Silje Marie Redergård (26 June 1989 – 15 October 1994) was a five-year-old Norwegian girl who allegedly was killed by two boys in the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of Rosten at

Tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...

near

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

on 15 October 1994.

Incident and investigation

The boys, aged five and six, were claimed to have beaten, kicked, stoned, and stripped Redergård naked, leaving her in the snow to die of

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

. The boys were directed to undergo psychological evaluation, as Norwegian law did not allow the punishment of minors under the age of 15. The names of the boys were not publicly released. In 2021, the crime underwent new research. In 1994, police never followed up on the claims reported by the 5-year-old and the 6-year-old, that the girl had been killed by rampant teenage boys, even though the children’s statements matched what had also been observed and reported by separate witnesses. Police ignored these witness reports matching the children's own statements. The ''

Kripos The National Criminal Investigation Service ( no, Den nasjonale enhet for bekjempelse av organisert og annen alvorlig kriminalitet, previously ''Kriminalpolitisentralen''), commonly known as Kripos, is a special agency of the Norwegian Police Ser ...

''-expert Per Angell has explained that the prints of children's boots in the snow could not be connected to the three small boys who were found to have caused Redergård's death, and that no forensic evidence existed to connect them to her death. Police officer Asbjørn Rachlew points out that police interrogated the small boys in a fashion that made the boys change their explanations under pressure and over time. In addition, no research was undertaken regarding

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

s, clothes fibres, patterns on bootprints on her body and in the snow, or other forensic issues. A TV-production in 4 parts by

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

has gone through the missing research and mistakes in the case, classing it a

miscarriage of justice A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal procedure, criminal or civil procedure, civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they actual innocence, did not commit. Mis ...

Motives

The crime was initially believed to be of a sexually abusive-parental nature, as Redergård's clothes were removed, and her body was found close to her family's home. Redergård's parents were told who the culprits were by the mother of the boys who committed the crime, before the police found out. There is no fully known motive for the killing, although one of the boys told a detective that "We beat her till she stopped crying" during the initial investigation, perhaps explaining a partial reason for why they would beat her to death.

Debate regarding fictionalised violence

On 18 October 1994, pay television channel

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

suspended airing of ''

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is a superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon along ...

'' and ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

,'' amid debate regarding the impact of fictionalised violence in television programming aimed at children.

Gro Harlem Brundtland Gro Brundtland (; born Gro Harlem, 20 April 1939) is a Norwegian politician (Arbeiderpartiet), who served three terms as the 29th prime minister of Norway (1981, 1986–89, and 1990–96) and as the director-general of the World Health Organizati ...

, Norway's Prime Minister at the time, commented that "Norwegians should think twice before allowing such 'free market' violence to be broadcast by commercial networks."

Fate of alleged perpetrators

Both boys were ordered to regularly meet with child protective services, and to undergo counseling until they turned 18. One of the boys has suffered with drug addiction and homelessness, allegedly due in some part to his role in the killing.

Similar cases

The case has been compared to the

murder of James Bulger James Patrick Bulger (16 March 1990 – 12 February 1993) was a two-year-old boy from Kirkby, Merseyside, England, who was child abduction, abducted, tortured, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson (born 23 August 1982) and Jon ...

, which took place in the United Kingdom twenty months earlier.

References