– I saw that it was Birgitte. It was absolutely awful, says the farmer who found Birgitte Teng dead on Saturday morning 6 May 1995. – It may be difficult to remember, says prosecutor Nina Grande when she will start the questioning in Haugaland and Sunnhordland District Court on Thursday morning. – I remember that day very clearly. It has burned very firmly, he replied. Thought it was a run over sheep Saturday 6 May 1995 was quite normal for the farmer. He had taken care of the animals and was going west to Karmøy to pick up an excavator. On Gamle Sundvegen he discovered an open gate. – When I was going to close it, I saw that something had been dragged on the road, and some blood, he says. What has happened here? thought the farmer. Maybe someone had run over a sheep? He goes up the terrain a few meters and sees the legs of a human being. The first thing he thinks is that he has to call the police. He goes home and calls from the landline: – You must sound the full alarm. It’s a disaster! renders the farmer in court. When the police arrive, they ask if he wants to come over and have a look. – It was damn hard to see that it was she who was lying there, he says. He knows Birgitte Tengs well. She and his niece were best friends. When he was little himself, he played with Birgitte’s father. – We had a close relationship, he says. Criticizes the police The farmer had a bad experience with the police from the moment he reported the find, he says in court. – The whole of Karmøy is very dissatisfied with the police. It is doubly tragic, he says. According to the witness, the police officers ask if he has plastic at home. The witness collects plastic. He doesn’t remember if it’s new or used. He also says that he reacts to how he and the police trample around the crime scene and destroy clues. Nor is he impressed with how the interrogations take place. He believes that they did not take notes well enough from the interrogations and that he spent a lot of energy correcting what was taken down. He believes there are still things that were not spelled correctly. – I think I am one of the people who remembers most of this, says the farmer in court. The prosecutor, Nina Grande, says it is a shame that he has this experience. PROSECUTOR: Nina Grande. Photo: Marthe Synnøve Johannessen / news – A sight you will never forget Police Superintendent Lars Grindheim was one of the two sheriff’s officers who rushed to the scene when the farmer called. – It’s a sight you never forget, says Grindheim, who is today a police chief. He explained in court that they thought about trace protection straight away, and made a new entrance to the east of the body. FIRST TO GO OUT: Lars Grindheim was one of two sheriff’s officers who first went to the scene where Birgitte Tengs was found dead. Photo: Gisle Jørgensen / news Judge Arne Vikse asks what the security consisted of, and the witness replies that they set up barricades to the west. He also remembers that they used both roadblocks and a car that blocked the direction towards Kopervik. – It will be a form of both internal and external blocking. We were careful about that, he says. He then remains on the spot while the colleague reports further. When asked what the crime scene discipline was like, Grindheim replies that they are not crime scene investigators, but that they have general knowledge. – We thought about the crime scene and clues. That’s why we created the new entrance. We were very careful about that, he replies. When asked about protective equipment, Grindheim replies that they had ordinary police uniforms. They didn’t wear gloves. Defender Stian Kristensen asks Grindheim if they even thought about contamination? CRITICAL: Stian Kristensen defends the accused 52-year-old. He asked Grindheim if he thought it was smart to ask the farmer for plastic to cover the crime scene with. Photo: Marthe Synnøve Johannessen / news – No, it was about securing and covering. But in any case, we thought enough that when my colleague and the farmer were to see the body, they could see and not come across it, he says. Kristensen also asks why they asked the farmer to collect plastic. To that, Grindheim replies that he thought they had to get something done. Therefore, he asked the farmer if he had plastic. – You didn’t know how clean the plastic was, and had to touch it with your hands and put it over her? says Kristensen. – Yes, replies Grindheim. – Was it a smart thing to do? – No, one becomes wise afterwards. But I chose to do it, says Grindheim. – Why did you use plastic, asks head judge Arne Vikse? – That was the first thing that hit home. We were afraid the tracks would be destroyed by rain and external influences. We wanted them to be preserved as best as possible, says Grindheim. Saw blood in the road the night before At 0400, on the night of 6 May 1995, another patrol was on the scene. They were at the very end of a night shift when they drove Gamle Sundvegen. There were rumors that there was both drunk driving and poaching by the road, in the evening, and they wanted to take a look. One of the police officers notices something red shining in the road and decides to stop the car. – I shone a bit around with the flashlight and unfortunately concluded that it must have been poaching. Then we made a decision on that and ended the service, he explained on Wednesday. The two policemen also heard some sounds. – I heard a bird that was frightened and I also heard a sound as if someone was moving a wire fence or similar. Whether the bird was frightened by us or someone else, I don’t know, he explained. The next day, a police colleague who is on duty calls and tells about the murder. – Then I realized what I had seen that night, he says. Birgitte Tengs was found murdered on 6 May 1995. A 52-year-old man from Karmøy is now charged in the Tengs case, and the trial begins on Monday 7 November 2022.
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The day he found Birgitte dead is burned into his memory – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
