The sentence is imprisonment for 10 years and six months.
The court believes that he shot his cohabitant with a shotgun that has a double-barreled pipe. The two shots hit the upper arm and went into the chest. She died immediately from the injuries.
The now convicted man has never denied that he was holding the weapon when it went off, but he has always explained that this was an accident. In the district court, the 57-year-old was believed that the murder was negligent, which means that it did not happen on purpose.
– MAJOR INVESTIGATION: Police forensic technicians on the balcony of the apartment in question shortly after the shots were fired. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB
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Together with a violation of the Firearms Act, he was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison, but now the majority of the judges in the Court of Appeal believe that he should be convicted of murder, which triples the length of the prison sentence.
– I am shocked that the majority has found him guilty of premeditated murder, says the man’s defender, Bjørn Aksel Henriksen.
The lawyer points out that a total of nine judges, including prison meetings, have concluded that the evidence for murder was not good enough.
– There is something fundamentally wrong with the system here, says Henriksen.
Shot at close range
Defendant warns that they will do everything they can to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
– This is an incorrect verdict, he says.
– SHOCKED: Defender Bjørn Aksel Henriksen does not understand how the Court of Appeal has come to a different conclusion than the district court. Photo: Anette Karlsen / NTB
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It was the 57-year-old who even called the ambulance after the shots went off, probably at a distance of one meter.
The court believes that the shots went off when the man clapped the shotgun, which Kripos’ weapons experts believe is due to a malfunction with the weapon.
However, the court writes that “charging a shotgun inside a small apartment at such a short distance from another person is strongly contrary to the requirements for proper and proper handling of such weapons”.
After the assessment, two judges believe that he did not intend to kill his girlfriend, while the majority of the judges believe he did it on purpose.
State Attorney and prosecutor in the case, Alvar Randa, tells TV 2 that the verdict looks correct.
– From what I can see, the Court of Appeal follows the prosecution’s argumentation and understanding of the evidence that was presented. At the most central point in the case, the Court of Appeal has been more thorough than the district court was, and on that basis, quite correctly in the prosecution’s opinion, convicted him of premeditated murder, Randa says.
Get a penalty discount
The verdict states that the 57-year-old and the deceased woman became lovers the year before the incident took place. It is undisputed that the relationship was at times severely turbulent.
The convicted man explained in court that he charged the shotgun this evening because he wanted to leave the apartment and because he feared that his girlfriend would get someone to “take him”.
The court does not believe that.
They point out, among other things, that the deceased had contacted people prior to the shooting and, among other things, said “now he will be violent again”. The court believes there are indications that the woman feared for her life.
The 57-year-old says that after the incident he has struggled with guilt and difficulty sleeping, but he does not receive a penalty discount for that.
The reason why the sentence is set somewhat lower than the starting point of 12 years in prison is that the police and the prosecution have spent a long time getting it up in court.
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