Background
On the 20th of May 2000, just two days after the national celebrations of 17th of May, Norwegian TV reported that two girls age 8 and 10 were missing near the Baneheia pond outside Kristiansand. The girls were supposed to come back home after a swim on the 19th, but never showed up at their parents house. The police could not find the girls and asked for help in the search from The Red Cross and the army to conduct a full search around the pond. On the 21st, both girls were found raped and murdered near the pond.
The whole country was in a state of shock and denial that this could happen here. The KRIPOS was put on the case and were hell-bent on solving it. This lead to one of the most expensive police investigations in Norwegian history.
The suspects
On the 13th of September, the police announced that they had detained two men for the murder of the two girls. The suspects were Jan Helge Andersen (19) and Viggo Kristiansen (21), they were friends and both very socially maladjusted. Jan Helge Andersen confessed and dragged Viggo Kristiansen into the case. Kristiansen has been convicted of peeping at women in the past.
The evidence
Aside from the confession of Andersen, the police spent a lot of resources on getting some hard evidence linking the suspects to the crime scene. Sadly, there's not a lot of it. They found a pubic hair, but the DNA was too damaged for conventional analysis. The hair was sent to a special lab in Spain where they managed to get a partial DNA profile. The profile matched Andersen and linked him to the murder site. But Kristiansen maintained the statement that he was innocent. He claimed to have sent two SMS messages in the time frame where the girls was murdered. These messages were sent via a base station near Baneheia. Some telco technicians have come to the conclusion that if he sent the messages from home (where he claim to have been) the signals would have gone through that base station. But he could not have sent those messages through that base station from Baneheia, and then he would be innocent. Another telco claim that the message could have been sent from Baneheia as well.
The trial
The trial in the first court started the 23rd of April 2001. Andersen plead guilty and Kristiansen innocent. The trial was closely followed by the media and Kristiansens past was dug up. In the end, Andersen was sentenced to 17 years in jail and Kristiansen got the maximum penalty of the law; 21 years in jail and 10 years confinement. Kristiansen and Andersen appealed the verdict on the spot.
The appeal is now over. They jury found both men guilty and the jugdes gave Andersen a two year longer sentence, he has to serve 19 years in jail. Kristiansen was sentenced to 21 years of jail, and is not to be released until is fit to re-enter the society. This means that can be in jail for the rest of his life, if he isn't better after the 21 years are over.