The police called a press conference on Thursday to announce that they had solved the 24-year-old’s murder.
Police inspector Grete Lien Metlid and police attorney Henrik Rådal confirmed that the police have made progress in the investigation into a 24-year-old murder case.
– It concerns the murder of Knut Kristiansen. We have been investigating the matter for many years without being able to clear it up, says Metlid.
The section of the Oslo Police that works with old unsolved murder cases has adopted new DNA technology. They must have gone through all the material from the murder case again.
– The breakthrough comes after this investigation, says Metlid.
Language expert and pensioner Knut Kristiansen was killed and later raped in his apartment in 1999. Findings at the scene testified that things must have gone terribly wrong.
VIOLENT: Knut Kristiansen (71) was killed in his apartment on Sandaker in Oslo in July 1999. TV 2 has previously been given access to some of the police’s photos from the crime scene. Photo: The police
The murder has been unsolved for 24 years.
The family of Kristiansen’s assistance lawyer has been Jon Christian Elden.
– On behalf of the family, I would like to thank the police for their thorough and creative work in the investigation. This is a combination of modern DNA technology and an alert investigative mind that has provided a solution and made it possible to connect the information. It has been a torment for the family for 24 years, and now it is possible to find peace.
That’s what Elden says in a text message to TV 2.
– Violent acts
The case was discussed in the TV 2 program “Åsted Norge” in 2016. Even then, the Oslo police said that they hoped that new DNA technology could lead to a solution to the old murder mystery.
Kristiansen was last seen at 7.30pm on the evening of 4 July 1999. He was then on his way home to his flat in Sandaker.
Only after 16 days did a colleague discover that Kristiansen was lying dead in his own apartment. Work colleagues of Kristiansen at the University of Oslo thought the linguist had gone on holiday.
This is how the police worked with the case in 2016:
At the scene, the police found a full DNA profile from what they suspect is the killer.
In front of TV 2, police inspector Grete Lien Metlid was clear in 2016 that traces from the crime scene indicate a brutal murder.
Kristiansen was killed with massive blunt force.
– Violent acts have taken place in the apartment there. It is a case where you think: “What happened? What was the prelude? Who did this?” Metlid said.
