The Lesja Murder Case (in Norwegian "Lesja-saken") refers to the disappearance, rape and murder of 14-year-old Ingrid Marie Skotte from Lesja, Norway in February 1987. The disappearance became one of the most publicized criminal cases in post-war Norway.
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Disappearance
Ingrid Marie Skotte disappeared while hitchhiking towards the center of Lesja on Tuesday afternoon, 10 February 1987. She was going to meet her boyfriend at a café, but never arrived. Witnesses had seen her hitchhiking along the European route E136, and the police became certain that she had been the victim of a violent crime. KRIPOS were soon involved and area searches were carried out without result. The police directed their attention to a Ford motor vehicle.
On 4 March, the police released composite sketches of two men, but still made no real progress with the case. On 21 March, the body of Ingrid Skotte was found on a slope along Dyrkornstranda, in the municipality of Stordal, in the county of Sunnmore. The autopsy showed that she had first been raped, then strangled. Investigators carried out door-to-door enquiries in the district and received information concerning a 37-year-old man named Per Otto Stenvåg, a divorced father of four. He was known to have a troubled and violent past and drove an old Ford Granada. Stenvåg was arrested on 29 April 1987 and immediately confessed to the murder. During his trial, a 30-year-old woman came forward and said that Stenvåg had violently abused and raped her on 11 April 1987. During the attack, Stenvåg had told her that he was responsible for the Lesja murder. The woman said that she had been too terrified to go to the police, only coming forward when Stenvåg admitted in court to having assaulted an unidentified woman.
Sentencing and aftermath
Stenvåg pleaded guilty and on 17 October 1987 was sentenced to 21 years in prison in addition to 10 years confinement for premeditated murder, rape, abduction and the use of violent force. In February 1988, the sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Norway rejecting Stenvåg's appeal.
Stenvåg hanged himself in his cell in Gjøvik Prison on the morning of 17 March 1988 by using bed sheets. Two suicide notes left behind by Stenvåg suggested that his decision to take his own life had been deliberate.