– She was my first friend. She was curious, open, warm and caring, said one of Birgitte Tengs’ close friends who testified in court on Tuesday. They lived only a few hundred meters from each other and were together almost every day throughout their upbringing, the friend described. They walked and cycled a lot. But hitchhiking was also common. – Bus connections were poor, explained the friend. In the spring of 1995, they went to separate high schools, but were together weekly. On 5 May 1995, the evening before Birgitte Tengs was found murdered, they met at the witness’s home, before following them to Bygnes where Birgitte took the bus to a prayer house party in Avaldsnes. Hiker to Kopervik Police chief in the Sør-Vest police district, Finn Arve Paulsen, has worked as a case analyst in the investigation since January 2017. CASE ANALYST: Finn Arve Paulsen in the Sør-Vest police district presented Birgitte Tengs’ movements on Friday 5 May 1995. Photo: Marthe Synnøve Johannessen / news In his statement in court on Tuesday, he described Birgitte’s last day, based on witness interviews. Friday 5 May 1995 is a completely normal day for the 17-year-old. She takes the bus to school in Haugesund, where she is a first-year student in the music department at Skeisvang upper secondary school. After school, she prepares for the prayer house party at Avaldsnes later in the evening. A wedding party is to be organized at the Karmel prayer house and all the participants have been assigned different roles. She goes to see her friend who is going to the cinema, and the two follow. At Bygnes, Birgitte takes the bus to Avaldsnes. She arrives around 8.45pm. THE HOUSE OF PRAYER: At the prayer house Karmel in Avaldsnes, Birgitte attended a wedding party on the evening of 5 May 1995. Photo: Thomas Halleland / news When the party is over, Birgitte accompanies a friend to a bus stop. Based on her friend’s explanation during the interrogation, she hitchhikes with three young women in a red Volkswagen “bubble” sometime between 11.25pm and 11.35pm. The two give each other a hug before he goes home and goes to bed. HIKE FROM HERE: In a bus pocket north of the prayer house, Birgitte hitches a ride with three young women in a red bubble. Photo: Thomas Halleland / news Paulsen refers to diary notes in which Birgitte writes about several episodes of hitchhiking. Two other friends of Birgitte, who also testified on Tuesday, say that hitchhiking was a common means of getting around for the friends. – If you were going from A to B, you hitchhiked, says one of the friends. The last one to see Birgitte The three ladies in the red “bubble” are going to the Costa nightclub in the center of Kopervik and Birgitte sits there and goes on to the pedestrian street in Kopervik. At this time, the center of Kopervik is a popular place to go out at weekends. Based on witness observations of people who knew Birgitte Tengs, the police have made a map of Birgitte’s movements in the pedestrian street in Kopervik this evening. Case analyst Paulsen showed this in court. The last safe observation was made by a friend of Birgitte Teng’s approximately ten minutes past midnight. Far west in the pedestrian street in Kopervik. THE SQUARE: The purple bench runs in a square around a flower bed in the middle of Hovedgata in Kopervik and is called the Square. All observations of Birgitte, which the police consider safe, have been made between this and the pedestrian street to the west. Photo: Thomas Halleland / news All the observations were made between the so-called Firkanten, right by the Costa pub, and the end of the pedestrian street to the west, where three witnesses who came driving saw a girl who looks like Birgitte, leaning against the window of a car. Others have seen a girl hitchhiking outside Skoringen, just below. In addition, a couple who went to Utgarden Folkehøgskole have seen a car driving at full speed up the slip road towards Gamle Sundvegen. The car was wanted in the media, but no one has ever come forward. 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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Birgitte and her friends hitchhiked often – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
