High-Profile 'Kidnapping' Leads to Sensational Murder Charges Against Norwegian Tycoon
Anne-Elisabeth Hagen, the wife of tycoon Tom Hagen, disappeared in October 2018 and has not been seen since. Now, the police believe she wasn't kidnapped after all, and instead was the victim of a premeditated murder orchestrated by her own husband.
In a sensational arrest involving cordoned-off streets, the Norwegian police have seized millionaire Tom Hagen over the alleged murder of his wife Anne-Elisabeth Hagen, who was long believed to be kidnapped, national broadcaster NRK reported.
Police chief Melbo Øystese described the arrest as the result of a broad investigation where evidence increased over time.
Anne-Elisabeth, 68, Hagen's wife of nearly 50 years, disappeared from the family home in Lørenskog outside of Oslo on the morning of 31 October, 2018, never to be seen again. There were signs of a struggle inside the home that borders a lake. Subsequently, a ransom note demanding payment in cryptocurrency was found, and the case was handled as a kidnapping.
The police controversially kept the case under wraps, refraining from public announcements until January 2019 and citing troubles in contacting the alleged kidnappers.
Later, the course of the investigation was changed from a kidnapping with financial motives to murder, in which the ransom note for 9 million euros in the cryptocurrency monero was used as a red herring to cover the culprit's tracks. Tom Hagen reportedly paid out millions after receiving threats that she would be killed, but the police later decided that the threats were yet another attempt to throw law enforcement off the scent.
Now, the police believe no kidnapping ever took place. Instead, Anne-Elisabeth Hagen is seen as the victim of a premeditated murder that had been in the works for at least five months.
“There has not been any real negotiating party or real negotiations”, chief investigator Tommy Brøske said.
Instead, 70-year-old Tom Hagen, who ranks among Norway’s wealthiest people after making a fortune in electricity and real estate, was charged with murdering his wife or contributing to her murder. With the advanced system of payments to crypto accounts, the police don't exclude further arrests in the future.
https://sputniknews.com/europe/202004291079129544-high-profile-kidnapping-leads-to-sensational-murder-charges-against-norwegian-tycoon/