On 1 September last year, there was a sensational development in the unsolved murder case that took place on Karmøy in 1995.
A man from Haugalandet became arrested and charged in the case, at the same time as they made it known that they suspects him of the murder of Tina Jørgensen in Stavanger, five years later.
– UNSOLVED KILLING: Birgitte Tengs (17) was killed on Karmøy in the mid-1990s. Photo: Private
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He was taken in a motorhome on Lista in Agder.
The background for the accusation was the discovery of a so-called y-chromosome in a blood stain at the waistband of Tengs’ tightswhich the police could link to the 51-year-old.
Police believe it was deposited with the perpetrator’s bloody fingers and that it was set aside during the assassination.
– DISCOVERIES: DNA experts at the forensic institute GMI in Austria found a y-chromosome on Birgitte Tengs’ tights. Photo: Police
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Fant mutant
Since the arrest, the investigation has been in full swing, and in October, the police received a new breakthrough in the case, which they believe strengthens the basis for suspicion:
A DNA expert detected a rare mutation which excludes the accused’s male relatives. Recently, the DNA expert submitted a new report on the evidence that he strikes with 95 percent certainty that a maximum of two people can fit the DNA finding.
Due to this, the prosecuting authority has on two occasions been successful in its requests to remand the man in custody under section 172 a of the Criminal Procedure Act, which requires “circumstances which in particular strengthen the suspicion”.
Confronted in interrogation
On October 27 last year, the 51-year-old met for what turned out to be a five-and-a-half-hour interrogation at the police station in Stavanger.
– INTERROGATED: This autumn, the accused sat in long interrogations with the investigators at the police station in Stavanger. Photo: Chris Ronald Hermansen / TV 2
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Here he was for the first time confronted with the proven mutation.
According to TV 2’s information, the accused replied that he has no explanation for how his DNA may have ended up on the tights. He also clearly stated that he “has never been in contact with Birgitte ever”.
The accused also stated that “this will be a murder”, according to TV 2’s information.
The man’s defender, lawyer Stian Kristensen, does not want to comment on the content of the interrogation, but says that the client finds it difficult to relate to the strong accusations in a case he claims not to have had any involvement with.
– He thinks this is very tough, but at the same time we have talked a lot about this being a reality he must deal with, as long as the court agrees with the police’s assessments, the lawyer says.
– LAWYER: Defender Stian Kristensen safeguards the accused’s rights. Photo: Tommy Storhaug / TV 2
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This is how the defense works
Together with co-defender Stian Trones Bråstein, Kristensen is now working on finding out how they can attack the DNA evidence.
Among other things, they are working to appoint expert experts who they will ask to assess the quality of the discovery.
As TV 2 understands it, it is primarily about two things:
- To find out whether it can be said with certainty that the find on the tights belongs to the accused man, and to ensure that the sample has been analyzed and reported in accordance with current practice.
- To find out if the DNA may have ended up on the tights in other ways, for example by so-called contamination, ie that it has spread in a way – for example by them sitting in the same car or the same cinema seat.
Defender Kristensen is clear that the DNA finding is the background for the 51-year-old being arrested, and he therefore says that it will be the central theme of evidence in the case.
– Can hardly be explained differently
Police attorney Fredrik Martin Soma has been the face of the police in the Birgitte case for the past six months.
He does not want to comment on information about what the accused has said in interrogation, or whether they have specific evidence as to whether there was contact between the man and the victim.
In an e-mail to TV 2, Soma writes that the DNA evidence is absolutely central to the case, at the same time as he points out that there are also other circumstances that the police believe strengthen the suspicion against him.
– INVESTIGATOR: Police attorney Fredrik Martin Soma explains that the investigation is in full swing. Photo: Kristian Myhre / TV 2
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By other circumstances, he means the accused’s criminal history and lack of alibi on the night of the murder.
– What makes you think the DNA trace is action-relevant?
– Site and conditions of the accused suggest that the DNA trace is relevant to action. The DNA match is difficult to explain in any other way than that it was set aside by the accused during the murder, Soma says.
– Are the police open to experts being able to weaken the significance of the evidence?
– We do not know how experts will answer their mandate before submitting a report. We also do not want to speculate on this.
Recently, the police announced that they plan to conduct a new interrogation of the accused.
There will also the Tina case become a topic. The police attorney does not want to go further into what other topics will be on the agenda.
– The time for the interrogation has not been set, he says.
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