Fritz Moen (1976 murder)

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Charge:	Murder and Attempted Rape
Sentence:	21 years
Years Imprisoned:	18.5
Year Crime:	1976
Year Convicted:	1978
Year Cleared:	2004
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Norway
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:	Trondheim
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Posthumously
Summary of Case:	"Fritz Moen was wrongly convicted in separate prosecutions of two murders in Trondheim, Norway, one committed in 1976 and the other in 1977, and attempted rape in the former case and rape in the latter case. Moen, deaf and of less than normal intelligence, confessed to both crimes after intense interrogation by the police. Protesting his innocence. Moen was convicted of the 1977 murder in 1978 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He was convicted of the 1976 murder in 1981 and sentenced to an additional 5 years to be served consecutively with his first conviction. Fritz Moen served 18-1/2 years of his total 21 year sentence before being released in 1996. Moen's lawyer filed new appeals of both convictions in 2000. In 2004 he was exonerated of the 1976 murder based on his exclusion from the biological evidence (blood and semen) collected from the victim and crime scene. While Moen's 1977 case was being investigated by the Norweigian Criminal Case Review Commission a man named Tor Hepsø gave a deathbed confession in December 2005 to both the 1976 and the 1977 crimes Moen had been convicted of committing. Moen died on March 28, 2005. In 2006 he was posthumously acquitted of the 1977 murder based on the deathbed confession that was deemed credible. In April 2008 the Norwegian government announced it was posthumously awarding Moen US$4 million, to be paid to two charities."
Conviction Caused By:	False confession.
Innocence Proved By:	"In 2004 Moen was exonerated of the 1976 murder based on new forensic testing that ecluded him as the woman's assailant. Moen died on March 28, 2005. In 2006 he was posthumously acquitted of the 1977 murder based on the new evidence of the credible death bed confession by a man who admitted to both crimes Moen had been convicted of committing."
Defendant Aided By:	Norwegian journalist and private investigator Tore Sandberg.
Compensation Awarded:	"$4 million (Norway, 2008)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	36
Age When Released:	55
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Apology, compensation to unjustly convicted 'murderer', Aftenposten (Oslo, Norway), April 18, 2008"
Information Location 1:	http://www.aftenposten.no/english/article2377244.ece
Information Source 2:	"Norway to pay for wrongful conviction, UPI.com, April 18, 2008"
Information Location 2:	http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/04/18/norway_to_pay_for_wrongful_conviction/2077/
Information Source 3:	"Fritz Moen, Decision by the NCCRC, Norwegian Criminal Case Review Commission, June 15, 2004"
Information Location 3:	http://www.gjenopptakelse.no/index.php?id=219
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Fritz Moen (1976 murder)

Charge:

Murder and Attempted Rape

Sentence:

21 years

Years Imprisoned:

18.5

Year Crime:

1976

Year Convicted:

1978

Year Cleared:

2004

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Norway

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Trondheim

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Posthumously

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False confession.

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Norwegian journalist and private investigator Tore Sandberg.

Compensation Awarded:

"$4 million (Norway, 2008)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

36

Age When Released:

55

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Apology, compensation to unjustly convicted 'murderer', Aftenposten (Oslo, Norway), April 18, 2008"

Information Location 1:

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/article2377244.ece

Information Source 2:

"Norway to pay for wrongful conviction, UPI.com, April 18, 2008"

Information Location 2:

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/04/18/norway_to_pay_for_wrongful_conviction/2077/

Information Source 3:

"Fritz Moen, Decision by the NCCRC, Norwegian Criminal Case Review Commission, June 15, 2004"

Information Location 3:

http://www.gjenopptakelse.no/index.php?id=219

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

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