- Tom Hagen, an energy tycoon from Norway, was arrested under suspicion that he murdered his wife.
- His wife disappeared on October 31st, 2018, and the incident was made to look like a kidnapping.
- Police deduced that there is no kidnapper, and that Hagen likely killed his wife, or arranged her death.
About a year and a half ago, Norwegian police investigated a kidnapping case involving cryptocurrency Monero (XMR). Back then, no one could uncover what happened to Anne-Elisabeth Hagen, a 69-year-old wife of Tom Hagen.
Hagen disappeared from their home just outside of the city of Oslo on October 31st, 2018. Meanwhile, her husband, who is a well-known energy tycoon, supposedly found a ransom note.
Around 10 weeks after the kidnapping took place, the police finally revealed the incident to the press. They also revealed that the kidnapper demanded $10.3 million in a cryptocurrency Monero (XMR). As a so-called privacy coin, Monero is difficult to trace, which could allow the criminal to disappear with the money with more ease.
The local news source, VG, revealed that the kidnappers supposedly threatened to kill their victim if the police got involved. As a result, the police kept quiet for months, before finally revealing it 10 weeks after the event.
A breakthrough in the case
The case recently saw a breakthrough, and quite a curious one, at that. The police seem to believe that Tom Hagen himself had something to do with his wife’s disappearance. In fact, the Norwegian police had even gone as far as to arrest him on suspicion of murder, or complicity to murder.
The authorities came to this conclusion gradually, with the case evolving and maturing slowly over time. At first, the police claimed that it managed to establish contact with the kidnappers, and communicate with them.
However, as of summer 2019, the police came to the conclusion that Anne-Elisabeth Hagen was likey dead. As for the ransom, they now believe that the note was there only to throw the investigation off track.
The police say that there was never any kidnapper
With a new perspective on the case, the police now suspect Tom Hagen of being involved. The law enforcement officers arrested him yesterday, April 28th, on his way to work, as the local reports revealed.
Later on the same day, Inspector Tommy Broeske held a news conference during which he revealed that “There was no kidnapping, no real negotiating counterpart or real negotiations.”
After realizing that the kidnapper is strangely quiet with the demands, the police started monitoring Tom Hagen himself. After monitoring him closely since last summer, the law enforcement deduced that he was responsible for the disappearance of his wife. In fact, they believe that he plotted her murder for months, possibly with several others.