On the night of May 22, 1999, three members of the Orderud family were shot dead at their farmstead in Sørum. The victims were Kristian Orderud, 81, his wife Marie, 84, and their daughter Anne Orderud Paust, 47. The killer entered between midnight and 5am by climbing onto the second-floor porch and breaking a window on the veranda door. Marie appears to have confronted the intruder and was shot at close range. Two different firearms were used. Neither was ever found.
The case had a disturbing prelude. Anne Orderud Paust worked as personal secretary to Norway's Defence Minister, Dag Jostein Fjærvoll. On July 17, 1998, almost a year before the murders, she discovered a 500-gram Solex explosive charge under her car outside the Defence Ministry. The bomb was given "extremely high priority" by Oslo police, but the case was never solved. Then, in August 1998, a leaking propane device and gasoline were found in the stairwell of her Oslo apartment building. Someone had already been trying to kill her.
Their son Per Kristian Orderud had been living in the main farmhouse just 200 meters away on the night of the murders. He and his wife Veronica, along with Veronica's sister Kristin Kirkemo and Kirkemo's ex-boyfriend Lars Grønnerød, were all charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The prosecution argued that the motive was inheritance. The farm was valuable, Per had operated it for years but his parents still owned it, and he feared they would leave it to his sister Anne instead.
All four were convicted in June 2001, in what had become the most intensely covered criminal case in Norwegian history at the time. Per and Veronica Orderud each received 21 years. Lars Grønnerød received 18 years. Kristin Kirkemo received 16 years. All four were released around 2015.
The central question was never answered: who pulled the trigger? The prosecution proved conspiracy but could not identify the actual killer. Veronica Orderud has maintained her innocence throughout and has sought to have the case reopened. Podcasts, documentaries and books continue to re-examine the evidence, and many Norwegians remain divided over whether justice was fully served.
The case had a disturbing prelude. Anne Orderud Paust worked as personal secretary to Norway's Defence Minister, Dag Jostein Fjærvoll. On July 17, 1998, almost a year before the murders, she discovered a 500-gram Solex explosive charge under her car outside the Defence Ministry. The bomb was given "extremely high priority" by Oslo police, but the case was never solved. Then, in August 1998, a leaking propane device and gasoline were found in the stairwell of her Oslo apartment building. Someone had already been trying to kill her.
Their son Per Kristian Orderud had been living in the main farmhouse just 200 meters away on the night of the murders. He and his wife Veronica, along with Veronica's sister Kristin Kirkemo and Kirkemo's ex-boyfriend Lars Grønnerød, were all charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The prosecution argued that the motive was inheritance. The farm was valuable, Per had operated it for years but his parents still owned it, and he feared they would leave it to his sister Anne instead.
All four were convicted in June 2001, in what had become the most intensely covered criminal case in Norwegian history at the time. Per and Veronica Orderud each received 21 years. Lars Grønnerød received 18 years. Kristin Kirkemo received 16 years. All four were released around 2015.
The central question was never answered: who pulled the trigger? The prosecution proved conspiracy but could not identify the actual killer. Veronica Orderud has maintained her innocence throughout and has sought to have the case reopened. Podcasts, documentaries and books continue to re-examine the evidence, and many Norwegians remain divided over whether justice was fully served.
