[ad_1]
NRK meets Tom Hagen (70) in the house he shared with his wife Anne-Elisabeth (68). It has been exactly two years since he disappeared without a trace from his home. Friends, family, and Tom refer to her as Lisbeth.
– It has been two difficult years. There will be a lot of emptiness after a person you’ve lived with for 50 years, Hagen tells NRK.
– This is the first time you have interviewed. Why are you doing that?
– I think there is information between people, which can be presented, he says.
Hagen says he believes that one day you will get an answer to what happened to your wife.
– Life has taught me that justice prevails in the end. But it may take some time, he says.
Tom Hagen was completely shocked when the police on April 28 of this year arrested him in the car on the way to work.
– The police have charged him with murder or complicity in the murder of his wife. You’ve done it?
– No. I don’t have that.
– Did you have a role in the disappearance?
– No. I haven’t had that, says Hagen.
Police believe the motive for the murder must have been marital problems. Hagen rejects this.
– A marriage that has lasted about 50 years, not many people have actually experienced it. But those who have experienced it know that life goes up and down. Lisbeth and I have experienced that we have had a good marriage. But we’ve had bumps along the way, like everyone else. There’s nothing to hide, says Hagen.
Hagen receives NRK at his home in Sloraveien. Among other things, it answers questions about the murder charge, what the police believe to be the motive, Anne-Elisabeth’s marriage, the relationship with the police, the arrest and the day of the disappearance.
Known at the bowling alley
The first time Anne-Elisabeth and Tom Hagen met was at a bowling alley in Jaren, when they were young students. A little later they met again in a party hall in Toten.
– And then he just said “pling”, says Tom Hagen.
They had been married for 49 years when she disappeared. He tells NRK that he doesn’t know what life would have been like if the two hadn’t met that night.
The day before Anne-Elisabeth Hagen disappeared, on October 31, 2018, she and Tom had been at the theater. Therefore, he went to work an hour later than usual. The workplace is only a few kilometers from the house. After a while, he tried calling his wife.
On the red chair in the hall, Tom Hagen found the much-discussed threat letter. The author of the letter demanded almost 100 million crowns for Anne-Elisabeth. The letter was written in poor Norwegian, but the content should not be misinterpreted.
Anne-Elisabeth Hagen’s disappearance was long investigated as a kidnapping case. Finally, the police changed their main theory to that she had been murdered. At the same time, Tom Hagen launched a secret investigation. On April 28, the case took a dramatic turn.
The arrest was appealed. The Court of Appeal ruled that the evidence against Tom Hagen was not good enough. After being detained for ten days, he was released, but the position was maintained. He remains the main suspect of the police.
According to NRK, the police believe that the reason for the case is marital problems. The police have found indications that Anne-Elisabeth has explored the possibilities of divorcing her husband.
Investigators are said to have discovered that she did a divorce search on her computer. Separation papers were found inside his home.
Tom Hagen himself believes that the whole theory would fall apart if you met him and his wife.
The papers were signed by Anne-Elisabeth, but not by Tom Hagen. He says he had never heard of the papers before the police found them at his home.
The marriage contract that the couple had signed has been mentioned in the media. The document largely assures Tom Hagen of all its values. Lawyers that NRK has spoken with have pointed out that the marriage settlement appears so unreasonable that if a court had dealt with it, Anne-Elisabeth Hagen could have received several hundred million crowns.
Hagen says there was a “valley of waves in marriage” in 1993 when it was written, but claims it was never an issue between them.
Two years ago Tom Hagen was a relatively unknown man in Norway. He is now charged with murder in one of the longest crime cases in Norwegian history.
He denies criminal guilt, but the police uphold the accusation against him.
