Viggo Kristiansen
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| Deaths | Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10) Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (8) |
|---|---|
| Suspect(s) | Viggo Kristiansen Jan Helge Andersen |
| Verdict | Murder, Rape |
| Convictions | 21 years (Kristiansen) 19 years (Andersen) |
The Baneheia murders (Norwegian: Baneheia-drapene) was a notorious case of double rape-and murder that occurred in Norway on May 19, 2000. The victims were 10-year-old Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (born 14 May 1990) and 8-year-old Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (born 10 May 1992) who were found raped and killed at Baneheia in Kristiansand. Locals Viggo Kristiansen (born 24 May 1979) and Jan Helge Andersen (born 17 January 1981) were arrested and were convicted of the murders in 2002. The murders sent shock-waves through the Norwegian public who reacted with shock and disbelief. The case received massive media attention in Norway for several years in the early 2000s and beyond, as well as attracting attention abroad.
Kristiansen was convicted of both murders and of raping both girls, and sentenced to 21 years in prison (containment, see below). Andersen was convicted of the murder of Sørstrønen, but acquitted of the murder of Paulsen. He was also convicted of raping both girls, and sentenced to 19 years in prison. Kristiansen has always maintained his innocence, and his conviction was based solely on circumstantial evidence, leading to some controversy. Kristiansen has applied for new trial several times after the verdict in 2002, but the authorities have so far not granted the motions. .
Sørstrønen lived in the town of Grimstad while Sløgedal Paulsen lived in a different neighborhood within the city of Kristiansand. They were visiting with their fathers who both lived in the same block of flats within the residential area of Grim. On the evening of 19 May, they were going swimming together at a small lake called "stampe 2." in the popular recreation area of Baneheia, which was not very far. They left home at approximately 18:30 and were last seen alive at. 19.30, when they left the lake heading for home.
On their way home, the girls ran into the two assailants, Viggo Kristiansen and Jan Helge Andersen, who had been bicycling around the area looking for potential victims. They were lured by Kristiansen, who pretended to be looking for lost kittens, up to a more secluded part of the terrain. At the trial, the court established that both girls were at this point first ordered to undress, then sexually assaulted by Kristiansen. Andersen contributed to this act by subduing the girls, as well as later sexually molesting Sørstrønen. After Kristiansen had raped Sløgedal Paulsen, he killed her by stabbing her three times, once in the abdomen/chest and two times in the neck, severing her right carotid artery.
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