– It is open to everyone that there are people other than those sitting on the dock who are behind what the artist and his family have been exposed to. That’s what the 17-year-old’s defender, lawyer Erik Vatne, says. On the night of 9 May, the 17-year-old was at the home of an artist from Trønder and showed a picture of the son being threatened with a gun to the head and being kidnapped. He is accused of robbing the artist and kidnapping the son. Vatne does not agree with the prosecution’s assessment of the 17-year-old as the main man behind the robbery of the artist. – He has been under strong pressure to act as he did. He believes that others are behind what has happened. – These four young people are taking the brunt of what professional criminals have done, says Vatne. Backmen from criminal network The defense brought out a message the 17-year-old received on April 28 from a man in Oslo who is charged with aggravated robbery of the artist: “I swear if you screw this up, you’ll have problems with me too” It was this man and a Swedish 17-year-old contacted the artist on the night of 9 May. The police believe they can be linked to the Swedish Foxtrot network. After 9 May, the artist received several threats from the two men every day where he was threatened that he and his family would be dismembered. The Swede had this logo marked “Team fox” as his profile picture on the Signal app. Photo: the police It took two weeks before the artist paid money to the criminal network these two can be linked to. Therefore, the defender believes that there is no connection between the 17-year-old’s actions and the robbery of the artist. – It is not certain that those who are seen as the masterminds agree on what has emerged in court. So says lawyer Arve Røli, who is defending the 18-year-old who is charged with complicity in robbery and abduction. Røli points out that the artist’s son also had contact with the Swede prior to the kidnapping. Causality or not? A central question in the court case has been whether there is a causal connection between what happened on the night of 9 May and the robbery of the artist. The defenders believe there is no connection. The prosecutor believes there is a connection. The trial is the first of two trials dealing with the robbery of the artist. According to the plan, case two, about aggravated robbery, will appear in court in April. Timeline: kidnapping and blackmail Before 8 May 2023 Contact via telephone from the Swede and a man from Oslo to the accused 18-year-olds and the son who was abducted. There are phone calls and some messages. The Swede and the person from Oslo are two of the six charged with aggravated robbery of the artist. They are two of the three main suspects for blackmailing the artist. This case is scheduled to go to court in April. 8 May 2023 Several of the defendants have contact via telephone, messages on Instagram and messages on Signal. Some of them also have contact with the Swede who is charged with organized aggravated robbery. Night 8-9 May 2023 23:30: The son in his 20s is forced into a car by three of the defendants. They then drive to the address where the last defendant is waiting. 11:41 p.m.: The 18-year-old at the address sends a message to the 17-year-old: “Finished cutting up the salad, when will you come with minced meat?” 00:25: The 17-year-old is driven by the 19-year-old back to the artist. The 18-year-olds still hold the artist’s son captive. 00:45 – 02:08: The 17-year-old is at the artist’s address, while the 19-year-old is waiting in the car at a nearby shop. 02:25: The 17- and 19-year-olds are back at the address where the 18-year-olds held the artist’s son captive. 03:30: The son of the artist is pressed into the car close to where he was held captive. This was filmed by a witness. After this, the 19-year-old drops the others off and drives home to himself. The son is held captive by the other two in another residence. Around 04:30: The son can go and takes the bus to get home. Following this, the defendants still have contact until they are arrested by the police. 9 May 2023 In the morning, the 19-year-old was arrested after the police had identified the car he borrowed from a parent. Findings on the mobile phone of the 19-year-old led to the 17-year-old and one of the 18-year-olds being arrested. 10 May 2023 The 18-year-old who offered the address where they abducted the artist’s son was arrested. 10 – 23 May 2023 The artist received several threats on message demanding to pay NOK 1.5 million. In one of the messages, the address of the family, friends and relatives was listed. Then it said: “You have until the end of this week to pay NOK 1.5 million before everyone on the list gets a visit. One by one I will dismember your family.” 23 – 31 May 2023 The artist paid NOK 750,000 to a person in Oslo who is charged with aggravated robbery of the artist. This case is scheduled to go to court in April 2024. The police have subsequently managed to secure NOK 107,000 of the money paid out. 26 August 2023 The police seized a black and yellow softgun that one of the defendants was wearing. The gun matches the description the artist’s son has given to the police. The timeline is based on the police’s findings in the investigation. Who kidnapped the artist’s son? All four are accused of kidnapping the artist’s son. But only the two who are only charged with abduction partially admit criminal guilt. But in his statement in court, the victim said that he did not recognize any of those who were there. – The characters were masked all the time, said the artist’s son in court on Tuesday. Only the 17-year-old was without a mask when he was at the artist’s home. Nevertheless, the prosecutor believes that there is enough evidence that it was precisely the four defendants who carried out the kidnapping. The defense lawyers for the defendants, from left: Frode Wisth, Mats Haugen, Arve Røli, Erik Vatne. Photo: Morten Andersen / news The 19-year-old has acknowledged that they have acknowledged the abduction, but not the description of her. The same applies to the 18-year-old who lived where the artist’s son was held captive. The 19-year-old’s defense attorney, Frode Wisth, believes there is no evidence that the defendant participated in planning the kidnapping. – He was a participant, but he was not involved in any planning, says Wisth. Therefore, Wisth believes that the 19-year-old should receive between 150 and 180 hours of community punishment. The prosecutor is asking for 300 hours of community service. DNA discovery Wisth pointed out that no DNA has been found from the 19-year-old in the cage where the victim was imprisoned. – DNA has been found on the 17-year-old and the two 18-year-olds, but no DNA on the 19-year-old in the house. In addition, the police found DNA from one of the persons charged with aggravated robbery of the artist. Earlier in the evening, the Swede sent a message to the 19-year-old’s phone that he should send his friend. But if this is the same person, it will not appear in court. Message between the Swede and the 19-year-old on the Signal app. Photo: the police
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