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Norwegian police: No crime in German fisherman’s death

An autopsy on the 58-year-old German man who died ‘suspiciously’ in a Norwegian fishing hut over the weekend revealed no reason to suspect that a crime has been committed, police said on Tuesday.

Published: 27 September 2016 11:11 CEST

Norwegian police: No crime in German fisherman’s death

Police now say that there is nothing to indicate that a crime had been committed in the German man's death. Photo: arina Johansen / NTB Scanpix

Police in Rogaland will therefore not pursue charges against the deceased man’s 55-year-old friend who was held on remand.

Police opened an investigation of what they defined as a suspicious death after they received notification of the German man’s death at 3.45am on Sunday.

The man and his two friends had come to a cottage on the island of Ombo, north of Stavanger, the day before. The three Germans had planned to go on a week-long fishing trip.

One of the man's companions was charged with severe bodily injury resulting in death and was scheduled to be transferred to police custody on Tuesday, while the second man had been released by police on Monday.

After the autopsy results and other findings of the police investigation, however, it was concluded that there was no criminal act behind the death, police said on Tuesday morning.

“That means there are no longer grounds for presenting the German 55-year-old for remand in Stavanger District Court today,” prosecuting attorney Erik W. Rand said in a police statement.

Norwegian police charge Olympic champion's father for domestic violence

Jakob Ingebrigtsen and two of his brothers, Henrik and Filip, who are also athletes, shocked Norway last October when they accused their father of being violent.

“We grew up with a very aggressive and authoritarian father, who used physical violence and threats as part of his upbringing,” the brothers wrote in an op-ed for newspaper VG. “We still feel a sense of discomfort and fear that we have felt since childhood,” they added.

Police opened a probe into the abuse claims and on Monday said prosecutors had decided to charge Gjert Ingebrigtsen, 58, with domestic violence against one of his children.

According to a source close to the case, the acts in question do not concern the trio of known athletes but another, younger child.

Over a period of four years, from 2018 to 2022, Gjert Ingebrigtsen allegedly manhandled, insulted, threatened and hit the child in the face with his hand or with a towel.

Responding to questions from AFP, Therese Braut Vage, who led the investigation, would not confirm this account.

Police said they had closed investigations into other events concerning the six other children in the home either due to a lack of evidence or, in one case, because the statute of limitations having expired.

Gjert, who coached Jakob until after the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo — where Jakob won the gold — has always denied the accusations against him.

“As far as the dismissed cases, we agree that there is no evidence to prove that Ingebrigtsen committed any wrongdoing,” his lawyer John Christian Elden told AFP on Monday.

“For the rest, Ingebrigtsen disputes the description of the facts on which the indictment is based — and he therefore does not admit his guilt,” he continued in an email.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the most successful of the three brothers, twice winning gold in the world championships 5000m in 2022 and 2023, as well as the Olympic 1500m gold.

The 23-year-old is also preparing for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.

Henrik, 33, and Filip, 31, were European champions in the 1500m in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

After breaking with his sons, Gjert Ingebrigtsen shocked Norwegian athletics by becoming the trainer of another runner, Narve Gilje Nordas.

The Norwegian Olympic Committee has said that Gjert will not be granted accreditation for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, as was the case at last year’s World Athletics Championships.

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