The police have finished investigating the murder of 54-year-old Geir Kirkerud in Sarpsborg in September last year and have sent their recommendation in the case to the public prosecutor who will decide the question of indictment, writes Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad.
After they first went out and said that they thought the accused 39-year-old was to be regarded as sane at the time of the crime and therefore should be held responsible for the murder, the prosecuting authority in the police has now turned around and believes the accused cannot be punished. In the recommendation to the public prosecutor, the police are in favor of the 39-year-old being sentenced to transfer to compulsory mental health care.
It was the man’s defender, lawyer Harald Otterstad, who in March reacted to the conclusion of the first experts who thought the 39-year-old was sane. He asked for a new forensic psychiatric examination, and it established that the man was psychotic at the time of the crime.
“In that sense, we are happy with this conclusion, but I want to emphasize that my client most definitely denies having anything to do with the murder and consequently denies criminal guilt,” Otterstad told the newspaper.
The 54-year-old was found dead on September 23 last year, but the investigation has revealed that he had been dead since September 15 or 16. The autopsy showed that the man died after being stabbed several times, including against the head.
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