– He reacts with relief that he is believed that this was an accident, says lawyer Ole Petter Drevland, who has defended the man accused of murder in his 30s. On July 12, two years ago, Nemi Riksen returned home to an unusually quiet home. Seconds later, she found her cohabitant Christian Halvorsen shot and killed in the garden. Six days after the murder, a man in his 30s was arrested. The prosecution would sentence him to 13 years in prison, but the Borgarting Court of Appeal has decided that the sentence will be five years and nine months in prison. He has since early in the investigation admitted that he fired, but constantly said that the rifle went off by accident. This was believed by him in the Court of Appeal. Therefore, he was acquitted of premeditated murder, but instead convicted of gross negligent homicide. Believes the weapon went off by accident In court, the man told that he went home to Halvorsen to hide a weapon he was to take care of for another friend, and that the weapon went off by accident. – After the shot went off, I do not remember much. I panicked and saw that Halvorsen fell, he said when he explained himself in the district court last year. The weapon has been examined and tested by Kripos. They have established that there are deficiencies in the trigger mechanism. During tests, it turned out that it went off just by falling to the ground from a height of a few centimeters. The man in his 30s explained that he neither touched the trigger nor aimed at Halvorsen. He himself said that he did not know that the weapon was unstable. Police are working at the scene for several days after Halvorsen was found shot and killed. Photo: Emil Johansen / news The majority in the Court of Appeal does not believe much of this. Among other things, they believe he was with Halvorsen to collect money for a broken mobile phone. He had also previously attacked Halvorsen physically. Nevertheless, the Court of Appeal believes that it has not been proven that he actually intended to withdraw his weapon and kill Halvorsen. “However, the majority finds it proven beyond any reasonable doubt that NN (defendant) acted negligently, and that this negligence was gross. He behaved very reprehensibly “, it is stated in the verdict. Throwing the weapon in a pond The man’s action pattern in the hours after the murder also speaks against him, according to the court. Shortly after Halvorsen was killed, the convict left the scene and cycled on to a pond. There he threw both the weapon and ammunition. He also made sure that his clothes were burned. Specially trained divers from the Armed Forces searched for the murder weapon in a pond in Askim. Photo: Birger Kjølberg / news The weapon was only found four months after the murder. Defendant says the client has had a tough time after the murder, especially considering the survivors. Drevland still believes that the verdict is correct – although it is unusual for someone to believe that a shot in the back went off by accident. – From day one, I have been optimistic that we should come to this result. But it is not common, and quite unusual in a larger context, says Drevland. The man has been sentenced to pay more than 290,000 kroner in restitution to each of the three survivors. This is higher than what the district court decided. At the same time, the Court of Appeal has considered that the prison sentence be reduced from six and a half years.
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Acquitted of premeditated murder – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
