A 52-year-old man from Kopervik was arrested last September and charged with the murder of Birgitte Tengs (17). On Monday, charges were brought against the man. Two years after the murder in May 1995, Teng’s then 19-year-old cousin was convicted of the murder of his cousin. The cousin was acquitted the following year in the Court of Appeal, but he was also sentenced to pay restitution to his parents in a civil case, where other evidentiary requirements apply. The claim for compensation was later waived, but the judgment stands. NOTIFY CLAIM: Arvid Sjødin is a lawyer for the cousin of Birgitte Tengs. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news – What we are doing now is to ensure that the Agder Court of Appeal is made aware of the decision in order to reopen the case against the cousin. Now a man has been charged, and we cannot have two different perpetrators, says the cousin’s defender Arvid Sjødin. – What about compensation claims? – There will be a compensation claim as soon as the case is reopened, says Sjødin. Today, the cousin’s defender, lawyer Arvid Sjødin, is sending the documents that can exonerate his client to the Agder Court of Appeal. – It is a fair clarification that the indictment issue has been decided. I will take up with the parties how it is appropriate to process the case further, says first-instance in the Agder Court of Appeal Dag Bugge Nordén to news. – Completely unimaginable that we should operate with two perpetrators. The cousin’s father tells news that he expects the civil judgment to be overturned. – I have expectations that Bugge Norden will take action and clean up this matter. We deserve that, and it is actually his duty to try to clean it up and I have expectations that he will do it, says Jakob to news. He is reacting to the fact that the civil judgment against his son has not already been lifted. – Among the “smart” people within the legal system, it’s certainly okay, but for the common man it is completely unfathomable that we should operate with two perpetrators who do not even know each other and have no connection to each other, he says. On Monday, the Attorney General reports that they are apologizing to the cousin. Attorney General Jørn Sigurd Maurud. Photo: Thomas Brun / NTB – Is it a platitude, or does he mean it? Is he committed to it in this situation, or does he mean it? I hope he means it, but someone has to take action to get us out of the situation, says the cousin’s father. He is very impatient to have his son completely cleansed. – Why should they continue to torture us by letting this civil judgment stand? They sent people to the moon 50 years ago, and here in Norway they are unable to overturn a wrongly imposed sentence. It is a declaration of bankruptcy. Completely, he says. – I would venture the claim that very few of them had persevered. One should preferably not swear, but it has been hell. Hit on DNA marker In April, a new expert report came out against the accused in the Birgitte Tengs case. It confirmed that the DNA found on Tengs’ tights is similar to the DNA of the accused man in his 50s from Karmøy. May 1995: The police investigate the place where Birgitte Tengs was found murdered. Discoveries made here may prove decisive. Photo: NTB “This means that the DNA marker’s y-chromosome may have come from him or someone with the same profile,” the report stated. The report was checked in June by the Forensic Medicine Commission. In 1997, the cousin was first convicted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs, then acquitted in the Court of Appeal. The day after he was acquitted, he was still sentenced in the civil case. He was sentenced to pay NOK 100,000 in compensation to Teng’s parents. Taken up eleven times Both the cousin and the cousin’s father, together with their lawyer Arvid Sjødin, have fought against this verdict since the verdict was handed down. A total of eleven times they have requested the case to be reopened, but have been refused. On the twelfth attempt they succeeded. The Agder Court of Appeal wrote last autumn that there had been a significant development in the case since the previous hearing in the Court of Appeal in May 2020. The parents of Tengs and their legal counsel, John Christian Elden and Erik Lea, have previously said that they will await a hearing of the appeal case to there is a judgment against the man now accused. Elden writes in an SMS to news that the parents are taking note of the indictment. – They will carefully listen to the evidence presented in court to see if it affects their perception of the case. They know from experience in this case that an indictment in itself does not solve the case, writes the lawyer. The Attorney General and State Attorney apologize Acting State Attorney Thale Thomseth says the cousin has been acquitted of the criminal charge and has been beyond suspicion for a number of years, but she also apologizes on behalf of the prosecution. – The police have previously gone public and expressed that they are very understanding that the cousin and not least his family have been in a difficult situation for many years, not least because of the compensation claim. Former Attorney General Busch has also said a short time ago that there is every reason to regret and we of course stand behind that, says Thomseth.
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