Fredrik Fasting Torgersen

Fredrik Ludvig Fasting Torgersen (1 October 1934 – 18 June 2015) was a Norwegian man who was convicted of murder in 1958 in a much-debated case, and released from prison in 1974.

Serving 16 years in prison before being released, he continuously claimed his innocence.

In 2013 Bjørg Njaa, a daughter of a judge in the 1958 trial said that her father was prejudiced against Torgersen even before being assigned to the trial.

In 2014 he was denied access to official recordings of then leader of the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine, Bjørnar Olaisen, answering to Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Torgersen died on 18 June 2015, a week after his sixth call for a resumption of his case. At the time of his death, he was hospitalized with cancer.

In December 1957, 16-year-old girl Rigmor Johnsen was raped and murdered in Oslo. Fredrik Fasting Torgersen, then 23, a small-time criminal with several prior convictions for theft and violence, was arrested and charged with the crime. On 16 June 1958, despite very little evidence connecting him to the crime scene, Torgersen was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. This marked the beginning of one of the most controversial cases in Norwegian criminal history. Torgersen went on to serve 16 years before being released from prison in 1974.

Aftenposten said in 2013 that "the expert witness in 1958 said that the bite mark [that the killer left on one of the breasts of the victim] with full certainty pointed to Torgersen as the murderer. - The other evidence in the case dealt with conifer needle leaves (barnåler), excrement and police lineup (vitneutpeking)".

His calls for resumption of proceedings were denied by the Supreme Court of Norway in 1976 and 2001, and again by the independent Criminal Cases Review Commission (led by Janne Kristiansen) in 2006.

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