Three men in their thirties with an immigrant background have been charged with complicity in the murder of a woman in a lift in Grønland in central Oslo.

On Saturday 11 April, passers-by found a lifeless woman in the lift of an apartment building in Grønland in central Oslo. The woman is in her thirties and has a Moroccan background. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Four days later, three men in their thirties are being held in complete isolation in pre-trial detention — charged with murder or complicity in murder pursuant to Section 275, cf. Section 15 of the Penal Code (straffeloven).

All three have an immigrant background.

Oslo District Court (Oslo tingrett) issued detention orders against all three suspects on Wednesday 15 April. They were remanded in custody for four weeks.

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The court imposes the strictest restrictions available in Norwegian criminal procedure: prohibition of correspondence and visits, a media ban, and complete isolation for two weeks. The justification is the risk of tampering with evidence. The judge states that the investigation is at a very initial stage and that the suspects have strong incentives to influence witnesses, coordinate statements and remove evidence.

Acting district court judge Mina Hoff writes in both rulings that there is a preponderance of probability that the injured party has been killed, and that it is more likely that the suspects had a role as accomplices in the murder than that they did not.

The suspects

Document knows the identities of the three suspects.

1: Man (37) with an immigrant background

Born in 1989 and raised in eastern Oslo. He is known in the criminal milieu in the capital and has been convicted numerous times. Among other things, he was convicted of narcotics offences in 2022. In 2009, when he was only 20 years old, he already had several criminal convictions behind him. At that time, he was convicted of unprovoked violence.

His name has circulated on encrypted platforms among criminals who claim he owes them money.

The 37-year-old’s defence counsel Knut Ditlev Simonsen stated in court that the defence maintains that no murder has taken place. His client denies criminal guilt.

2: Man (35) with an immigrant background

Born in 1991. Already in his early twenties he had at least a dozen convictions against him. Among other things for transport and storage of narcotics, threatening behaviour, carrying a knife and driving under the influence. In 2017 he was convicted of violence, threats and deprivation of liberty. He was convicted of being part of a gang that had used both firearms and knives.

The 35-year-old man has previously stated that he has left his criminal past behind him, and has been quoted in several media outlets regarding precisely this reckoning with a “troubled childhood and criminal career”.

Defence counsel Daniel Storrvik states that his client denies criminal guilt.

3: Man (32)

Holds Latin American citizenship and has been resident in Telemark for several years. He has served sentences for possession of narcotics, carrying a knife and driving a vehicle under the influence. He was also convicted of threatening behaviour in 2019 after he had threatened a woman with whom he has a child.

Defence counsel Knut-Erik Storlykken states that the 32-year-old denies criminal guilt.

Section head Anne Alræk Solem at the Oslo Police’s investigation section for serious crime confirmed on Tuesday that the three are well known to the police from previous cases.

Police prosecutor Hilde Hermanrud Strand stated in court that there is no family relationship between the suspects and the deceased, but that there exists a friendship relation with at least one of them. She also stated that one of the suspects has a connection to the building where the woman was found.

The basis for the murder charge includes, among other things, the preliminary autopsy report, according to the police prosecutor.

Advocate Storrvik states that his client is strongly affected by the situation and will cooperate with the police to prove his innocence.

Here you can watch the video of the arrest: