Norway Arvid Sjødin, the cousin of Birgitte Tengs’ defender, believes the acquittal of Vassbakk is the result of poor police work. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Read more Close
NTB
5 Dec. 2023 12:46 – Updated Dec 5 2023 12:47
Lawyer Arvid Sjødin, who is defending the cousin of Birgitte Tengs, believes that the acquittal of Johny Vassbakk is the result of poor police work.
To TV 2 Sjødin points out that the police did not investigate the tips that came in after 17-year-old Tengs was found murdered on Karmøy in May 1995.
– Grete Strømme wrote a 26-page report about Vassbakk, and it was kept hidden from her cousin’s defenders. All along, evidence that could have been linked to the case has been destroyed in police custody, says Sjødin to the channel.
– This is how you destroy court cases
He was the defense attorney for Tengs’ cousin, who was convicted of the murder in 1997. The following year he was acquitted, but sentenced to pay compensation to Birgitte’s parents. In 2022, the Agder Court of Appeal overturned the 24-year-old sentence.
– If you destroy things, this can quickly become the result. They held on to their cousin for so many years. The police were so one-sided for many years and that’s how you destroy court cases, says Sjødin.
Bjørn Olav Jahr: – I am surprised
Author and journalist Bjørn Olav Jahr says that he is surprised that Johny Vassbakk has been acquitted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs.
– I am surprised. The prosecutor’s office is gaining momentum, but I have to read the verdict more thoroughly before I can comment further, says Jahr to NTB.
After Jahr’s thorough review of the Tengs case in the book “Who killed Birgitte Tengs” in 2015, it was decided the following year that the unsolved murder case should be re-investigated by Kripos’ cold case group.
This autumn he received Fritt Ord’s Honnørpris, among other things, for his work on this case.
Vassbakk, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the murder of Tengs, was acquitted on Tuesday in the Gulating Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal believes that the key piece of evidence, a Y-DNA finding on Tengs’ pantyhose, is not sufficient to convict him.
2023-12-05 11:46:00
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