Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy Generator
6.6 C
Oslo
Friday, March 29, 2024

Police rule out double murder of couple found in Frogner

Oslo police don’t think that a well-known Norwegian professor and his Chinese wife, found dead in their home in the fashionable Frogner district this week, were victims of a double homicide. Rather, they suspect a suicide pact, or a murder-suicide.

The couple was found in their flat on Holtegata by a relative on Wednesday. There were no signs of a struggle but police launched an investigation after determining that the deaths were “suspicious.”

A preliminary autopsy report showed that both victims, a 58-year-old professor and his 40-year-old wife from China, died of poisoning. Police have now ruled out involvement of any third person.

“We can with all certainty say that this is not a double-murder,” inspector Hanne Kristin Rohde of the Oslo Police District told reporters.

Police also revealed that they found a letter of farewell, written in Chinese to the mother of the dead woman. The couple had married just three months ago in China, where the professor had travelled frequently in connection with his work. She moved to Norway and into her new husband’s flat in May.

In keeping with Norwegian press practices, police had not released the identities of the two victims as of Friday. The professor, however, was well-known in academic circles and highly regarded. Police think the couple’s death was planned in advance.

“There’s reason to believe that the woman was prepared for what would happen, but we’re not drawing any hasty conclusions,” Rohde told Aftenposten. “They were found in the bedroom. It was all very orderly, there were no signs of anything extraordinary.”

Neighbors and others who knew the Norwegian professor described him as highly capable and kind.

LATEST STORIES

FOR THE RECORD

For more news on Arctic developments.

MOST READ THIS WEEK

Donate

If you like what we’re doing, please consider a donation. It’s easy using PayPal, or our Norway bank account. READ MORE