“We will present the 55-year-old for remand in Stavanger District Court on Tuesday. He is charged with severe bodily injury resulting in death,” prosecuting attorney Erik W. Rand said, adding that the German is considered a flight risk. 

 

Rand said that another man, a 58-year-old also from Germany, who was initially charged in the case has been released after police found no grounds for keeping him in custody. 

 

The three Germans arrived Ombo, located north of Stavanger, on Saturday for a fishing trip and had plans to stay in a cottage in Jørstadvågen for a week. 

 

One of the German men contacted a neighbour for help in reporting their friend’s death. When emergency medical personnel arrived at the scene shortly before 4am on Sunday, they characterized the death as suspicious and called police. 

 

The deceased man is in his 50s and was scheduled to be autopsied on Monday, but police said it may take some time before a final autopsy report is available.

 

“We are investigating the matter further to find out what happened,” Rand said.

 

Late on Sunday evening, a police spokeswoman said the autopsy report would indicate whether a crime had even been committed. 

 

“We are not certain that a criminal offence has occurred. We do not yet know the cause of death,” police attorney Anne Mette Dale told Stavanger Aftenblad. 

 

The lawyer representing the 55-year-old German said that her client said he understands why he is being held but denied any guilt in his friend’s death. 

 

“My client is just awfully sad. He has lost a good friend. I believe that the police investigation will show that this is not a criminal offence,” defence attorney Inger Marie Sunde told broadcaster NRK.