UPDATED: Norway recorded its fourth murder in three weeks on Tuesday, after police in Halden were called to the scene of a fatal family drama in the southern city of Halden. A woman in her 40s was later charged with murdering her brother, also in his 40s, with their mother as witness.
Startled neighbours in the historic downtown area of Halden reported hearing screams and calls for help from a flat in the area Monday night. It later emerged that they came from the mother of her two grown children. When police arrived they found a man stabbed, and he was declared dead at the scene. His sister was arrested and charged with his murder, while police officially registered their mother as a witness to the murder. State broadcaster NRK reported that it was the mother who ran out onto the flat’s balcony and called for help. Her two grown children shared the flat where the murder occurred and she had been visiting them.
“She is in deep sorrow right now and it’s difficult for her to fathom what has happened,” Hans Henrik Pettersen, who was appointed as attorney for the monther, told NRK. Her daughter has confessed to the stabbing during police questioning, according to NRK.
“She (the daughter and sister) is having a terrible time now,” her defense attorney, Kristin Morch, told NRK. “She is cooperating well with the police.” There was no word on the woman’s motive for the murder.
The brother and sister had reportedly shared the flat for the past year. Neither had a police record. Police have possession of the knife believed to have been the murder weapon.
newsinenglish.no staff
