Fritz Moen

Case record: Fritz Moen

Background

Fritz Yngvar Moen (December 17, 1941 – March 28, 2005) was a Norwegian man wrongfully convicted for two distinct felony murders, serving a total of 18 years in prison.

Fritz Moen was deaf with a severe speech impediment. He was also partly paralyzed, but had normal intelligence and good memory.

The offence

Fritz Moen was convicted in connection with two rapes and murders, both in Trondheim:

• Torunn Finstad, who was reported missing on October 4, 1977 and was found dead on October 6, 1977, after having been raped and strangled.
• Sigrid Heggheim, who was found dead in September 1976; she had been strangled and an attempt had been made to rape her.

In addition, Moen was indicted and convicted for murder and attempted rape in relation to Sigrid Heggheim.

Investigation

Biological samples were collected at both crime scenes and tested with available technology at the time; but the samples were since lost and destroyed for reasons that remain unclear.

When Moen was convicted, the prosecuting authorities relied on Moen's confession to the murders, a confession that appears to have been coerced by way of intimidation.

Trial

Initial conviction and sentencing

The initial conviction involved two separate rapes and murders in Trondheim.

Moen was indicted by Frostating court for the crime on April 11, 1978.

Moen was convicted and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment on May 29, 1978.

This sentence was reduced to 16 years on appeal.

In the related Sigrid Heggheim matter, the same court indicted Moen for murder and attempted rape on September 15, 1981.

On December 18, 1981, Moen was convicted and sentenced to an additional 5 years.

The appeal was rejected.

When Moen was convicted, his defense lawyer, Olav Hestenes announced:

"For the first time at this desk, I allow myself to say that a travesty of justice has been committed."

The judge, Karl Solberg, reacted furiously and later applauded the courts verdict.

Solberg later became associated with actions of miscarriage of justice, being instrumental in the wrongful incarcerations of Fritz Moen and Atle Hage.

Reversal of the Sigrid Heggheim conviction

Moen's attorney requested a new trial for both cases on January 2, 2000.

The court accepted the requests for the Sigrid Heggheim case.

On October 7, 2004, judge Wenche Skjæggestad announced that the court reversed the conviction and acquitted Moen for the attempted rape and murder of Sigrid Heggheim.

The court found that the forensic evidence was exonerative of Moen, and that in any case reasonable doubt should have acquitted him in the first place.

The court also found that Moen had an alibi for the most likely time of the crime.

Among other things, the forensic evidence indicated that the perpetrator had pursued the victim across a field, knocked her down, and then tied her with her own clothes—Moen was partly paralyzed and physically incapable of these actions.

Torunn Finstad matter and posthumous acquittal

The court rejected the appeal for a resumption of the Torunn Finstad case.

On October 13, 2005, the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission received a preliminary application for review of the case.

Moen died on March 28, 2005 of natural causes.

It became known that Moen wanted the case on his behalf to continue.

In December 2005, it became known that Tor Hepsø, a convicted felon with a long history of violence, had made a deathbed confession that he had killed both Sigrid Heggheim and Torunn Finstad.

On June 15, 2006, the Criminal Cases Review Board formally accepted the application.

On August 24, 2006, Frostating court acquitted posthumously Fritz Moen also for the rape and murder of Sigrid Heggheim.

The acquittal was based on findings that the preponderance of the evidence made the man with the deathbed confession a more likely suspect, and that Moen's confession was likely coerced and only included information that had been made public.

Appeals

Moen was convicted and sentenced on May 29, 1978 and the sentence was reduced to 16 years on appeal.

In the Sigrid Heggheim matter, the appeal was rejected.

The court reversed and acquitted Moen for the attempted rape and murder of Sigrid Heggheim on October 7, 2004.

Outcome

Frostating court reversed the conviction and acquitted Moen for the attempted rape and murder of Sigrid Heggheim on October 7, 2004.

Frostating court acquitted posthumously Fritz Moen also for the rape and murder of Sigrid Heggheim on August 24, 2006.

These acquittals were widely attributed to the work of Moen's defense attorney John Christian Elden and private investigator Tore Sandberg.

Aftermath

There was an expectation that Fritz Moen's estate would file a civil suit against the Norwegian government for several tens of millions of Norwegian kroner.

The case attracted widespread public opinion in Norway, with calls for a formal inquiry into the conduct of the prosecutors and police.

There was also talk of erecting a bust or statue of Moen in front of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice.

Other details: Inquiry and later events

On June 25, 2007, a commission headed by Henry John Mæland, professor of law at the University of Bergen, delivered its findings to the Norwegian Minister of Justice Knut Storberget.

The commission stated that the principle of objectivity was violated repeatedly by both the police and the courts.

The commission stated that the most important lesson that can be learned from this case was that the presumption of innocence must be attended by both the public prosecutors and the courts.

Chair of the commission Mæland stated that witnesses had been coaxed by the Trondheim police force while at the same time significant evidence proving the innocence of Moen had been withheld from the prosecutors and the courts:

"Some of the evidence has basically been hidden within the police reports,"

During the press conference, the justice minister commented:

"the commission's report shows that grave errors have been committed leading to grave results."

The commissioned was appointed on September 8, 2006 by the Norwegian cabinet.

Its mandate was to “find out why Moen was wrongfully convicted and evaluate whether changes are needed in the criminal justice system to avoid wrongful convictions in the future”.

The commission consisted, apart from professor Mæland, of judge Inger Marie Dons Jensen and psychiatrist Ingrid Lycke Ellingsen.

Infringement (Overgrepet) by Tore Sandberg, the private investigator involved in Moen's case, was published in October 2007.

On 5 February 2008, the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs of the Norwegian Parliament recommended that a commission be named to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute for impeachment three of the Norwegian Supreme Court Justices who presided over the Moen cases.

The three justices were Magnus Matningsdal, Karin Maria Bruzelius and Eilert Stang Lund.

However, when the case went to the Standing Committee on Justice, it was closed.

Denied, the only wrongful conviction magazine in the United States, published an article about Fritz Moen's case in its Spring 2008 issue:

"Exonerated Of Two Murders, Fritz Moen Posthumously Awarded $4 Million"

The conclusion of the inquiry recommended not to investigate in order to label responsibility to individual officers or judicial since “such action would probably lead to the pulverization of responsibility”.

The case was described by bloggers as the worst example of police and prosecution cowardice in European history.

Timeline

• September 1976 — Sigrid Heggheim was found dead; she had been strangled and an attempt had been made to rape her.
• October 4, 1977 — Torunn Finstad was reported missing.
• October 6, 1977 — Torunn Finstad was found dead after having been raped and strangled.
• April 11, 1978 — Moen was indicted by Frostating court.
• May 29, 1978 — Moen was convicted and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.
• December 18, 1981 — Moen was convicted and sentenced to an additional 5 years.
• January 2, 2000 — Moen's attorney requested a new trial for both cases.
• October 7, 2004 — Judge Wenche Skjæggestad reversed the conviction and acquitted Moen for the attempted rape and murder of Sigrid Heggheim.
• October 13, 2005 — Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission received a preliminary application for review of the Torunn Finstad case.
• March 28, 2005 — Moen died of natural causes.
• December 2005 — Tor Hepsø made a deathbed confession that he had killed both Sigrid Heggheim and Torunn Finstad.
• June 15, 2006 — Criminal Cases Review Board formally accepted the application.
• August 24, 2006 — Frostating court acquitted posthumously Fritz Moen for the rape and murder of Sigrid Heggheim.
• September 8, 2006 — The commission was appointed by the Norwegian cabinet.
• June 25, 2007 — Commission headed by Henry John Mæland delivered findings to Minister of Justice Knut Storberget.
• October 2007 — Infringement (Overgrepet) by Tore Sandberg was published.
• 5 February 2008 — Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs recommended naming a commission to investigate impeachment of three Supreme Court justices.
• Spring 2008 — Denied published an article about Fritz Moen’s case.