STAVANGER (Dagbladet): On 28 August this year, just a few days before murder accused Johny Vassbakk’s appeal case was to go before the Gulating Court of Appeal, the Netherlands Forensic Institute was tasked with analyzing two microstains on the tights of murdered Birgitte Tengs.
The institute in The Hague is considered one of the leading forensic institutes in the world. The Dutch DNA experts’ investigations led to completely new and startling discoveries.
The analyzes showed that DNA has been identified in one microstain which can potentially be linked to the accused Vassbakk. In another sample, DNA was found which may come from one of the last people to see Birgitte Tengs alive.
– The findings point to “Mr. X»
Never suspected
After the murder in May 1995, close to 50 so-called reference samples were obtained from people mentioned in the investigation. The hope was that the tests could put the police on the trail of the perpetrator.
At the same time, the police hoped that the tests would rule out a number of people who were mentioned in the investigation.
One of those who submitted a test was an old friend of Birgitte Tengs. The then 17-year-old boy was one of the last to have met the girl before the murder. He was in for four interrogations, but was never suspected of having anything to do with the murder.
FINDING: The police got a DNA match on Birgitte Tengs’ tights. Further investigations have now been carried out. Photo: Kripos Show more
The then 17-year-old boy explained in a witness interview with the murder investigators that he had met Birgitte in the pedestrian street in Kopervik on the evening of Friday 5 May 1995. In the interviews later that year, the 17-year-old explained that he had given Birgitte Tengs a hug, then he met her in the pedestrian street a few hours before she was killed.
Dagbladet has spoken to the man from Karmøy, who is now in his 40s. He does not want to say anything about the murder and the case, but confirms that the prosecution has informed him about the DNA discovery.
DNA-KAMP: In February, Johny Vassbakk was convicted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs after his DNA was found on her tights. Now the defenders want to cast new doubt on the main evidence. Reporters: Audun Hageskal and Håvard TL Knutsen. Photo: Håvard TL Knutsen / Dagbladet Show more
From cheek to pantyhose?
A potential reason for the DNA found on the tights of Birgitte Tengs – 28 years after the murder – is that she may have touched her cheek after the hug, and then touched the tights.
Dagbladet can confirm that the police checked the alibi of the then 17-year-old boy in the spring of 1995. The alibi was watertight, and the 17-year-old was immediately ruled out as the perpetrator.
Nevertheless – 28 years later – what cannot be ruled out is his DNA found on Birgitte’s tights.
– Called herself “Maud Angelica”
Next to DNA traces from Johny Vassbakk and the finding from Birgitte Tengs’ old friend, the forensic pathologists in the Netherlands have detected DNA from a forensic technician.
The finding of DNA that can be linked to the person in question can probably be explained by the fact that the man deposited his DNA when he examined the tights at the time. Lack of use of protective equipment by crime technicians in the 90s has also been a recurring theme in connection with the trial.
– The findings in the new analyzes confirm what our client has been saying all along, that he has nothing to do with the murder and that further investigations must be carried out. These new findings show how volatile DNA is, and that it cannot be proven that our client’s DNA was deposited in connection with the murder, says defense attorney Stian Kristensen.
Dagbladet has also been in contact with public prosecutor Thale Thomseth regarding the finding from the man who was in contact with Tengs a few hours before she was killed. Thomseth says that during the procedure she will say something about how the prosecution believes that the DNA trace on the pantyhose should be interpreted and will therefore not comment on this now.
Made nine new discoveries
– A lot we don’t know
Dagbladet has been in contact with the former head of the Section for Biological Traces at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Bente Mevåg. She testified in the criminal case against Johny Vassbakk in the Gulating Court of Appeal, and therefore does not wish to comment on the case. In court, however, she pointed out that all people lose thousands and perhaps millions of cells every day.
– The cells can end up somewhere the depositor has never been. A DNA result does not say anything about when or how the cell material was deposited. There is so much we don’t know, said Mevåg in the Court of Appeal.
As in the district court, where she also testified, Mevåg again warned against relying on DNA as the only evidence in a criminal case. The former manager also said that despite the discovery of Vassbakk’s DNA on the pantyhose, nothing can be said about when it ended up there or where on the pantyhose it was deposited.
– We cannot say anything about the order of deposition, whether it was the defendant’s DNA that was deposited first, last or at the same time as the deceased’s, nor whether it was deposited in one or two rounds. It is also not possible to say whether the find comes from the inside or the outside of the pantyhose, said Mevåg.
MURDER RIDDLE: Johny Vassbakk has appealed the verdict in the Birgitte case. In the series “Who killed Tina?” he is also confronted with the unsolved murder of the 20-year-old in Stavanger in 2000. Video: “Who killed Tina?” / Bjørn Eivind Aarskog. view more
DNA as evidence
The Royal Society of Edinburgh has made handbook for the courts, about how DNA can be used in criminal cases. The institution is one of several that have published articles on DNA as evidence.
DNA traces – biological material – can be detected many years after it has been deposited. Cells can be moved and end up in a place, where the person to whom the DNA belongs has never been, by touch. The same applies to DNA that is deposited on an object, if the object is moved.
Which again means that DNA traces in themselves are not necessarily proof, since the researchers have come to the conclusion that biological material – DNA – can move when touched.
However, forensic experts – including in the report from The Royal Society of Edinburgh – have raised concerns that how DNA can be used in criminal investigations and in court is often misunderstood and misrepresented.
2023-10-23 04:04:39
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