The former nursing home manager at Orkdal old age and nursing home was sentenced to the law’s strictest penalty – 21 years in prison and ten years’ probation. Today he refers to the case against the cousin of Birgitte Tengs. – I have heard a bit about cases that have been brought up, and then I think like that: My case should also have been brought up and highlighted more, or how it has been, he says in an exclusive interview with news. In a new podcast, he talks about his life as a convicted serial killer. Nesset is 87 years old and has long since finished serving his sentence. A self-crocheted cross has followed him for many years. He has crocheted his own cross as a personal bookmark. Photo: Petter Larsson / news – I have a strong faith in God. It has kept me up. I have been used all these years to go to God with all things. And that has strengthened me, he says. Confesses to having taken his own life It is his own confessions that brought him down over 40 years ago. In police questioning, Nesset admitted to having taken the lives of elderly residents with poison injections with Curacit. Both in the court of inquiry and to the police, he admitted to having taken the lives of patients at the nursing home. In order to find evidence of the use of the poison, the police considered opening graves in Orkdal. This is what the bottles with the poison Curacit looked like in the 1980s. Photo: NTB archive / NTB But the police let it go since Nesset made his unreserved confessions. – I remember well that I confessed. They threatened me that they were going to dig up these people who were dead. I thought it was so terrible that I said it’s better that I take it upon myself, claims the convicted serial killer. Withdraws the confessions But just before the trial started, Arnfinn Nesset withdrew all the confessions. In court, he clearly answered no to the question of guilt. He denied killing anyone. The Court of Appeal relied on the police interviews, and based its judgment on his confessions. Arnfinn Nesset was often interrogated for between 10 and 12 hours straight. In total, he was questioned for close to 1,000 hours. – The interrogations were many, they were long and they were hard. It was not pleasant at all. I was all alone. There were a couple of times I had a lawyer present, otherwise I was alone, he says. Arnfinn Nesset in the Frostating Court of Appeal on the first day of court on 18 October 1982. Photo: Erik Thorberg / NTB Nesset claims that he was pressured to confess during the interrogations. – I was so driven that I confessed anyway. When you sit through such interrogations every single day, maybe you do things to get out of it. And you may think you have done it, he says. The police and the prosecution refute that they have put pressure on Nesset. They point out that he often on his own initiative and uninvited told about how the residents had been killed. Criticizing the interrogation methods Arnfinn Nesset’s defense attorney, Morten Gunnes, wonders about the many confessions. He was not allowed to be present during the interrogations at the sheriff’s office. Gunnes was only given access to the documents during the prison meetings. – I read that he had confessed. But when I met with him in prison, he never told me that he had confessed to having killed someone, says the former defender. Nesset with his defenders sitting in front. Alf Nordhus (left) and Morten Gunnes (right). Photo: Erik Thorberg / NTB The defender believes Nesset is easy to lead. He is referred to as very faithful to authority. It is the questioning situation that Morten Gunnes believes should be re-examined. He points to the case against Birgitte Tengs’ cousin. – I have read a good deal about the cousin’s interrogations. It was the same interrogation methods that were used against Nesset. But compared to his cousin, Nesset went through much tougher questioning, claims Gunnes. – So you think there is a basis for looking at the matter again? – I mean that because of the interrogation situation. Harald Stanghelle, commentator and former editor of Aftenposten, followed the case as a journalist for Arbeiderbladet in the early 80s. To news, he says that Nesset was subjected to massive prejudging, and that the interrogation techniques used at the time were controversial. However, he believes it is unlikely that the case will be reopened. – As the case stands today, it is difficult to see that anything new has come to light that was not before the court at the time. That is the requirement for reopening a criminal case Rejecting reopening Olaf Jakhelln was the prosecutor in the case. In court, he was never in doubt about the question of guilt. Now more than 40 years later, he believes there is no basis for any resumption. – I don’t know any reason why the case should be looked at again. Olaf Jakhelln was the prosecutor in the Nesset case. Photographed here in 2003. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB – So there is no basis for claiming that Arnfinn Nesset was innocently convicted? – Not as far as I can see. I know nothing. – So the verdict stands today? – It should do that, replies the former prosecutor. During the trial, Jakhelln left little doubt about Nesset’s actions. In his proceedings, he said, among other things: “This is about cold suffocation. If the word ‘cold suffocation’ has any content, it fits perfectly with what was done here.” Mercy possible motive In March 1983, Arnfinn Nesset was thus convicted of 22 premeditated murders of nursing home residents. No technical evidence. There were witnesses who explained what they had seen and experienced. Mercy was seen as one motive. The judge pointed out that Nesset wanted to help the patients “over the last stretch”. – It is no mercy to take someone’s life, and I have not done that. So some mercy they just have to forget, Nesset replies today. – I had no motive to inject some people and kill them. There are others who come up with those motives, he claims. The judge pointed out that Nesset showed no sign of remorse. He found no mitigating circumstances in the case. Arnfinn Nesset in conversation with his defender Alf Nordhus in court. Photo: Erik Thorberg / NTB Burned his diaries For several years he served time at Ila county prison. Before, during and after the trial, he wrote diaries. They can no longer shed light on history. – I put those diaries in a black sack, and I burned them. – Why did you do it? – Because I thought that all memories of me should be erased. I have also taken my school exam papers and other private papers. I’ve burned them too. – But people will wonder why? – Why should others drive and review this here. So I burned it for that reason, he replies. Silent for over 40 years For over 40 years he has been silent. Until now. – I think it is right to have my case reopened, because it is not right to go away with that case. It should get to the bottom, he believes. When asked what it has been like to live with what he has been sentenced for, after all, he replies: – I had to live with it. I didn’t have a choice. Or I would have had to take my life. Been done with it. Arnfinn Nesset 40 years after the murders 40 years after he was convicted as a serial killer, he lives today under a new name and at a secret address. The whole story of the serial killer Arnfinn Nesset is out in a new podcast. Here relatives tell their stories for the first time. Published 19.06.2024, at 18.59 Updated 19.06.2024, at 21.07
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Arnfinn Nesset on being a convicted serial killer – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
