The case in summary:
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- A man in his 30s has been arrested and charged with the murder of a woman in her 70s in Grue municipality.
- The woman was found badly injured at an address in Kirkenær and later died in hospital.
- The accused himself reported to the police and has not yet been questioned.
- The police have made a seizure in the case, but cannot provide information about what has been seized at the present time.
- The police do not suspect that there are more people involved in the incident or that there is a danger to others.
- This is the eighth case in which the police in Norway have opened a murder investigation so far this year.
The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by NRK’s journalists before publication.
The police have started an investigation after a woman in her 70s was found badly injured at an address in Kirkenær in Grue municipality on Friday.
It was the alleged perpetrator who himself reported to the police. He turned up at Kongsvinger police station at a quarter past one, says police attorney Anja Ruud to NRK.
The woman was taken to hospital, but later died at the hospital as a result of her injuries. Her relatives have been notified.
Photo: LARS ERIK SKREFSRUD / NRK
Several sources tell NRK that the accused man, who is in his 30s, should have received help from the woman over several years. Among other things, she is said to have helped him with work and various adaptations in society.
According to TV 2 The man became a Norwegian citizen in 2014.
Police: No partner murder
– We have reason to believe that the accused and the deceased knew each other from before. But there is nothing to indicate that this is a so-called partner murder, says police attorney Anja Ruud.
She says that the relationship between the accused and the deceased is now being mapped.
Police attorney Anja Ruud.
Photo: Ann-Kristin Mo / NRK
– A preliminary observation of him will be carried out tonight, says the police attorney.
She says that the police have seized the case.
– But when it comes to what has been seized other than the car, which the accused has driven off with, we cannot go out with it now for the sake of the investigation.
Interrogation scheduled for Saturday
Defense attorney Frode Aabakk has spoken to the accused man during the evening.
– He is very broken down because of what happened, says Aabakk to NRK.
He does not want to comment on how the man stands up to the charge until he has been questioned. It is scheduled to happen on Saturday, says the defender.
It was quiet at the scene on Friday evening, reports NRK’s journalist at the scene.
Photo: Ann-Kristin Mo / NRK
Jan Erik Myrvold confirms to NRK that he has been appointed as legal counsel in the case.
He says he does not know the case beyond what has been disclosed via the media and the police, and currently has no comment on the case.
Wanted driver who picked up hitchhikers
The man was arrested at the police station and was initially charged with attempted murder. When the woman died from her injuries, the charge was changed to murder.
The accused told the police that he drove off the road between Kirkenær and Kongsvinger, and hitchhiked on to Kongsvinger.
The police are therefore interested in getting in touch with the person or persons who drove a hitchhiker to Kongsvinger on Friday morning.
On Friday evening at 19:00, the police had not yet received contact or a tip about the person who picked up the accused as a hitchhiker.
No suspicion of more people involved
The police do not suspect that there are more people involved in the incident or that there is a danger to others, they write in a press release.
Photo: Ann-Kristin Mo / NRK
The police state that both a technical and tactical investigation is being carried out to shed light on what has happened.
They cannot therefore provide information relating to the incident itself or any seizures.
Open church
The church warden in Grue, Tore Ellefsen, says that the church will be open on Saturday morning at 12–14.
The congregation also informs them on its website.
– Those who need it can come and light a candle. There will also be one or more employees from the congregation present, he says.
Eighth homicide investigation in 2024
It was The daily newspaper who first reported the incident.
Mayor of Grue, Rune Grenberg (Ap), says that the municipality’s crisis team has been established to assist after the incident.
A crisis team has been set up after the incident, mayor Rune Grenberg (Ap) tells NRK.
Photo: Ann-Kristin Mo
– Otherwise, I don’t know anything more about the incident than what has come to light in the media, says the mayor.
According to NTB, this is the eighth case in which the police in Norway have opened a murder investigation so far this year. They report that there are a total of eleven victims in the cases.