A 26-year-old Norwegian man from Hamar claimed he acted in self-defense when he stabbed Bulgarian prostitute Galina Sandeva to death in Oslo on December 16, 2015. He claimed when his trial began on Tuesday that he had bought the knife he used as a Christmas gift for his father.
Sandeva’s body was found on the waterfront at Bispekaia in Bjørvika with at least 30 stab wounds a few days after she’d been reported missing. Newspaper Dagbladet has reported that the 26-year-old worked nearby as a telephone salesman. He admitted to killing Sandeva but claimed in court that he stabbed her after “she began to scream and hit me” in the back of his car.
Police mounted a murder investigation aided by Sandeva’s mobile phone, which had moved in tandem with his phone from the location where her body was found to his home at St Hanshaugen. Her phone was later found at his address.
Newspaper Aftenposten reported on Tuesday that a friend of the murder suspect told police that the 26-year-old had spoken of killing another prostitute as well, and claimed he was turning into a werewolf. He’s been under psychiatric evaluation but deemed fit to stand trial.
Sandeva’s mother and brother have traveled to Oslo for the trial. “They arrived on Friday,” their court-appointed attorney Camilla Wiermyhr told Aftenposten. “I’m preparing them for what will unfold in the court. They just want a fair trial and for the murderer to be punished.”
newsinenglish.no staff
