Early in the morning of 19 July, a woman in her 40s was found badly injured in a car in the center of Askim. The woman was pronounced dead a short time later. The driver of the car was charged the same day with negligent homicide. This was later changed to intentional homicide, which means that the police believe he killed the woman on purpose. Witness: She was afraid of the man On Friday, the Follo and Nordre Østfold District Court decided that the man can still be held in custody for four weeks while the investigation is ongoing. The ruling states that the two had a turbulent relationship. Among other things, it says that a witness should have explained that the woman in her 40s should have talked about the accused the day before she died. Then she said she was afraid of the man in his 50s. – The relationship between the deceased and the accused is one of the aspects we must now investigate further. This statement from the witness is a key point in this respect, says police inspector Lars Reinholdt-Østbye in the East police district to news. Police inspector Lars Reinholdt-Østbye in the East police district. Photo: Live Wold The man in his 50s has not yet fully explained himself to the police. In court, however, he has explained a bit about what he thinks happened. This is what the man believes happened. He claims that they were lovers and that he picked up the woman at the emergency room in Oslo on 18 July and was going to drive her home. Both lived in the capital. But for an unknown reason they drove out of town, and the man explained that at one point the woman jumped out of the car at high speed. He backed away and tried to contact the emergency services, but his cellphone was out of power. He then explained that he took the woman into the car and drove to find a hospital. They eventually ended up in Askim, where he allegedly stopped a car that helped him call for an ambulance. Soon after, the woman was pronounced dead. The police are skeptical about this. In the court ruling, it appears that the police do not trust the man’s explanation on several points: The injuries to the deceased woman do not harmonize with what the man in his 50s has explained about the woman jumping out of the car at speed. There has been more contact between the man and the woman than the accused has explained. Among other things, it appears in a judgment from the Oslo district court that the man had a restraining order against the woman until May this year and broke this several times. In the ruling, it appears that the man’s explanation about his mobile phone running out of power has been weakened, without going into further detail as to why. A witness is said to have explained that the day before she died, the woman said she was afraid of the man in his 50s. The preliminary autopsy report shows that the woman had a wound to the head. The police believe that it comes after violence from the accused, but will not go into this further. – Too early to say anything about motive – We are aware that there has been an episode between the two some time before what we believe to be the murder. But we do not yet know the details of what this episode will be. – Should that episode have happened before or after they got into the car? – We will have to come back to more specific details about when this should have happened later in the investigation. We are in dialogue with the defense attorney about new questioning of the accused and there are several key witnesses we want to question as soon as possible. Based on that, it is not desirable to be more detailed about what both that report and other information in the case tell us, says Reinholdt-Østbye. The police have questioned several witnesses in the case. But there are two witnesses they are unable to get in touch with. These must have been in contact with the deceased and the accused in advance of the drive. – They have not been identified, but we are working to find out who they are. – Do you have any theories about what the accused’s motive might have been? – When it comes to motive in the case, it is also too early to say anything about, says Reinholdt-Østbye. news has tried to get in touch with the accused’s defender, Marianne Darre-Næss. She has not responded to our inquiries. The man pleads not guilty.
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The woman said she was afraid of the accused the day before she died, according to a witness – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
