– The investigation is still ongoing, and the case is still a priority, says police attorney Gjermund Hanssen, head of the Lørenskog investigation, to TV 2.
He explains that the police describe the work as “challenging and time-consuming”.
– But we experience that we continuously receive new information that can help to inform what has happened to Anne-Elisabeth Hagen, and clarify guilt or innocence for those charged in the case, he says.
– LEADER: Police attorney Gjermund Hanssen in the Eastern police district. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
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It was early in the morning of April 28, 2020, that the police considered themselves finished with the secret murder investigation against billionaire Tom Hagen.
After having turned the lives of him and his wife Anne-Elisabeth Hagen (68)used covert eavesdropping methods and consulted with experts in the UKthey chose to arrest Hagen.
Think he was «principal»
What according to TV 2’s information was supposed to be a quiet and calm arrest became far more dramatic. Hagen turned out of a roundabout on Lørenskog when crews from the police emergency squad struck and arrested him.
Since then, the police have argued that he has had a role as “principal”, and that he may have had a role related to washing, cleaning and rigging of the crime scene.
However, the Court of Appeal held that the investigation had not been able to secure evidence that made it probable that Hagen was behind the murder of his own wife.
Thus he became released after eleven days in isolation.
TV 2 is aware that the police believe that Hagen has had a financially, emotionally and socially motivated motive. The accused man himself has been open about the fact that there have been bumps in the 49-year-long marriage.
The police believe there are several indications that a divorce both earlier and recently before the disappearance has been relevant, which Hagen denies.
Holden: – I’m worried
Thursday it is two years since Hagen was arrested. He is still charged with murder or complicity in murder.
– I am concerned that the accusation is maintained on such a weak basis, and hope that the case against Tom Hagen will soon be dropped, says defender Svein Holden to TV 2.
– CONCERNED: Svein Holder says that Tom Hagen has a strong hope that the police will find out what happened to his wife, but that he thinks it is very demanding to still be charged. Photo: Ditlev Eidsmo / TV 2
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He says that after reviewing the case documents and the covert investigation, he states that the basis for the suspicion against Hagen has “weakened further since the Eidsivating Court of Appeal released him from custody”.
A man in his 30s from Eastern Norway, who is often referred to in the press as “the crypto man”, is also still charged with complicity in aggravated deprivation of liberty.
The garden has a hope
Police attorney Hanssen says that the current investigation plan is still extending towards the summer, and that they do not want to give any forecasts related to when the case will be fully investigated.
– We receive continuous tips in the case. The tips are assessed and followed up with further investigative steps to the extent that they are considered relevant to the case’s information, he says.
Hanssen says that the crypto track, ie finding out who is behind the setup that should enable communication and payment of ransom in bitcoin and monero, respectively, is the police’s “clear main priority”.
– A large part of the investigative resources are linked to this. It is not natural to comment on the details of this.
Lawyer Holden says that Tom Hagen has a strong hope that the police will find out what happened to his wife.
– At the same time, it is of course very demanding for him that he is still charged with the crime.
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