THE CRIME: Halik Kara (21) was shot and killed in the parking lot outside Prinsdal Grill east of Oslo. Photo: Tore Kristiansen / Private
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On Tuesday, three young men appear in court, charged with the murder of 21-year-old Halil Kara.
Less than 40 minutes ago
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Just after 11 pm on Friday 10 January last year, two of the accused parked the car on the other side of the road for Prinsdal Grill east of Oslo.
It was minus five degrees outside, but inside the fast food kitchen, which lit up in the winter darkness, sat Halil Kara (21) and ate with three friends.
According to the indictment, they were kept under surveillance by the two comrades in the car.
At 23.07 this evening, the comrades called a third person, who arrived at the scene less than half an hour later. A third man handed over a firearm before leaving again, according to the prosecution.
About ten minutes before midnight, Kara and her friends came out into the parking lot in front of the fast food restaurant.
One man in the car went out and fired a shot that went straight into the 21-year-old’s right temple.
“Why did you do it?”
The shot fired a basket. A witness VG spoke to after the incident heard that the young men repeatedly shouted “Why did you do that?”
The shooter was, according to witnesses at the scene, held down. To break free, he hit another of Kara’s friends in the back of the head with the weapon and another object, according to the indictment. The friend was also stabbed with a knife: He received a cut under one eye and a cut in the thigh.
Halil Kara was pronounced dead at the scene. When the police arrived, the two people in the car had disappeared.
DRIVEN AWAY: Halil Kara was pronounced dead at the scene before an ambulance transported him away.
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Three days later, the man who shot was wanted nationally – and internationally. January 16th he was arrested in Hungary, on his way to the border with Serbia.
– He has admitted that he has been at the scene, he told the police already when he was arrested in Hungary, says the 21-year-old’s defender Morten Furuholmen to VG.
His client explained himself to the police in an interrogation last week. The defender states that he will also explain himself in court.
– Did he admit that he was the one who shot?
– He has admitted that he was at the scene, and there was only one there, says Furuholmen.
DOG SEARCH: Witnesses told police that they had seen a person run away from the scene, and a search was launched with a dog.
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A total of five young men have been charged after the murder of Kara: three of them for murder and two for helping the 21-year-old escape prosecution by helping him get out of the country. All three murder defendants deny criminal guilt.
Code and environmental conflict
Lawyer Øyvind Bratlien is the defender of the man who is accused of having brought the murder weapon. His client has not explained himself to the police, but will explain himself in court, the defender says.
Bratlien says he has advised the client not to explain himself to the police.
Was the Prinsdal murder a liquidation in the gang environment? Hear Krimpodden about the murder of Halil Kara:
– My starting point is that if you are innocent then you have no reason to talk to the police. And of course it is complicated by a good number of other factors, including the environment and the code. It will be elucidated in more detail in court.
– What is that code?
– That you do not talk to the police, and if you are going to talk to the police then you should at least not mention others. The main problem is that if you are going to talk to the police first, then you have to tell the whole story as it is and it is difficult when you can not tell anything about any other people, says Bratlien.
The police went out early and described the killing as targeted. They stated that it was possibly linked to a criminal environment.
State Attorney Irlin Irgens, who is the prosecutor in the case, is today tight-lipped about what the prosecution believes is the motive for the murder.
– I can not say much about it. It is an environmental conflict at one level or another that lies at the bottom here, but I will get closer to that in court, Irgens says to VG.
Rejects criminal affiliation
A few days after the murder, a memorial service was held for Halil Kara in the mosque Søndre Nordstrand Muslim Center. It was packed. Hundreds of people said goodbye to the 21-year-old.
MEMORIAL: Several hundred people said goodbye to the murdered Halil Kara (21) in the mosque Søndre Nordstrand Muslim Center on Nordstrand.
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Then he stayed buried in the parents hometown of Antalya in Turkey. Dozens of friends traveled from Norway to be there, the family’s assistance lawyer Veysel Ince informs VG.
– It shows how well liked Halil Kara was. In addition to showing how much grief the loss of Halil Kara caused to the local community, Ince writes in an e-mail to VG.
The assistance lawyer denies that the deceased had any connection to a criminal environment.
– He was also not involved in any conflict with anyone. It therefore came as a great shock to everyone that Halil Kara was shot and killed in such a brutal way for no reason at all, the aid lawyer writes.
The trial after the murder in Prinsdal starts in Oslo District Court on Tuesday.
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