– I am surprised. I didn’t think he would be acquitted. That’s what writer and journalist Bjørn Olav Jahr says about Johny Vassbakk being acquitted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs. – I thought the DNA evidence would be considered stronger than it was. Here it is referred to as speculative and the prosecution gets more and more beatings in the verdict, says Jahr. He says that the criticism of the prosecution and the police is startlingly crass. The police: – Regrettably, Chief of Police in the South-West police district, Hans Vik, has not read the judgment yet. Therefore, he will not comment specifically on the criticism the prosecution has received. – If we have fallen into a confirmation trap, this is regrettable. But we will read the judgment thoroughly, and we take the criticism very seriously. We have spent a great deal of resources on this matter and we have not cleared it up. It is regrettable, says Vik. Police chief in the South-West police district, Hans Vik. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / Øystein Otterdal/news – How can such an acquittal happen twice in the same case? – The judgment will be able to answer that. As I said, we have put in considerable effort, but have not resolved the issue. – Something you want to say to Johny Vassbakk? – Solving murder is one of the most important tasks of the police. We have put a lot of resources into this investigation. At one point, Vassbakk was charged. I understand very well that it has been a very stressful situation to be in. Then this charge has led to an indictment and a conviction, and today an acquittal. Johny Vassbakk is innocent and we wish him all the best. Lawyer: – I didn’t think I heard right – What happened today is a victory for the rule of law, says the father of Birgitte Tengs’ cousin to news. He does not wish to elaborate or comment further beyond that. – I didn’t think I heard correctly, that it was the five hairs in his hands that caused him to be acquitted. We have worked with those strands of hair for years, but then they were not important, says Arvid Sjødin, lawyer for Birgitte Tengs’ cousin. In his opinion, the whole case should be investigated. – The politicians must come to the scene and initiate an investigation. There have been so many mistakes in this case, right from the start. Sjødin does not think there will be an answer to who killed Birgitte Tengs without a confession. Sigurd Klomsæt, the cousin’s former defense attorney, also says this is a “victory for the rule of law” and “good defense work”. Sigurd Klomsæt, the former defender of the cousin. Photo: Ole Jørgen Kolstadbråthen / news – It is rare to hear of confirmation traps from judges, he says of the criticism of the police and the prosecution. Tengs’ cousin was arrested two years after the murder and later prosecuted for the murder. He was convicted in the Karmsund Herredsrett (District Court), but acquitted of punishment in the Gulating Court of Appeal in 1998. In a civil criminal case, the day after the acquittal, he was still designated as the murderer and ordered to pay compensation to Birgitte Tengs’ parents. He was only acquitted of the compensation claim in November 2022. No basis for further investigation Counsel for the parents of Birgitte Tengs, John Christian Elden, expects the police to work further after the acquittal of Vassbakk. – So that, if possible, they find a perpetrator, says Elden to the press after the trial. He says that Tengs’ parents have been prepared for the case to go either way. – They always have hope. Now they’ve been hoping for it for 28 years, and they still haven’t succeeded. But they hope it will happen, says Elden. Jon Christian Elden and Eirik Lea with father of Birgitte Tengs. Photo: Oystein Otterdal / news State Attorney Thale Thomseth says that they have no other specific suspects in the case. – As the evidence situation stands today, there is no basis for initiating further investigative steps. But that could change. DNA technology is developing rapidly, it may be possible to go further in the future. But right now we have come as far as science will take us. Kripos tells news that they have worked on this case extensively, both with a review of the entire case and with assistance to the Sør-West police district. – We take note of the judgment. We now need time to read and discuss it, and then see what lessons we can learn from it, says Espen Erdal, head of the section for cold cases. Beyond that, Kripos has no further comments at this time. news has been in contact with the Attorney General’s Office, which says that the Attorney General will not comment on the acquittal at this time. VIDEO: The majority in the Gulating Court of Appeal acquits Johny Vassbakk of the murder of Birgitte Tengs. – Did not do a good enough job She does not recognize herself in the descriptions from the judgment that the prosecution’s investigation is characterized by speculation and confirmation traps. Public prosecutor Thale Thomseth. Photo: Oystein Otterdal / news – Then we will go through this judgment carefully and see what assessments they have made. Then you must also remember that here the court has divided into a majority and a minority. The minority thought there was enough evidence for a conviction, that’s the system. He can be considered a freed man today, but this dissent shows that these are difficult assessments. Grete Strømme believes that a good enough job of finding enough evidence has not been done. She is a former police secretary in Haugesund and a private investigator. She worked for a long time for the police to investigate Johny Vassbakk. Grete Strømme. Photo: Private – There are so many things I can point to that have gone wrong in this case. But unfortunately, as I have thought all along, the prosecution did not investigate well enough. They gambled that that DNA finding would be enough, and it wasn’t. And that’s what I imagined the Court of Appeal would land on. It is very, very sad that the prosecution has speculated. – Entering the series of scandals from the police and prosecution Crime commentator on news, Olav Rønneberg believes it is obvious that there will be a large compensation lawsuit here when the dust has settled. – He has been in custody for over two years. He has been identified in a number of media as Birgitte Tengs’ killer. news’s crime commentator Olav Rønneberg summarizes the day in court, after Johny Vassbakk was acquitted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs. Rønneberg points out that this is the heaviest for the parents of Birgitte Tengs, because the case is still unsolved. – Johny Vassbakk has been seen as innocent, he has been acquitted by the court. And it stays put. It is not possible to appeal an acquittal in this way. And thus the parents, the local community and the country at large are left with the question of who killed her. Rønneberg says that this is part of the series of scandals from the police and prosecution authorities. – We must be able to say that, given the criticism the police and prosecution receive in this judgment. Once again, they have failed to find the answer to who killed Birgitte.
ttn-69
– The prosecution gets a beating – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
