Nearly a year has passed since the men charged with the murders of Birgitte Tengs and Tina Jørgensen were arrested. The man in his 50s was traveling on his motorbike in Sørlandet when police attacked.
At that time, they had been carrying out covert investigative measures against the double murder suspect for more than two years.
His defense investigations reacted violently to that extent.
– Should have stopped
According to Dagbladet’s information, police entered the defendant’s property at least five times in six months. The investigative review shows the following:
- April 2019: News of the DNA findings in the Birgitte Tengs case is making a splash in the media.
- 3 July 2019: The police conducted a covert search of the suspect’s shipyard.
- 9 and 10 October 2019: The police carried out covert searches of the suspect’s residence, the ship’s warehouse and the mobile home.
- 12 December 2019: The police entered the suspect’s house and conducted a secret search.
- January 16, 2020: Once again, the police entered the suspect’s house, where a secret search was carried out.
– The search has caused insecurity for my client. He felt so insecure that he installed cameras and spotlights in his own home. The police had made him and his personal life too much of a distraction. Since they found nothing during the first search, they should have stopped earlier than they did, said lawyer Stian Kristensen.
Indicted for the murders of Tengs and Tina
Reject findings
He is one of the defenders representing men in their 50s. Kristensen told Dagbladet that secret police investigations and searches have not yielded any findings that can be linked to the case.
– They got nothing from this quest. This strengthens the defendant’s explanation, the lawyer said and added:
– The police also checked his search history on his computer and cell phone after the arrest. They tried to find traces of keywords that could be associated with the case. They didn’t make it here either.
Call for caution
Kristensen said he understood the need for police to solve a case. However, he is highly critical of the scope of the police search in connection with the investigation.
– This is a tool that must be used with extreme care, he said.
Dagbladet has asked police prosecutor Unni Byberg Malmin several questions regarding the hidden investigation. He did not want to go into details about what had been done or why the police chose to do so, but wrote in an email that the investigation was now almost over.
– The police are in the process of completing a very extensive investigation that has been going on for several years. As a result of the ongoing investigation, there are many things the police cannot or will not do. We have confirmed that a covert investigation has been used, but cannot go into more detail on what is required, Malmin wrote.
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