Woman denies to have murdered two men in Kristiansand
A woman in her forties has been arrested and charged with two murders in Kristiansand in 2002 and 2014 respectively. The woman denies knowledge, according to her defender.
The police have investigated the case since April 6, 2014 when a man in his sixties was found dead in a hotel room in Kristiansand.
– The autopsy report showed that victim died of poisoning. The man and the victim are former cohabitants and are parents of two underage children, says Cecilie Pedersen Hille, senior prosecutor during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
She says that the case against the woman has been gradually strengthened since 2014. The case from 2014 put the police on the trail of the second murder case.
– Investigation of the 2014 case has given the police sufficient grounds to suspect the taking the life of another person back in 2002, says Hille.
Family relation
The victim in this case, a man in his fifties, was found dead in his own residence on March 27, 2002. According to the newspaper Fædrelandsvennen, he was the father of the woman.
– Regarding the cause of death, the police can not provide any information at present. Due to consideration of further investigation, the police can not elaborate on the basis for the suspicion, says Hille.
She explains that there was information from the investigation of the 2014 case that caused the 2002 case to be reviewed. It was at the time put aside as no criminal offense.
– When it comes to alleged motives in these two cases, we can not comment on it at present, says Hille.
Incomprehensive
The charged woman is an ethnic Norwegian woman resident in Kristiansand. She is not previously convicted.
At present she has not been questioned by the police, but she has talked with her defender, Ole Andreas Thrana.
– She is incomprehensive towards the indictment and is obviously in shock, he tells NTB. He states that the woman will not consent when she is presented for custody on Wednesday.
Extreme situation
The woman sired two minor children with the man whom the police believe she murdered in 2014. The attorney representing the children, Eirik Balchen, told Dagbladet that they were being taken care of by a “reliable aid apparatus”.
– The children I assist are children of the deceased and indicted. I do not think it’s possible to describe how they are doing. They are put in an extreme situation, he says.
He tells that the children were made aware of the suspicions by the police in connection with the arrest of his mother on Tuesday.
Investigates further
Police say they are now entering into a hectic investigation phase.
– There will be interrogation of witnesses and the accused, searches and technical investigations, says Hille.
Kripos has assisted the Agder police in the investigation since January 2016, and are still involved in the case.
Hereditary strife
According to NRK, the indicted woman was involved in a hereditary strife after her father’s death in 2002, something she is now charged with causing.
The channel writes that the father supposedly made a testament where his brothers would inherit everything apart from the part that his children were legally allotted.
Therefore the woman and her half-brother inherited one million each out of a total of nearly NOK 13 million. In the ensuing period she supposedly demanded bigger payouts from the estate and the other heirs
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
