– You will be very surprised and horrified. And you react with quite strong disgust, says stall owner Karina Espedal. She suspected that something was wrong after the horses escaped from the stable several times. A video camera on the wall revealed what had happened. Under the cover of darkness, an unknown man sneaks into a stable in Lier in Buskerud. On the surveillance video, you can see that he goes up to a horse and performs sexual acts. Karina Espedal discovered that a man assaulted a horse in her stable. Photo: Maria Kommandantvold / news – Serious and rough – I see a male figure coming. He goes into the box, where there is a horse that he preys on, Espedal tells. The man continues further into the stable. – When he has finished in there, he moves on to the next box, where there is also a horse. This horse kicks its legs a bit, and shows a threatening behaviour, she says. The man then lets the horses out of the stable. It was Drammens Tidende that mentioned the case first. Image from a surveillance camera shows the man inside the stable in Lier. Photo: Private Espedal is shaken by what has happened. – It is serious enough and rough enough in the first place that he sexually assaults the horses. The fact that he lets them out afterwards is an even greater danger to the public. Getting a horse in the windshield on the E18 at 100 km an hour is like getting a moose in the windshield at high speed, says the stable owner. According to Espedal, the horses have changed their behavior after what has happened. – The owner has said that they have changed their character and personality a bit, she says. Reacting with disgust: Karina Espedal discovered that an unknown man assaulted one of the horses in her stable. Photo: Maria Kommandantvold / news DNA trace found The stable on the neighboring farm has also had an unwanted visit from a mysterious man. Odd Eriksen discovered that something was wrong when the stable door was suddenly open. – He entered a one-year-old mare. Then he moved on to another horse, and took with him a plastic can which he probably used to stand on. The man is captured on film outside the stables in Lier. Photo: Surveillance camera Eriksen eventually discovered more traces of the horse abuser. – It didn’t look like it in there. The horse had three ugly bleedings on the thigh, probably from fingers or a hard object. It was so bad that I didn’t know what to do, says the horse owner. Eriksen called the police, who turned up with two crime scene technicians. In the stable, they found DNA traces in the form of sperm from the man. Horse owner Odd Eriksen from Lier met the abuser face to face. Photo: Maria Kommandantvold / news Surprised the abuser After the unpleasant experience, Eriksen installed a surveillance camera with a notification to the mobile phone. It would lead to him coming face to face with the mysterious intruder a few weeks later. – I could follow him on the phone and see what he did for something. Then I ran out and walked straight at him up there, and it was disgusting. He slopped just as much as me, says Eriksen. The perpetrator ran from the scene. Today, Eriksen is happy that there was no confrontation. – I was so angry, so I could risk striking. You don’t even know what type it is. Does he have a knife, or what kind of person is that? Horse owner Odd Eriksen outside the stable where he surprised the abuser. Photo: Maria Kommandantvold / news No suspects The police suspect that there is a connection between the two cases. – We cannot say with certainty that it is the same person, but within such a limited geographical area, we are certainly aware that there may be a connection, says police attorney Bjørn Bakko. Police attorney Bjørn Bakko. Photo: news Despite DNA traces, the police have no suspects in the case, but are checking out several people who are of interest. – The fact that you have secured a DNA trace is of course very important should this happen again. Then you at least have an opportunity to discover whether this is the same perpetrator. According to Bakko, the police are releasing the information in the hope of getting tips from the public. – We want to make people aware that it can be good to follow along a bit, says Bakko, who emphasizes that the case is a priority from the police’s side. – This is a case that is being investigated by dedicated investigators, who are employed to investigate both environmental and animal welfare crimes. This is a matter that is a high priority, says the police attorney. Published 16.08.2024, at 16.55
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Police hunt for horse abuser in Lier – have secured DNA traces of mysterious intruder in the stable – news Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio
