The murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10) can remain unsolved if Viggo Kristiansen is acquitted. – The fact that you can not prove that Kristiansen committed the murder does not mean that you can prove that Andersen did it, says law professor Alf Petter Høgberg.
On Monday it became known that the police have found DNA from Baneheia convict Jan Helge Andersen on the body of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10).
Andersen has been convicted of the murder of Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (8), and complicity in the abuse of both girls. He has served his sentence of 19 years in prison.
– He has admitted to having killed one of the girls. Whether he also killed the other, we know nothing about. What is certain is that there is serious doubt as to whether the evidentiary requirement against Viggo Kristiansen has been met, says law professor at the University of Oslo, Alf Petter Høgberg.
– The only thing you have to build on is the statement from Andersen. The fact that one can not prove that Kristiansen committed the murder does not mean that one can prove that Andersen did it.
–Andersen has been convicted of assaulting Sørstrønen, but has always denied assaulting Paulsen. The new DNA finding links Andersen to abuse of the oldest girl as well.
also read: The destiny lessons in Baneheia
According to VG’s information, no DNA has been found that links Viggo Kristiansen to either abuse or murder in the new investigation.
Jan Helge Andersen’s lawyer, Svein Holden, does not want to comment on the case.
– Will stand unresolved
The public prosecutors in Oslo are responsible for the new investigation of the Baneheia case after it was resumed earlier this year. They must now assess whether they have sufficient evidence against Viggo Kristiansen to bring a new indictment against him in the double murder case or not.
If Kristiansen is acquitted, Høgberg believes the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen will remain unsolved.
– It is not uncommon to not find out who did it, but you find that the evidence you did was objectively incorrect in retrospect, even if you did what you thought was right at the time.
–Høgberg believes that the new DNA findings from Andersen mean that the case has been further strengthened for Viggo Kristiansen, but:
– This will apparently not lead to any reopening of the case against Jan Helge Andersen. He has been convicted of complicity in at least the abuse of the girl they have found DNA on. If it turns out that he has abused her in addition to contributing to it, he has already been convicted of violating the relevant penal code.
Maximum two years additional penalty
Professor of police science at the Police Academy, Morten Holmboe, says that if Kristiansen is acquitted, it does not by definition mean that Andersen is guilty of the murder for which he has been acquitted.
– The principle of reasonable doubt also applies to him. It may, for example, happen that Kristiansen is acquitted because there is reasonable doubt about his criminal guilt. It can also happen that Kristiansen is acquitted, and it is found very unlikely that it is him, but can not rule it out, says Holmboe, who emphasizes that he does not take a position on the question of guilt.
If it is to be relevant to bring a new case against Andersen, it must be because the evidence shows without reasonable doubt that he is also guilty of the murder for which he has been acquitted, says Holmboe.
– One can thus imagine that Kristiansen is acquitted, but that there is no evidentiary basis for convicting Andersen for this murder. If the prosecution believes that there is a basis for a new case against Andersen, they must request reopening.
In order for there to be a conviction in the new case, it is required that there is no reasonable doubt about the criminal guilt, the professor explains.
Andersen was sentenced to 19 years in the original case, while the sentence was 21 years. A possible new sentence can thus not lead to more than two years’ additional punishment.
–False accusation can be punished
Holmboe says that an acquittal of Kristiansen does not by definition mean that Andersen must have given a false explanation.
– What kind of legal consequences can it have for Jan Helge Andersen if it turns out that he has given a false explanation?
Holmboe says that it is assumed here that it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Andersen has intentionally made an incorrect accusation, and that a distinction must be made between the original accusation during the criminal proceedings and any incorrect explanations later.
– If Andersen after the reopening has deliberately explained himself incorrectly about Kristiansen’s criminal guilt, this can in principle be punished, he says.
It can be punished according to the Penal Code section on false accusation or grossly false accusation, which has a penalty of ten years imprisonment.
– It is required that the incorrect information has created an incorrect basis for criminal liability, and that Kristiansen has been charged or convicted for the offense. As of today, Kristiansen is probably not charged again. If Andersen has explained himself incorrectly about Kristiansen’s guilt now, it is currently an attempt at a false accusation, which is also punishable, he says.
VG has also asked lawyer John Christian Elden whether it is possible to prosecute Andersen for both murders, and for false explanation, if Kristiansen is now acquitted on all counts.
– Then the evidence must be much stronger than that they only cast reasonable doubt as to whether Viggo Kristiansen’s conviction is correct. It will be like in rape cases: There is a long way between a case being dropped and the reviewer being convicted of a false explanation, says Elden.
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