– I perceived it as a violent assault in my own home, says the 21-year-old’s father from the witness box.
He is clearly affected and needs several breaks during his explanation.
At approximately 01.50 on the night of 2 January last year, he and his wife woke up to a bang from the first floor of the house.
BROKEN: The parents woke up when the perpetrators smashed this window. Photo: The police
– She puts on a dressing gown and goes downstairs. Then she shouts that I have to come, because she sees some shadows outside the kitchen window.
When he comes down, there are two masked men shouting in through a window they have just broken.
They are armed and fire a shot into the air.
The couple are told that their son will be killed by someone else the next day if he does not go with them.
Thought they lost him
When the father explains himself, he is sitting just a few meters away from the two perpetrators. They have both acknowledged that it was the two of them who attacked the family and picked up the 21-year-old.
A total of four men in their 20s are on the dock in the trial which began on Tuesday this week.
Three of them partially plead guilty to kidnapping, while one of them, a former reality contestant, denies any guilt in the case.
He believes he was forced to drive the victim and one of the defendants from Hamar to Oslo.
– We were absolutely afraid for our son’s life. We were very afraid that we would not see him again, says the father after he has wiped away a few tears.
VINGELEN: The father of the kidnapped 21-year-old feared that his son would never return home. Photo: Kristin Grønning / TV 2
Violent basketball attack
Although he immediately perceived the two men as very threatening and desperate, he did everything in his power to keep them away.
– They still shout that they are the nice guys. Shots are being fired in the air, and threats are beginning to be made to us that we may also be shot if we do not open up.
The parents still won’t let them in.
– They take a snow shovel and start smashing a route into the office. They spend some time on it and it bangs once more.
THE WAY IN: The perpetrators entered the house through this window. Photo: The police
After the window is broken and they are on their way in over an office desk, the father runs to the window.
– I take hold of the frame and hit whoever comes, he says.
The perpetrator pulls the gun again and threatens to shoot, then the father finally retreats into the house.
When the perpetrators have made it inside, he runs up to his wife, who has run to look after her son.
Beat up the wife
– Then NN (one of the defendants, journalist’s note) pushes me into a bookcase. I get a clenched fist in the face and one in the chest. He points the revolver at me and says he’s going to shoot if I don’t calm down.
Eventually all four end up on the second floor, outside the bedroom where the offended 21-year-old has hidden under a bed.
ASSISTANCE ATTORNEY: Helga Hartz represents the aggrieved family. Photo: Lars Nyland / TV 2
When the father comes up with the first man in full health, he sees that his wife is crouched in a corner as she is awarded a kick in the shoulder.
Shortly afterwards, the perpetrators discover the son, who has been hiding under the bed. The father remembers that the 21-year-old was kicked in the face by the man who first entered the room.
As the father considers throwing the man with the revolver down the stairs in the house, he notices that the violence inside the bedroom is increasing.
At the same time, the son shouts that he surrenders, so the father does the same.
Couldn’t drive
When everyone has made it back down to the first floor, the son starts running up the stairs.
The 21-year-old has explained that he was both looking for an assault weapon, but that he also wanted to put on some clothes.
In the middle of the stairs, he is shot in the ass.
REVOLVER: The 21-year-old was shot in the buttocks with this revolver. The police only found it in May last year. Photo: The police
He still gets a sweater with him.
After that, it goes fast. From the kitchen window, the mother stands and watches as her son, who is only wearing boxer shorts and a jumper, joins the two kidnappers across the farmyard and into the darkness.
It will be almost a day before the parents see their boy again.
A day they describe as a pure nightmare.
– It was a turbulent night. I was unable to drive to Hamar to meet him again the following day, says the father, who will continue his testimony in court on Thursday.
During the trial, the 21-year-old has been very reluctant to answer a number of questions from the parties in court. He himself has been reported and suspected of serious drug offences.
