Police drop case against one of Norway’s richest men after wife’s disappearance
The case of Anne-Elizabeth Falkevik Hagen has gripped the country
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Authorities in Norway have dropped the case against a property tycoon who had been suspected of murder or complicity to murder in connection with his wife’s disappearance almost six years ago.
The case had gripped the small, wealthy Scandinavian country of 5.3 million people, where homicide rates are among the lowest in Europe.
Police initially said Anne-Elizabeth Falkevik Hagen, 68, had been abducted from her home on October 31, 2018. But in April 2020 her husband Tom Hagen, a media-shy real estate investor and one of Norway's wealthiest men, was arrested on his way to work with police saying suspicions against him “have gradually been strengthened.”
Tom Hagen was released in May 2020 when a court said there wasn't enough evidence to detain him. Hagen has repeatedly claimed his innocence.
Police had continued considering Hagen a suspect since but on Friday they confirmed that the case against him was officially dropped.
“There is no evidence that Tom Hagen was involved in his wife’s disappearance,” police spokeswoman Vibeke Schøyen told a news conference that was broadcast on Norwegian media. The Norwegian Prosecution Authority has ruled that “no criminal matter is considered proven” hence the decision by the police to drop the case, Schøyen said.
Police has conducted nearly 700 interviews, gathered more than 26,000 tips, obtained more than over 6,000 hours of video surveillance and carried out extensive technical investigations. The investigation had been “extensive and complex” and it “has been one of the most important projects we have carried out in recent years,” Schøyen said.
“This is a total acquittal of Tom Hagen,” Holten’s lawyer, Svein Holden, said Friday.
The woman that Hagen had married at age 19 disappeared from the couple’s home in Loerenskog, east of Oslo on Halloween 2018, but police did not go public with the case until Jan. 9, 2019, after which hundreds of tips poured in.
Police said at the time that a ransom for her release was demanded, but officials declined to give the amount. Norwegian newspaper VG reported that the ransom was for 9 million euros ($9.8 million) to be paid in cryptocurrency.
Police eventually released security videos of men walking back and forth outside Hagen’s workplace after his wife's disappearance. Officers and police dogs were also seen scouring the grounds around the couple’s home, and divers went into a nearby pond as police led a large investigation at home and abroad.
In June 2019, police changed their main hypothesis because of the absence of any signs that the missing woman was still alive or of any recent contacts with the alleged kidnappers. They believe Falkevik Hagen, who has never been found, had been killed and said they “cannot exclude a staged kidnapping to hide it.”
Tom Hagen, the second-oldest in a farming family of 12 children, struck it rich in the real estate business he started in 1978.
Police stressed that case has not been closed and police said that there were three suspects. None were identified.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.