Because he “cannot be judged legally accountable,” a Danish man who killed five people in a deadly bow-and-arrow rampage in a Norwegian village was sentenced to full-time mental care.
In addition to shooting a barrage of arrows from both inside and outside a supermarket and slicing his victims in half with knives, Espen Andersen Brathen terrorized the quiet streets of Kongsberg in October.
The prosecution claims that on the day of the attacks, Brathen was equipped with a bow, 60 arrows, and four knives.
The 38-year-old, who has long battled mental illness, entered a guilty plea to the charges of murder and attempted murder last month.
In their ruling on Thursday, the judges stated that at the time of the attack, “the defendant definitely had comprehension and functional difficulties because of his condition.”
The court concludes that the defendant cannot be held legally accountable for any of the charges, according to the judgment.
Authorities have said that Brathen had a medical history and had lived for years in Kongsberg, a town of 25,000 people located about 50 miles west of Oslo, the capital.
The man had also been on the radar of the Norwegian security services PST, which are in charge of counterterrorism.
35 minutes after the initial reports of the incident, he was taken into custody and was taken to a hospital.
After observing him, three specialists came to the conclusion that he had paranoid schizophrenia.
Both the prosecution and the defense contended that he could not be held legally accountable and argued in favor of psychiatric commitment as opposed to incarceration.
Four ladies and one guy, ranging in age from 52 to 78, were his victims.
Gunnar Sauve and Liv Borge, a married couple who were slain in their ground-floor flat, were among the fatalities.
Gun Marith Madsen, a 75-year-old artist who used a frame to help her walk, was identified as another casualty.
Hanne Englund, a ceramic artist in her 50s, and Andrea Meyer, a 52-year-old native of Hamburg, both perished at the hands of the killer.
When Brathen started shooting his fatal arrows, 48-year-old local police officer Rigoberto Villarroel was inside the store with his family.
When Brathen fired at him and left an arrow stuck in his back, he encouraged other consumers to flee and was on the phone with his coworkers to alert them to what was occurring.
Brathen managed to escape while firing off further arrows, leaving at least one sticking out of a wooden house on Wednesday evening. The courageous officer persisted in shouting warnings at onlookers as he stood at the door to the shop.
In order to reach Hytegatten, one of Kongsberg’s most historic streets with a mix of clapboard houses from the 18th century and more contemporary buildings, the suspect sprinted some 250 meters down a hill, abandoning his bow and a quiver of arrows along the way.
When he arrived in Hytegatten, he murdered former employees Ms. Borge and Mr. Sauve in their ground-floor apartment, which had sweeping views of the Numedalslgen River, which runs through the community.
Nearly 100 meters from Mr. Sauve and Ms. Borge’s house, at the end of the same street, Mrs. Madsen was assassinated in her ground-floor flat.
Two men who lived in the apartment above her, according to neighbors, raced to help when they heard a disturbance but were unable to save her.
It was previously disclosed that Hanne Englund, a woman in her 50s, was also killed by Brthen when he allegedly broke into her studio home in Hytegatten and barricaded himself inside.
Locals praised the mother of two as “warm-hearted,” “flamboyant,” and “beautiful” and said she had many friends around the community. She was also known for hosting an annual midsummer party in her garden for all of her neighbors.
Due to the town’s low crime rate and the confidence that is typically shown to neighbors in Norwegian society, many residents are claimed to have frequently left their doors unlocked.