In April 2021, Bård Lanes (33) was shot and killed on an open street in Tønsberg. The trial starts on Tuesday where four men are accused of murder or complicity. One of them is a 23-year-old Brazilian citizen. During the investigation of the case, the police brought in undercover agents who spoke Portuguese. They pretended to be criminals to get information from the 23-year-old. In police parlance, it is called infiltration. Such an infiltration is covered by strict rules, like all other covert investigations the police conduct. Trip to Tromsø The police agents first met the Norwegian-Brazilian in Oslo, where they had several conversations with him. TV 2 has previously written about when they later flew the 23-year-old to Tromsø, took him into a hotel and served him alcohol in a meeting with the secret agents. The conversations with the 23-year-old were recorded, translated into Norwegian and contain a number of details about what must have happened before the murder of Lanes – and a possible motive, according to what news is informed. Cannot be used news is also informed that the state attorney has decided that parts of the covert investigation cannot be used as evidence in court. This is the part of the conversations that took place after the trip to Tromsø, where the man was served alcohol. State prosecutor Andreas Christiansen is careful not to comment on the case now, since the district court has still not made a ruling on whether the evidence can be used. But he confirms that he does not intend to present all the evidence from the police agents anyway. – We plan to carry out parts of the infiltration, he says. Will not comment The 23-year-old’s defender Øystein Storrvik has for his part asked that all conversations with the agents be deleted as evidence. Storrvik tells news that he cannot comment on the case now because they are awaiting a ruling from the district court. Police prosecutor in the South-East police district, Fredrik Borg Johannessen, has received several questions from news about what the police did during the infiltration, or whether this could weaken the police’s case when the trial starts. To this the police attorney replies: – Use of the infiltration as evidence in the criminal case has been requested to be excluded as evidence from one of the defendants’ defenders on behalf of his client, he writes to news. – This is an ongoing process in the court and it is therefore not possible at the present time to comment on questions that are linked to the assessments that have been made and which are the background for the prosecution to have included this in the statement of evidence. The infiltration itself was decided in line with current guidelines, according to Johannessen. The police believe that these four men had a key role in the murder of Bård Lanes: Man (27) The prosecution believes that the man from Sunnmøre, on behalf of one of the other defendants, fired the shots at Lanes. According to the indictment, the murder had been planned for a long time. The man, who has previously been convicted of desecration of a corpse, denies guilt. The state prosecutor has warned that it may be appropriate to ask for a custodial sentence for the 27-year-old. Man (31) The prosecution believes this is the man who ordered the murder. According to the indictment, the 31-year-old was also involved on planning. Previously convicted for, among other things, the storage of illegal weapons. Refuses to be guilty of murder. Man (33) The prosecution believes the man was the driver on the night of the murder. Owned the car that was found burnt out on Sem shortly after the murder. Refuses to be guilty. Man (23 ) Brazilian citizen. The prosecution believes the man was involved in planning and preparing the murder. Denies criminal liability for complicity in murder. – Informant for the police As VG has previously written, the police have used the murdered Bård Lanes as an informant. According to the newspaper, in the spring of 2021 he was asked by a police officer to obtain information about a criminal man (31). Six weeks later, Lanes was shot and killed outside a tanning studio at Kilen in Tønsberg. The 31-year-old and three other men are now charged with the murder. All deny criminal guilt. Through the investigation, the police have examined whether the role of informant could have been a motive for the murder. The murder of Bård Lanes (33) in Tønsberg At around 10.15pm the police received a report that a man had been shot in a shopping area just outside the center of Tønsberg. The victim is 33-year-old Bård Lanes, who had been to a tanning studio with his girlfriend. Surveillance footage shows Lanes leaving the premises. On the outside, he is startled and takes off running. He calls the police himself and says that he has been shot, but dies of his injuries shortly after the incident. A few hours after Lanes is shot, the police receive a report of a car fire in a residential area at Sem outside Tønsberg. Three men are arrested in connection with the fire. The police initially say that the shooting and the car fire are being investigated as two separate cases. Photo: Ole Berg-rusten / NTB One of the men who was arrested in connection with the car fire is charged with complicity in murder. The other two are released. The police publish surveillance images from the night of the murder and are looking for a suspected perpetrator. Photo: The police The police arrest the man who was wanted with surveillance images from Kilen. He is charged with murder or complicity in murder at Bård Lanes. The arrest takes place in Drammen. A third man is arrested, charged with complicity in murder. He was also arrested in connection with the car fire, but then released. In a press release, the police write that there must have been a conflict between Bård Lanes and one or more of the accused. The police also state that a tracking device was found on the deceased’s car after the murder. They believe that Lanes was monitored for several days before he was shot. A fourth man is being held in custody. This man was also initially arrested in connection with the car fire, but then released. All three who were arrested after the fire are now charged with having had something to do with the murder. The state prosecutor is bringing charges against a total of four men who have been charged and remanded in custody in connection with the murder of Bård Lanes. The case is heard by the Vestfold District Court from 21 March. Show more
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Police agents poured alcohol on murder suspect – must throw away parts of the evidence – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
