braathen said.

Could be isolated

The court allows the man to be remanded in custody in complete isolation for up to two weeks.

The man admits that he was at the place where a Lithuanian man in his 50s was found dead on Sunday but denies criminal guilt after being charged with murder. In its previous reporting, NTB stated that the man was Polish but his nationality was later established as Lithuanian. The course of events is still somewhat unclear, but the man has an address in the home where a celebration is supposed to have taken place from Saturday evening to Sunday morning.

“He was transferred to prison on Monday,” the defense lawyer Gunhild Lærum informed NTB.

Denies criminal guilt

“He denies criminal guilt, but I will not go into other parts of his initial police statements so early in the investigation,” police attorney Braathen said.

Lærum has not spoken to her client about the case on Monday and can therefore not shed further light on what he has explained. The other five people initially charged with murder were also present at the address. 

Through the explanations given so far, and technical findings, the basis for suspicion against them has been weakened so much that the murder charges can be dropped relatively quickly, according to Braathen.

Co-accused out of the case

“It’s probably a bit on the cards that they will get out of the case eventually. It is not great to have such an accusation hanging over you,” he said.

Braathen emphasized that the investigation is far from complete and that it is still not clear “who did what and such things.”

The police considered the situation at the scene on Sunday morning to be so confusing that it was necessary to arrest everyone who was present to get control of the perpetrator. The five, among them the deceased’s wife, have been released from police custody.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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