– There are new analyzes on 24 and 26 September, and 22 October 1996. After this, the sample is frozen. The freezing is not dated, but it was usual to freeze immediately, said Lone Wickstrøm, who has been the local investigator in the Birgitte Tengs case since 2017. On Tuesday, she explained to the court the possibilities of contamination, or infection, of the DNA evidence in The Birgitte Tengs case. INVESTIGATOR: Lone Wickstrøm in the Sør-Vest police district has been the local investigator in the Birgitte Tengs case since 2017. Photo: Marthe Synnøve Johannessen / news Using several timelines, she explained how the pantyhose, and the clip that gave the DNA match to the accused man, has been handled for the past 27 years. The sample from the clip on the pantyhose that yielded a hit is called A-12-F. Previously, news reported that it took over 20 years before the tests gave answers. – I am very happy that new DNA technology seems to provide new answers, said former investigation officer Thor Buberg. On several occasions, they had tried to examine the pantyhose without getting an answer, before 2017. Now, however, it turns out that the sample that finally gave an answer had not been examined for 21 years. – The extract has been frozen until 2017, said Wickstrøm. Could you get a hit earlier? – Y-chromosome analysis began to be developed in the early 2000s. Around 2005, there were good standardized tests, says Ragne Farmen. She is a DNA analyst and has previously been an expert at Norway’s Courts. Until 2015, she ran the DNA laboratory GENA, in Stavanger. DNA analyst: Ragne Farmen. Photo: Paal Wergeland / news In 2019, the report came out which showed a partial match on the now accused’s DNA in a Y chromosome analysis. The technology that was successful has therefore existed for almost 20 years, according to Farmen. – What is unique about the Y-chromosome analysis is that you can separate out only male DNA where there is a lot of female DNA. In this case, a normal DNA analysis would only have given a hit on Birgitte, because it was her blood that was on the pantyhose, she says. Other parts of the pantyhose examined DNA analyzes have been carried out in the Birgitte Tengs case for three periods. The tights, which the prosecution considers their most important piece of evidence in the case, were examined in 1996 and 1997. But the analysis methods were not good enough. In 2002, a new DNA round was launched. Several samples from the pantyhose were then sent for analysis. In the same year, the 52-year-old defendant provided a DNA sample. Then hair and clothes from Birgitte Tengs as well as reference samples from 43 people, including that from the defendant, were sent to the Forensic Institute in Austria. While the clip that was secured in 1996 was still in the freezer. Wickstrøm illustrated this by showing that the timeline for A-12-F and the rest of the pantyhose had separated in 96. There were other parts that were analyzed in 2002. The analyzes yielded no hits. It is the same institute that was hit in 2017–15 years later. On A-12-F. The University of Forensic Medicine in Innsbruck in Austria performs highly advanced DNA analyzes and is referred to as a world leader in the field. – Could DNA be found as early as 2002 if this part was examined? – In the Baneheia case, the material was sent to a laboratory in Spain, because there they had started testing Y-chromosome analysis early on. It is difficult to say how far we had come in 2002, but in 2004–2005 standardized methods had been established, says Farmen. – How does technological development affect a match in the mid-2000s compared to a match today? – In the mid-2000s, you could test for 17 markers. Today, you can test for several markers, which gives the analysis a greater evidentiary value. But there were good tests in the mid-2000s as well, says Farmen. The tights were passed around The man’s defense attorneys have not yet asked questions about whether there is the defendant’s DNA in A-12-F. The questions have been more about how it ended up there. The cut of the pantyhose, where the defendant’s DNA was found, was secured and placed on glass and frozen in October 1996. One year and five months after the murder. But before this, the tights were in several places. Shortly after the murder, it was sent to the Gades Institute in Bergen. It was then transported to the Haugesund police chamber for drying, before being sent on to Kripos for investigations. This week will mainly be about the DNA evidence in the trial, which is ongoing until Christmas in Haugaland and Sunnhordland District Court. Experts from, among other things, institutes of forensic medicine in Austria and the Netherlands will testify. 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 most important evidence was in the freezer for over 20 years – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
