Start here
THE ORDERUD MURDERS
Bella Fiori's 40-minute breakdown, the fullest single telling on file.
Watch on YouTubeWhat happened
On the night of 22 May 1999, three members of the Orderud family were shot and killed at their home on the Orderud estate in Sørum, Akershus, Norway. The victims were 47-year-old Anne Orderud Paust, personal secretary to Norway's Defence Minister, and her elderly parents, 84-year-old Marie Orderud (b. 1915) and 81-year-old Kristian Orderud (b. 1918).
The killings followed roughly a year of threats against Anne and her family. In July 1998, she discovered an explosive device under her car outside the Ministry of Defence. The following month, her husband reported an apparent attempt to ignite a propane gas tank that had been doused in gasoline and left near the entrance to their Oslo apartment building; officials said the building could have been destroyed had it ignited. No one was charged over either incident. Anne's husband, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, died of cancer in May 1999, shortly before the murders. About a week before the killings, an anonymous caller warned authorities that Anne and her parents would be murdered, but the caller was never identified.
According to the investigation, an assailant hid in nearby woods before entering the house at night through a second-floor porch, breaking a window to get inside. Marie Orderud was shot and killed after apparently confronting the intruder, followed by Anne Orderud Paust, who had also entered the room; Kristian Orderud, who investigators said was physically unable to resist, was then shot at close range in the couple's bedroom. The bodies were discovered by a family member the following morning.
Investigators concluded that the assailant knew the family and had monitored the estate, noting that the timing coincided with a visit by Anne that few people knew about in advance, and that nothing in the house had been taken. In June 1999, four people were charged with premeditated murder or complicity in premeditated murder: Anne's brother, Per Kristian Orderud; his wife, Veronica Orderud; Veronica's half-sister, Kristin Kirkemo; and Kirkemo's former partner, Lars Grønnerød. Prosecutors said the motive was a dispute over ownership of the Orderud family farm, which Marie and Kristian formally owned even though Per Kristian Orderud had operated it for years and wanted to take it over. Neither the investigation nor the trials established who physically carried out the killings.
On 22 June 2001, Per Kristian Orderud, Veronica Orderud, and Kristin Kirkemo were convicted on all charges and sentenced to 21 years in prison each. Lars Grønnerød was convicted of illegal weapons charges and sentenced to two and a half years. Per Kristian Orderud, Veronica Orderud, and Kirkemo appealed, maintaining their innocence; Grønnerød did not appeal, but prosecutors appealed his sentence as too lenient. On 5 April 2002, an appeals court sentenced Per Kristian Orderud to 21 years in prison, revoking his inheritance rights to the family farm; Veronica Orderud to 21 years; Kristin Kirkemo to 16 years; and Lars Grønnerød to 18 years.
The case drew sustained Norwegian media coverage, including detailed, named reporting on the accused, and prompted public debate about media conduct and about leaks to the press from police and defense sources during the investigation and trials.
