This has happened In 1994, three boys aged 4, 5 and 6 were blamed for the death of 5-year-old Silje Marie Redergård. In December 2021, the public prosecutor in Trondheim ordered the resumption of the “Silje case”. The reason was the strong criticism of the Trondheim police’s investigation in 1994, which appeared in news Brennpunkt’s documentary series “Murder in the toboggan run”. Earlier this year, the state attorney concluded that the three boys are innocent. At the same time, the conclusion left doubts. The public prosecutor referred to a report from Kripos, which believed that their investigations “to a certain extent” suggested that traces on Silje’s body could come from the 6-year-old’s boots. The 6-year-old reacted to this. He and the 5-year-old also reacted to the fact that state prosecutor Schjetne chose to close the case with the same code as in 1994; that the boys were minors. In March this year, the 5-year-old and 6-year-old therefore appealed the case to the Attorney General. A decision in the case is expected within a short time. When the former Kripos top and forensic technician Per Angel gained access to the technical examinations and autopsy images of Brennpunkt, he discovered traces on Silje’s body that the police did not get with them in 1994. During the reopening of the case, Kripos examined Angel’s findings. They concluded that one of the tracks on Silje’s body could possibly come from boots similar to those worn by the “6-year-old” in 1994. Conflict with Kripos Angel, who worked for close to 30 years in Kripos precisely with trace protection and trace investigations, reacted strongly on Kripos’ conclusion. Per Angel has now, on behalf of the lawyers for the 5-year-old and 6-year-old, gone through Kripos’ investigations. Photo: Øyvind Bye Skille / news He has now, on behalf of the lawyers for the 5-year-old and 6-year-old, gone through Kripos’ investigations. In a new report news has gained access to, Angel states that “there is no documented probability/predominance of probability that the footwear one of the boys was wearing fits with/corresponds to the tracks left on Silje.” On the contrary, he believes that some of the Kripos findings in isolation speak against the 6-year-old possibly having left the tracks. – I am very happy to hear that the former Kripos experts find no basis to say anything about the marks on Silje’s back in relation to the boots I was wearing on the day Silje was found dead, says the 6-year-old, who today is in the early 30s. – Groundless to suspect 6-year-old Angel also criticizes Kripos for not having indicated in their previous reports that there are also unknown traces on Silje’s body that do not match the boys’ footwear. And that the traces thus point to other possible perpetrators. His criticism of Kripos led to the police in Trondheim having to question him earlier this year. And that Kripos had to carry out new investigations of the footprints. In its latest report, Kripos nevertheless maintains that it “to a certain extent” suggests that one of the tracks on Silje may originate from the 6-year-old’s footwear. Kripos has examined the sole impression from a boot of a different brand and a different size than the one used by the 6-year-old. Photo: The police – In concrete terms, this means that suspicion is again directed more towards the 6-year-old. I think that is groundless, says lawyer Sigurd Klomsæt, who represents the 6-year-old. Angel now fears that “the prosecution has not fully grasped the scope, weaknesses and limitations” of Kripos’ investigations. No similar experience in Kripos The former Kripos investigator Audun Kolstad has also been hired by the boys’ lawyers to go through Kripos’s reports. Like Angel, Kolstad points out that Kripos has used boots in their investigations that were neither of the right brand nor size compared to the boots the 6-year-old was wearing in 1994. In his report, Kolstad writes that no conclusion can be drawn as to which footwear , or what size the footwear had, which left traces on Silje. He also wonders why Kripos has not disclosed that traces have been discovered on Silje’s body that do not match the boots of the three boys who were blamed for the girl’s death. “It will be of great value to the investigators of the case to receive feedback that there are traces of unknown origin,” writes Kolstad, who worked for almost two decades in the Kripos in the Forensic Technology Department. He adds that “In my years in the Criminal Investigation Department, I cannot think of any cases where the client was not informed that other systematic traces could be seen”. Espen Erdal, who heads the section for cold cases at Kripos, does not want to comment on the criticism. – We are happy to review and assess the reports, but the right thing to do is to give any assessments at the request of and directly to the Attorney General and not to the media. The 6-year-old’s lawyer, Sigurd Klomsæt, is critical: – Angel and Kolstad’s reports are in reality a slaughter of Kripos’ work on the Silje case, he believes. The 6-year-old reacts to the state prosecutor’s reference to Kripo’s investigation of the footprints, and that their investigations “to a certain extent” suggested that the tracks on Silje’s body could originate from his boots. Graphics: Ole-Morten Ødegaard / news Feeling suspicious On 17 February this year, state prosecutor Per Morten Schjetne concluded that the three boys who were blamed for Silje Marie Redergård’s death in 1994 should be “regarded as innocent”. Nevertheless, he chose to close the case with the same code as in 1994; that the boys were minors. – When you have had to live with the label of a murderer for almost your entire life, it is unacceptable not to be cleared in a way that does not remove all doubt. Then the dismissal must be “no criminal offense proven”, says Sigurd Klomsæt, the lawyer for the 6-year-old. He also demands that the investigation be moved away from the Trondheim police district so that the case can be “looked at with new eyes”. And that the state must take responsibility for the mistakes that were made against the boys in 1994 – which had major consequences for their lives going forward. – They must receive an unreserved apology – like Viggo Kristiansen received in the Baneheia case, says Klomsæt.
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In two new reports, Kripos is accused of sloppy work in the “Silje case” – news Dokumentar
