After more than a week, the suspect of the atrocious murder of the Norwegian Bitcoin investor, was captured by the police.
Last Monday, a horrendous homicide was reported. 24-year-old Bitcoin investor, Heikki Bjørklund Paltto, was found dead in his apartment in the Majorstuen neighborhood of Norway’s capital, Oslo.
First reports on the case stated that the victim had made a Bitcoin exchange in person shortly before his death – a fact that could be related to the decease. In this regard, authorities only claimed that they didn’t rule out economic reasons as a motive for the bloody act.
Later, it was learned that Paltto had about $120,000 in cash (thanks to his virtual currencies transactions) in his room in the apartment where he lived in. In addition, many people were aware of it. But, until that moment, the police had not pointed out any possible suspect.
However, it was known that a couple of days ago, Norwegian authorities had accused 20-year-old Swedish Makaveli Lindén as the main suspect of this crime, so his photograph was immediately disclosed and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Also, as the investigation progressed, it was announced that the incident appeared to be random and unpremeditated, since the criminal allegedly committed another knife-point robbery not far from the crime scene.
Likewise, it was reported that authorities were unaware of Lindén’s location, but that he was neither in Norway nor in Sweden, so it became an international persecution in which Interpol was involved for the case.
Arrest
After learning that Lindén had returned to his hometown in Uppsala, Sweden, but that he also fled from there, Interpol and other international security agencies such as Europol and Eurojust, started a joint operation to chase him down.
In this regard, Grete Lien Metlid – representative of the Norwegian police department – confirmed on Tuesday that the operation was successful and that Lindén was finally arrested in Dijon, France.
“It was a demanding investigation for more than a week, and last Friday we got an ID and came out with a photo, and since then we have been working on the arrest,” Metlid said.
For his part, Christian Hatlo, executive director of Interpol, said that the Norwegian police were working together with law enforcement agencies of countries such as Sweden, France and even Belgium to catch the alleged culprit.
“There has been intense hunting, which has taken place day and night,” he said.
Extradition
Since the crime took place in Norway and its perpetrator was caught in France, a legal process must be completed for Lindén to be handed over to Norway.
To do this, Hatlo reported that the Oslo police will send a team to France to carry out the interrogation as quickly as possible, in order to transfer the criminal from one country to the other to be judged.
“The request will be sent tomorrow, the time it takes will depend on the consent of the French authorities, if they agree, it can be quick, but if not, it could take months,” Hatlo explained.
At the moment, Lindén has not appointed any Norwegian defender. However, it is possible to name a French defender, since his arrest occurred in that country.
