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Tycoon Who Claimed Wife Was Kidnapped Allegedly Faked Abduction To Cover Up Killing
Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen's disappearance was originally investigated as a kidnap and ransom case, but now investigators say her multimillionaire husband Tom Hagen had a role in her death.
One of the wealthiest men in Norway is now accused of having a hand in the disappearance of his wife, who authorities believe has been murdered.
Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, then 69, vanished on Oct. 31, 2018 after she was seemingly abducted from the home she shared with her multimillionaire husband Tom Hagen near Oslo. A ransom note, riddled with spelling mistakes, was found in the home and stated that she would be killed unless 9 million euros, or $10.2 million, in cryptocurrency was paid, the Associated Press reported at the time.
Investigators concluded last summer that ransom money likely wasn't the motive. Officials theorized that she had been murdered and her abduction had been faked as a coverup.
Tom hagen, a real estate and electric company magnate, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder or complicity to murder, the Associated Press reports.
“The case is characterized by a clearly planned deception,” chief police investigator Tommy Broeske told reporters at a news conference Tuesday in Oslo. “As other hypotheses have been weakened, suspicions against Tom Hagen have gradually been strengthened.”
Prosecutor Aase Kjustad Eriksson said more arrests in the case were possible. Hagen is expected to be held for four weeks in pre-trial custody. A possible motive for the alleged killing was not disclosed.
The home the couple shared didn’t show signs of forced entry but it forensic evidence allegedly showed that there may have been a struggle in the couple’s bedroom, the Daily Beast reports.
The couple wed when they were teenagers.
Tom Hagen’s fortune is estimated to be worth nearly 1.7 billion kroner or about $161 million USD. It’s not clear if he has a lawyer authorized to speak on his behalf. He was listed as the 172th richest person on a list of Norway’s wealthiest people published by the financial magazine Kapital in 2018, the Associated Press reported last year.
