This was the Tengs defendant’s life in 1995 – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio

– I like to please people, answered the man when he was asked why he bought underwear for a young girl in the mid-90s. The girl to whom he gave underwear was someone who knew Birgitte Tengs and was the same age as her. He must have only hit her once. For 5–10 minutes, according to himself. That’s when he gave her underwear. A bra and a panty. – Do you think it is normal to buy underwear, asked the prosecutor. He hesitates a bit before answering. – I can only speak for myself. I don’t know, answered the man. In his testimony, he said that he is not aware that he ever met Birgitte. But he said he may have hit her without realizing it. For example, by the fact that she has been sitting with him in the car, and that there may have been contamination of DNA in connection with this. – There are many strangers I have had in the car who I do not know who they are, he said. Today was the first day the now 52-year-old man, who is charged with the murder of Birgitte Tengs, explained himself in court. The prosecution spent a lot of time on the man’s everyday life in the 90s. Who was he when the murder happened? This was his life in 1995. It was the prosecution who mainly asked the accused 52-year-old questions in court today. Photo: Hege Vatnaland Lonely He said that he was lonely in 1994, in 1995 and 1996. Growing up had been okay, according to him, but then things had started to get difficult. He worked as a craftsman in Haugesund in 1995. He was about to break up with his only friend, who he believed had become “unkind in his mouth” towards him. He enjoyed going on long moped rides. From 1986 to 1994, he drove several thousand kilometers in Haugalandet. Around and around Karmøy, among other things. He said that, however, he did not know Gamle Sundveg very well, where Birgitte Tengs was found murdered. The police at the crime scene in 1995. Photo: Eirik/Haugesunds Avis Østberg / NTB scanpix He had only been to you later, when someone wanted to show him the crime scene. But knew that this was a road that could be driven. The year before 1995, a woman he had a relationship with ended. She later explained that he pursued her for a year. He has denied this. He also moved back to his native place in 1995. Home to his parents. He explained in court that this was because he had connected on the telephone line to the woman who owned the house where he lived, and called around. He must have been exposed by the phone bill. Among other things, he called a local contact phone. That’s how he came into contact with the girl to whom he gave underwear in 1995. He remembers driving around many strangers. Hitchhikers. Especially young girls. This, he said, was due to the fact that most hitchhikers were girls. He said he can’t remember most of them. At least once he wore women’s clothes when he drove people. Around Easter time, he is said to have met a gang of girls in Karmøy, for whom he became a driver for several months. He said that there was never much physical contact with these girls. Not that he could remember. However, he allegedly held one girl’s hair when she had to vomit. The girls were 16–17 years old. He was 24. He felt camaraderie. – I was taken advantage of like a fool, said the man. Several times he is said to have driven these girls to the pedestrian street in Kopervik, in addition to other places in Karmøy. Hovedgata in the center of Kopervik. Photo: Gisle Jørgensen / news He said that what usually happened was that one of the girls stayed in the car with him, while the others went out for 15–20 minutes. Then they drove him on. He drove them to a party. But later he believes that he realized that these girls sought out trouble. One or more of the girls must have been in physical confrontations with Birgitte Tengs. The defendant says that he only realized this when he read the interrogation of Birgitte Tengs’ cousin, earlier this year. The defendant drove such an Opel Ascona from 1982 in 1995. Photo: Illustration/Syed Ali Shahbaz Akhtar / news Bad periods The man has been convicted in several cases of violence and immorality. In 1990, wearing women’s clothes, he is said to have visited a female psychologist and assaulted her. One year after the murder, in May 1996, the Karmøy man came into the police’s spotlight again. First he assaulted a woman on Risøy bridge in the center of Haugesund. Later in May, the man exposed himself to five different women in one night. In the ensuing car chase, a policeman was almost hit. Then the police also found several pictures on the cameras he had. Pictures of girls he had driven, and other young girls. The accused man called it a bad period in his life in court today. Clearly uncomfortable, he asked for a break when these events were brought up. He apologized for the discomfort he had caused others. In the winter and spring of 1995, he was also in the police spotlight. In March, he was questioned. On 19 May he received a summons. He had engaged in what was called “telephone harassment” against a woman. He must have stated he was a 13-year-old boy. When the Correctional Service wanted to make contact with the man in April 1995, the month before the murder, he would not meet them without a lawyer, according to the prosecution. He did not show up for scheduled meetings. – I cannot remember any of this, said the man and added that he reacted to this when he read the case documents. He remembered that he had a good relationship with the Correctional Service. Especially to his supervisor until 1994. He was the one who had taken him bowling. The girl he remembers well The 52-year-old also explained that he drove many strangers, but that there was one trip in particular that he remembered well. The trip was in April or May 1995, and he described the passenger he picked up as a “normal, healthy girl” between 16 and 20 years old. She was picked up in Kopervik and he drove her to the Old Slaughterhouse in Haugesund, explains the 52-year-old. He didn’t know who she was. The prosecutor wanted to know why he remembered this particular passenger so well – It was the way she was dressed, and the word “hippie”, which the lawyer mentioned, he says, referring to a conversation he has had with his defenders. The defenders of the man Stian Trones Bråstein and Stian Kristensen. Photo: Marthe Synnøve Johannessen / news In court he was able to describe the clothes she was wearing: – She was wearing stilettos. I can’t remember which color. She was wearing black, thick tights, and was knitting borders. She was wearing a hood. She also had fair, long hair. It stuck out on the side of the hood. They hadn’t talked much during the drive. But still he remembered her well. Why did he remember this particular girl? The prosecutor wanted to know if the defendant knew who the girl was, or if he could identify her. – I haven’t noticed her so much that I could identify her, said the 52-year-old. In court today, it emerged that Birgitte Tengs had been at the Old Slaughterhouse in Haugesund before she was killed, in the time before she was killed in May 1995. The night of the murder The man has explained that he remembers little of the evening of 5 May and the night of 6 May 1995. He explained that he often went to the cinema and bowling in Haugesund alone. He also enjoyed walking in the pedestrian street and eating hamburgers. He could leave home at 20-21, and not be home until 02-03. A cash withdrawal puts him in town this evening. He thinks he was at the cinema, but cannot remember which film he saw. When the prosecutor takes up the cinema program for the cinema in Haugesund this evening, he said: – At least I have seen the film “Outbreak” with Dustin Hoffman. Repeatedly. He also remembered picking up some nicely dressed female hitchhikers in Karmøy. These have never been identified. The defendant said that he liked walking in the pedestrian streets, going to the cinema and bowling in Haugesund. He was alone. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news Have been looking for “contact points” Both during questioning and in court today, the man said several times that he could not “remember” things that were recorded. Much of what he told, he had read in interviews and case documents over the past half year or so. He had been actively looking for what he called “points of contact”. How did his DNA end up on Birgitte Teng’s pantyhose? In June, he submitted a handwritten list of people he knew, who could have identified him, if he had been observed in Kopervik on the night of the murder. His defenders have also raised matters such as the possibility that his DNA may have been placed on the pantyhose via others, or the contamination of evidence afterwards. After reading these documents, the 52-year-old also told about the extensive driving business, while in 1995 and 1996 he had told about relatively few trips where he had picked up hitchhikers. In large parts of the 90s, he had an obligation to report, or was subject to insurance for things he had done. But not in 1995. He denies having anything to do with the murder of Birgitte Tengs. About the other cases, both before and after the murder, he said: – I apologize for the strain it has been on the victims. I have felt the same feeling when I realized in autumn 2019 (in connection with the undercover investigation by the police, journ.anm.) that someone had locked themselves in my house. I felt the insecurity that those I have done something to felt on their bodies. Tomorrow his explanation will continue. On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the 52-year-old accused of murder will explain himself in Haugaland and Sunnhordland District Court. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news



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