A Norwegian billionaire whose 69-year-old spouse was believed to have been kidnapped in 2018 is behind bars Tuesday for complicity in her alleged homicide, Norwegian police stated.
Actual-estate tycoon Tom Hagen, 70, called authorities on Oct. 31, 2018, when he said he found a ransom note demanding $10 million in cryptocurrency Monero within the en suite lavatory he shared along with his spouse, Anne-Elizabeth Falkevik Hagen. The word, riddled with spelling errors, warned that Mrs. Hagen could be murdered if he referred to as authorities, however he stated he took the chance and he did so anyway.
The distant residence the couple shared confirmed no indicators of compelled entry, however police on the time stated there was appreciable forensic proof from what gave the impression to be a wrestle within the couple’s bed room. In 2019, they mused that maybe Mrs. Hagen had been hiding there from kidnappers who discovered her alone within the residence.
On the time of his spouse’s disappearance, Hagen was concerned in a lawsuit in opposition to a consulting firm referred to as Pareto and a Russian guide who represented the metal firm Severstal over an alleged accounting scandal that value Hagen and a enterprise companion greater than $four million. That case remains to be unresolved.
The police then requested Hagen, the 164th richest individual in Norway with a fortune estimated at 1.9 billion Norwegian kroner (or $183 million), to maintain the kidnapping quiet for 10 full weeks whereas they investigated the alleged crime. Lastly, in January 2019, they introduced the kidnapping and requested the general public for assist. “Our primary principle is that the sufferer was kidnapped by unidentified perpetrators at her residence,” Chief Detective Tommy Brøske stated on the time. “We have now no proof she is alive, however we haven’t obtained any indication that she isn’t alive both.”
On Tuesday, Hagen was arrested on his approach to work and remanded in custody on fees together with homicide or accent to homicide.
Police now consider Hagen murdered his spouse—or organized for her offing—earlier than organising the frilly kidnapping hoax, Brøske stated Tuesday. Mrs. Hagen’s physique has by no means been discovered however a close-by pond and different areas close to the couple’s residence had been searched once more this week.
“The case is characterised by a clearly deliberate deception,” Brøske instructed reporters in Oslo on Tuesday. “As different hypotheses have been weakened, suspicions in opposition to Tom Hagen have progressively been strengthened.”
Aase Kjustad Eriksson, the investigating prosecutor within the case, stated they might ask to maintain Hagen in custody for a four-week pretrial section. He stated Hagen “had traces of a transparent, premeditated misdirection” to kill his spouse and didn’t rule out different arrests.
