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What is the real name of the woman who died mysteriously inside a locked room at Oslo’s Plaza Hotel? CASE DETAILS
A woman is lying face up on the bed. It is May 31, 1995. A young woman, stylishly dressed in black, registers as “Jennifer Fairgate,” at Oslo’s luxurious, 5-star Plaza Hotel, the scene of many secret high-level international meetings. Her reservation for two includes “Lois Fairgate,” presumably the dark-haired man standing near her at the front desk. Their room, #2805, is expensive, with a beautiful view of the city. Their two-day stay is quiet–hotel housekeepers are surprised by how tidy the room is, as if no one is staying there at all. After extending her visit, several notices asking Jennifer for payment appear on Room 2805’s TV screen. Someone in the room responds “ok” to each request, though no one shows up at the front desk to pay. This, along with the red “Do Not Disturb” sign that’s been hanging from the doorknob for days, catches the attention of the hotel supervisor. A part-time security guard is sent to check on Jennifer’s room, which is locked from the inside. He knocks on the door. Seconds later, he hears a gunshot coming from inside. While the guard runs back to the front desk to call police, Room 2805 is left unattended for 15 minutes.
Lars Wegner is drawn in by unanswered questions surrounding her death. Oslo police arrive to find a woman dressed in black silk pajama shorts, stockings, and black pumps lying face up on the bed. A powerful 9mm Browning pistol is positioned awkwardly in her spotless right hand. A grisly gunshot wound marks the center of her forehead. There are no signs of forced entry so her death is ruled a sad and lonely suicide.
A team of experts examine the clues. A simple wooden coffin is lowered into the ground, but other than a police detective, there’s no one to mourn the mysterious young woman inside. Because no one knows who she is. The moment investigative journalist, Lars Wegner, hears of this baffling case, he is drawn in by the number of unanswered questions surrounding her death. In fact, “Jennifer Fairgate” doesn’t actually exist—it is discovered that she checked into the hotel using an alias and a false address in Belgium. The woman’s belongings, left behind in her hotel room, contain no identifying information. All tags from her clothing have been removed and the serial number on the gun has been meticulously removed using a method associated with organized crime. Lars and his team of experts, including a former Norwegian spy and a high-tech forensics lab, examine the clues and conclude that, based on the degree of effort made to conceal “Jennifer’s” identity, the most likely theory is that she was a professional assassin or spy. Lars is convinced that if he can find the identity of this woman, he will be able to solve the baffling mystery of her death. If you have any information about her identity, contact VG newspaper at Jennifer@vg.no. |
124 Comments
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H
Just a few ideas- she might have gotten the surname from some US TV show/ soap opera, those shows were very popular in Central/ Eastern Europe in the 90s.
In the nineties there were a lot of undocumented immigrants from the Balkans, due to the war. Most of them headed for Germany and Northern Europe. Quite often they would assume fake identities to avoid problems with immigration. Women trying to escape the war zone often fell victim to human trafficking, and maybe her trying to escape that type of situation led to death/ murder.
The cutting of tags on her clothes isn’t really that suspicious and doesn’t necessarily mean she was some sort of an agent/ spy – i cut off those hellish things as well, they scratch and irritate my skin.
Also, maybe she stole them/ got them from someone and they might have some signatures on the tags, that’s why she would have cut them.
Rober
A novel in Spanish inspired by the Jennifer Fairgate case has just been published.
Very interesting!
It’s on Amazon: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CQQLYWH1
Rebecca
Someone must know who she is also the fact that no one could even get her a head stone even if they used “Jane Doe” (I know it’s a name police use for unidentified female) and where she died at least she’d have something also why not put a call out in the local press for people to attend her funeral and burial just so there would be someone there
Vasiliki
Also today a google lens search for the clothes could give a clue about the brand of each item. Needless to say that if you commit a suicide laying on the bed how on earth your hand can end up being on your body and not on the side of your head or something. Only if she was seated her hand could have fallen close to the position it was found but don’t seem like a logic position to be if she was layed.
Brenda
I’ve been thinking about her name. “Fergate” could be a mix of “iron gate” and “Porte de Fer”. I found an alley called “Rue Prte de Fer” just 40 minutes far from Rue de la Station. I think that she or the guy she was with probably lived in that area.
Anonymous
That is interesting. I think it was probably a person named pope that wanted to have fun and make her gate appearance fair.
Ashford
Could Jennifer Fergate be an East German refugee who went to Apartheid South Africa with her family and was recruited into their overseas Apartheid Spy agency and then based in Western Europe.The collapse of Apartheid in South Africa could have sent her into a tail spin.
Anonymous
A hotel room is often the last rope some people have before hitting rock bottom. The main question people have is her hands being clean from gunpowder residue. It was because of the way she held the gun. As far as her identity. Her partner in crime must have broken up with her. Either he was caught and imprisoned or passed away. And that is a lot of stigma for a lady to go through. Just any departure is tough as it is. Technically only a perpetrator can account for motive. But we see plenty of evidence for possible motives.
Benjamin
There are some strange things that happened that i think are bizarre to begin with. How was she able to check in to hotel without credit card on file to begin with? Unless if hotels allowed you to do that back in 1995 then i feel she shouldn’t been able to check in in the first place which could have prevented her to then kill herself at least at that hotel! Then the fact that they found no form of identification of any kind in her room to identify her is just bizarre! However, one point i have here i just thought of is because this is 1995 not today remember back the old days of traveling prior to 9/11 i believe it was not required to travel on airplane with valid ID like it is now! Flying i think would be only way to get to oslo from wherever she came from! So this could explain why there was no ID found behind to identify her! Im telling you right now if this were today she cant travel without ID so they would have found some sort of ID on her now days! Even back then i would travel with an id on me but you werent required to fly back then! Just keep in mind of this! Also, why didnt they do a dna swab in her mouth after deceased and then connect an anonymous profile on ancestry or 23 and me for any close relatives? I think she prob killed herself! The fact she took all labels off her clothes, gave fake name and address is weird! Whoever she is was depressed wanted to kill herself and hide herself for some reason!
Freyja
What if we are looking for the wrong person to recognize? Just a theory but she could very well be a missing child from a European country that was kidnapped and trained as an assassin. We talking European countries in 70s-80s as her upbringing and there could very easily be a lost child that was running with family from dictatorship regime across EU, if that is the case family may not have seen her since she was very young so it would be very easy to not recognize her as an adult. It was fairly common for people to try to run away from countries that were still Communist in those years and it was a known fact not all manage to do it successfully or with all of the family members crossing.
Monica
I agree with Freyja, my theory is the same, maybe she was taken from an orphanage as a young child and trained to be an assassin. I would take her photo and compose what she would have looked like at age 3 – 5 – 10 and 15 to see if anyone recognizes her as a child.
Mairead
I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this or not, but I am wondering if they have entered her DNA profile into ancestry.com or another family-finding site? Even if they can’t figure out who she is, they might find a relative.
sergiogvv
I was just thinking the exact same thing when I was about to comment, and ran into your commentary…
C. Hern
Forensic genealogy. Yes, I’m wondering why they haven’t done it yet.
Heather
That’s what I want to see done too
Danielle
It’s against the law to do genealogy in that country for a crime or something? I saw the reason somewhere. I thought they said on the episode
Lynn
I know some will think this is crazy but the type and level of the psychics that are from New Zealand and Australia that appear in the show “Sensing Murder” could walk in that hotel room and tell you everything that went down in that room, with just that drawing in his/her hand and no other information, at all!
Hollie
Bollocks
Cee dee
Love Sensing Murder!
Toblerone
Information costs.
Louise
What if someone in the hotel or in the police were in this like when the police destroyed the evidence right after they burry her, who doesn’t want the evidence to be destroyed? Just think about it, you are a police officer and are in a murder You do have the power to destroy the evidence after they bury her. And in the hotel, they didn’t check er id or anything that person could have known her or was also in this
Martina
That woman in “A perfect crime” 3rd episode is so similar to her! Even the freckles on her face. But the woman in the episode has bigger lips.
Erik
Some random observations –
Obtaining any firearm in Europe is difficult. A semi-auto pistol is impossible; so clearly this woman was connected. One with a damaged serial number is even more illegal.
She probably had 25 rounds in her bag because that’s how many come in a box. Of note: it would have been good if somebody had assessed the ammo to determine where it was manufactured.
It’s clear there was some relationship with somebody at the hotel. It’s pretty impossible to imagine a brand new guest coming in and wanting to stay in an expensive room and not providing a method of payment. If the guest had been there several times and said “oh my bag with my cards is arriving later can I just come back down and give it to you then?” I certainly could see that happening for a return guest in a luxury situation. Never for a new one.
For somebody who spoke with an east German accent (assuming it was real) who was 24 years old at the time of her death (according to carbon 14 dating) this person was extremely well-traveled and worldly. The eastern block didn’t collapse until 6 years before her death, and there was no way to leave that country. She’s walking around with in Norway speaking fluent English and German and leaving addresses in Belgium which at least somewhat exist?
It is a suicide, a message or something went wrong. Why would an intelligence agency use a non-suppressed firearm in the middle of a crowded hotel and leave a body behind. Look at the mess it has left; all these people asking questions. Not very tidy; either she killed herself there because she knew the story would get out and whoever is “supposed to know” would be therefore notified by public channels or something went wrong and she killed herself out of despair. There is absolutely no evidence anybody else was in that room, there was a struggle etc. I also disagree with the unsolved mysteries expert assessment that a 9mm is such a powerful weapon it would fly out of you hand when fired. That gun is a full frame steel pistol, and its weight absorbs most of the recoil, many women her size shoot it with great proficiency. I also don’t think we have enough data on where powder should land on a weapon that is fired with a backwards grip.
Last, and probably most unpopular: it is pretty clear that an ancestry DNA search will yield some family connections and that she could likely be pinpointed. Given what we know about this person, are we sure that’s the right thing to do? Are we sure that outing the identity of this death would not put others in danger who very clearly know something about her and aren’t saying anything?
Nimoy
this is not accurate. semi-automatic pistols can be quite easily bought depending on the country. full-automatic weapons are usually banned.
Jani
How about the security guard? He was a security and didnt go inside but choose to run?
Jennifer
Use genetic genealogy to find out who she was . . . Get CeCe Moore on the case!
Gregory Balakoff
Exactly. I was thinking the same thing. Her identity could be quickly solved. As for who did it, I’m thinking the security guard was somehow involved.
Carlos Dines
I did try to find 148 Rue De La Station and I found this address: 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Belgium. Honestly, I am not sure if they searched the wrong place but this place apparently does exist. Also, they did say that this was most likely suicide, but if it was not, then I think that one of the security guards did it. She double-locked her room, and only security guards can enter double-locked rooms, so right now there is just so much going on, but here are the things that I know. 148 Rue De La Station does exist, if it was not suicide then one of the security guards did it, and her phone number is Belgian. Really, 2 of my clues lead to the fact that she is from Belgium, not Eastern Germany.
Victor Dupuis
“Rue de la Station” (“Station Street”) is a very common street name in French-Speaking part of Belgium. It is often a street where a train station (or a former train station) is located. But the postal code and phone number don’t match with the municipality of Verlaine (postal code of Verlaine is 4537 and the phone area code is “042”, not “068”
Leah
Am I the only one who believed this was a sex trafficking scandal? Sex trafficking was still very well hidden during this time. Numerous cases have shown men who have scary connections, similar to the Mob type of relationship, cut out tags and leave girls with very little. They don’t provide any form of identification or carry much to leave a trail. This seemed very much like a scary man (maybe the one who might have been with her at the desk, “Lous”) had required her to stay in the room. I do think this was an inside job, but not exactly sure what.
Ygor
As one of the people who commented here, this address exists. If you put “Rue de la Station 148, it shows you this one: Stationsstraat 148, 1640 Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium.
Mel
That’s not the right city though. It said Verlaine.
MJ
1.)The hotel door locks appear to be Vingcard. The report that was given only states when the door was opened by an assigned key. If I remember correctly the hard/master key can be excluded from that report.
2.)Also, having managed hotels for over 20 yrs many times the doors will not self latch after exiting unless u physically pull on the door. So when the housekeepers exited the room it may have remained unlocked.
Tony S
Submit the DNA to an ancestry website, they could find out who her family is at least
Alex
She was shot in the head because when someone commits suicide they’re is a hole in the forehead, but when it’s a homicide there is a star in they’re forehead.
Anna
I seen you guys have took her DNA. Have you tried the ancestry or 23 and me to see if maybe you can link her DNA to family members. I’ve seen a detective solve a case this way.
Lara
Do you have a guest list of the hotel that time she stayed there? Any important people on that list?
Also talk to the people that worked there during that time. Especially the one at check in, the security guard, and the cleaning personelle.
None is none
Maybe she’s from houses orphan from the place she wrote that shes from !
Will Sos
El lugar visitado puede ser que hayan cometido un crimen Jenifer y su pareja antes de su muerte, eso puede dar un dato interesante, también ver que personas fueron asesinadas en la semana que murió en el hotel Jenifer, ver la ropa sin etiqueta y validar en qué lugar la compraron, por algo quitaron las etiquetas y dará un dato interesante, ver huella dactilar previo a nacimientos que oscilan en Alemania oriental 1970 a 1972
Toda información es probable
Paulius
This odly reminds me of the “Isdal Woman” case. Hotels, fake identities, removing all brands, even the sketches look similar.
Lara
Yes me too! Also that she says she is from Belgium. Sooo many similarities. There is a really good podcast on the Isdal woman: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p060ms2h/episodes/downloads
Has anyone checked, if there is a connection? I mean similarities are so striking.
Jake
I came here to comment on this also. I personally suspect both women were spies. The shooting definitely feels professional, while the Isdal woman’s demise unfortunately feels like the work of an amateur who happened to pick someone with no identity
Nail
Letting her into the hotel without requiring payment was an inside job. This explains why there are no footages or further information provided by the staff or by the hotel manager. She was a special agent and was there on a mission to assassin some politician (look up who stayed there at the time). Either the opposite agency found out about her and finished her before the operation or she refused to do it and her agency took her life away. Now knowing that palestinian and Israeli politicians used to secretly meet, and the fact that the woman was originally from Germany ( Clue: holocaust, soinism etc) i think we all can agree that she was on the Israeli side to finish a palestinian politician.
I am sure I’m not the only person who has this theory.
Mr. Right
I agree. It had to be someone who had connections to security at the hotel. They could have also easily erased the moment on the time card where they entered her room as well. Super fishy. Definitely connected to some other big government officials who were staying there. It’s not so much a mystery of how she might have died as much as who covered it up so well and why. Did they have connections or sway over the Norwegian police as well? I wonder.
RP
But if she was a professional spy or assassin, wouldn’t she have been more careful with her name (different spellings) and signatures (completely different on the restaurant receipt and on check-in)? I imagine such details are really spy / assassin 101
David L
Strangely i watched on netflix A perfect crime and on the 3rd episode 6 min 5 second s thers a woman commenting on events from east germany n strangely looks very similar to this woman in the oslo case. maybe its a coincidence but very similar lokking in so many ways
Hunor
If we assume that she comes from East-Germany, then probably she also graduated school there and there is a chance she has a photo in some year-book or some other archive in one of the schools there. If someone would go and scan graduation photos from the relevant time period from archives of East-German schools and use modern software tools (e.g. Artificial Intelligence) to run through all those photos and compare the facial markers with the photo of the unidentified person, there is a chance that the software could identify her, or at least provide a subset of most likely matches.
Lara
First of all, it is not very common to have a year book in schools. There are picture days, but you get the pictures and exchange with class mates. There is not a collection in the school.
Secondly, many many documents from eastern Germany got destroyed after the Wende (tear down of wall).
Ree
They should be looking for “Lois”…
Sasha
Yes people, check out the VG artickle linked so many times here for so many of your questions get answered there! I think it’s so disappointing that the netflix episode left out many important details. But the similarities to the Isdal woman is crazy to me. They were both (almost) definitely involved with the secret intellegence of some sort. And I agree with many here that the police didn’t do a “crappy” job, they covered for someone!
Francisco Navarro
Can you create a profile on one of the DNA genealogy services and identify existing relatives that way, whom you then interview?
Sila
I have been watching refence files. Were her hands checked for gunshot residue?
L
”He knocks on the door. Seconds later, he hears a shot from inside. While the guard runs back to the front desk to call the police, room 2805 is unattended for 15 minutes.”
But .. there were two shots
one on the pillow and another in ”Jennifer”
And the guy who knocked on the door just heard a
So … it means that the first shot, the shot that the guy heard was on the pillow
And soon when he left and the room went without a surveillance of 15 minutes, had the second shot
The second shot was in those 15 minutes.
Jay
The first shot (into the pillow) could have been made BEFORE the shot that was heard by the security guard. Perhaps no one but the shooter heard that first shot. Thus, the fatal shot could have been the shot heard by the security guard. I’m only commenting to explain that it could have been either way.
I also want to comment on the theory that the shot that the security guard heard was some kind of warning shot. Really? A warning shot? What was the warning supposed to be – “Get away from the door because I have a gun!”? And who might hear that warning shot? Not only the guard at the door, but all the guests in the nearby rooms – who might then have opened their room doors and looked out into the hall – just in time to see the shooter leaving Room 2805. No, I don’t see it happening that way. I think that if the shot that was heard by the security guard was the “pillow shot,” Jennifer (JF) would have been smart enough to ask who was at the door and, if it was the security guard, would have told him/her that she had just gotten out of the shower and that she would get dressed and go downstairs to the desk in ten minutes. If the security guard who knocked at the door had a key to let himself/herself in, JF could explain that the shot the guard heard must havew come from the TV. If the security guard wanted to press the issue – well, JF had a gun, didn’t she!
L
When the police after the guard had deciding and the room was unveiled for 15 minutes, the police when they first entered the room 2805 they smelled a sour, I suppose it is the smell of corpse in decomposition, I researched and delayed Between 12 hours to 24 hours for the corpse to start stink, I started to wonder if the killer killed Jennifer not on Saturday night (03), but earlier that same day or Friday (02), one day before Jennifer is found. This means that she died earlier than that guard shot after knocking on the door. I must also mention that in the autopsy was found 50ml of non-digested food in the stomach that was requested by Jennifer on Friday night, it is strange because the stomach digest faster than that if she ate a day before her death.
If you have Discord and want to debate more about Jennifer’s case, call me there:
Impetus#8697
Steff
I don’t understand why y’all haven’t checked to see we’re the gun was from? Maybe that could figure out what had happened to her or where she came from before getting to the hotel. If that was even her gun in the first place
Isabelle
the registration number was removed professionally, so it can’t have had any way of finding out where it was bought.
Chris
Did they check her hands for gunshot residue? Why aren’t they mentioning this? I think that would have made it pretty clear if she was the one who shot the gun or not.
Despina
Then they poorly searched for proper evidence as the police thought it was suicide. The police never checked cameras (that way they could have the face of the man that was reported with her while checking in) . They also haven’t searched for drugs in her blood other than alcohol. These are important evidence that just haven’t been checked on time and it was too late to find afterwards when the case was changed to murder .
That gaps that police left and also the gaps the receptionist left(not checking id or credit cards) just make me feel that the person behind this is man of power.
Shannon
They did look for blood on both of her hands and did not find any blood on her hands whatsoever. I don’t actually understand why they are assuming it was a suicide when there was no blood on her hands and the gun was positioned in a way that is very uncommon. What also occurs often in suicide is that people shoot themselves through the roof of their mouth or the side of their head but usually not on the forehead. These theories imply that it could have a been a homocide.
David
How about the story of “Peter Bergmann”?! He has the identical story as Jennifer Fergate! When I say identical means it looks like he was copying her but, the origin of this man it`s the same as her German!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVOZ7YPOakI&t=989s
Reddish
I watched this on Netflix, there are some strange things that raise my question:
1. Why did nobody ask the hotel management? This woman was given access to an expensive bedroom without having any ID and credit cards.
2. The security door can be traced when opened from outside only. But there were some plates and all in the room, so this woman ordered room service several times, and nobody question the staff who brought the food? That can be a possibility she ordered room service and somebody faked to be a hotel staff bringing food, knocked on the door, and when she opened it, this person barged in.
3. Whether the police checked if her face is altered through plastic surgery.
4. It’s just something about the security who waited several minutes before going downstairs to call the head of security.
Is it normal to hear gunshots in Norway? How was the firearm regulation that time? If not, a normal person would have run anxiously and called the police.
But the hotel security waited some minutes behind the door before he called the head of security, and later on called the police. Why not right away upon hearing the shot?
Boudour
She is from Israel just check this point thr face her leaps just like them it’s hard to find who she is because those time of people are chosen from orphanage no family no emotions nothing she was there for a mission but it went wrong. Her death was close to the 11 of sep 2011 check who was there at that period of time.
Hercule Poirot
The lab tests concluded she was born in communist East Germany around 1971 buddy, I can almost guarantee she was not on Israel’s side. She more likely
supported the PLO struggle.
Hercule Poirot
She most definitely was NOT from Israel, nor likely working for them. Her test results put her as being born around 1971 in communist East Germany.
If anything she was a young Stasi operative, or an anti-Semitic revolutionary supporting the PLO who were in talks with the Israelis in May/June 1995 at that hotel.
Mariah Chapman
I think the clothing she has can be of some importance. Her shoes for example… they have a ‘made in Italy’ label still on the inside sole of the shoe. That label wasn’t established until 1980 officially and then placed on shoes/clothing. Then there is the jacket she had that still had a label on the inside. That is a luxury brand as well. It’s no surprise that her items are high end, but high end shoes have so many minute details to identify them. I’d take those shoes to a lux brand store to be examined. That’s a possible lead.
C
Check her DNA with Ancestry DNA
Bria
My theory is, Jennifer was either a child who lived her whole life at an orphanage or a product of human trafficking, so no one could identify her, because her name has been changed. And she became an assassin or an agent, Or was in a relationship with one. Or another agent from another group found out who she really was and killed her. He might have been staying on the same floor of the hotel and Following her footsteps and might have been in and out of her room with the other key card or a security guards key. There are so many theories, so many questions and pieces to put together.
Did you check at orphanages for children her age range?
Was her hair dyed or not?
Did Forensic report identified if she ever had a child?
What about the hotel cameras?
Did she have any residue under her finger nails?
What perfume or deodorant or products did she use? Or branding.
How long did she leave and get back based on the keycard slips.
How often were the calls?
Was the security paid to never talk?
Arthur Copeland
I agree she was probably an espionage agent or part of a large organized crime outfit like the Serbian mob. she was on an assignment and the opposition found it out and killed her. alternatively the man, “Lois” she travelled with was on ” special assignment” from higher ups in the organization or spy agency –unbeknownst to her” to kill her for not doing a job or for some other disloyalty in fact I am told one of the ” final questions” a spy faces when joint outfits like the CIA is that if you form a friendship even to the point of having sexual intercourse’s with someone, if later the agency finds out they are opposition will you kill them? guess who gets to join the outfit –only those who answer YES to that question so a likely candidate is the man, ” Lois” that she travelled with. to get into a 5 star resort without a credit card or payment in advance speaks of an inside job paid off by the espionage agency, the crime outfit or some other 3d party close to the situation she was likely killed by the opposition who tracked her or by ” Lois” for not completing a task or for some other disloyalty and was probably almost a ” set up” to do this. it was well planned and unbeknownst to her until the last moment
Arthur Copeland
the lack of pants or skirt may reflect that whoever killed her removed them since they may have had some form of incriminating evidence or some other evidence that was not to be known, perhaps a label that could not be removed that would identify her if she had sex they may have semen stains or blood stains that could be used for DNA analysis. so it points to whomever killed her and this case is a homicide until proven otherwise. she also is more likely to be a spy or an assassin
Christi
Has anyone ran her DNA through any of the genealogy companies?
Dante
Good morning!, when reading between the comments I see that it was not far from the opinion of many, but … it seems to me that I can have two probable stories: 1 ° what led the depressed woman to the place maybe her sadness or maybe not .. and simply the whole case was armed inside the hotel: on what arguments? well, it is a very prestigious hotel, nobody can touch them. lawyers, quarters can cover or pay everything to a good prestigious detective of that time to cover all the details at the time that happened at that time. So … what is the version I have? well, this is one: the place is a prestigious place, no less is expected to provide: trust (pay even when leaving the hotel), security of the people who reside, my point is that since everyone knows the terms ” uncovered “,” intelligence “, the hotel security at that time would have good options to put together a room for what they decided to have done with her, what justifies it? .. well the woman dresses mostly in black that shows a woman in mourning or depressed too right? but I do not register a pagp or card although that can be confirmed by the staff, but what happens if someone does not pay for a residence in a 5-star hotel?,
The logical answer could be that the culprit pays for it, who will let him in, who knows if it were a hotel policy, no one could know, but … what is a security guard in a hotel so what does it cost? Well, I imagine that it is the expoatorio goat, the one that pays the most for the broken dishes in some circumstances at that time, And what would happen? I would not pretend to blame a guard, but to be a 5-star hotel, it would not be worth it for a guard to register well that those who enter will not carry weapons for the safety of other people inside? Yes Someone will carry a weapon .. won’t they confiscate it until they leave? the weapon could well have belonged to the woman. and then how many days would pass? 2, or 3 and the woman in depression would be wandering around the hotel when they did not see her, alone, perhaps looking for attention and some talk from someone. How much should I in that time? Of course the security of the hotel would not be losing sight of her from the second day, perhaps she would pretend to escape stealthily and not pay? (guard mentality) or maybe they see her loneliness or coldness in her eyes as an indicator of threat to people inside the hotel so getting rid of her will see it as their job and doing the hotel a favor .. uhm among more I think about it, I don’t think there is a possible scenario where they see her enter with a weapon, much less confiscate it, being the case of seeing one they would ask her for payment in advance or not let her in. So what could it be? I would think that the hotel could well confiscate many weapons by members of security, and then they would use some, the most affected by the loss or responsibility for their entry would have to “take care” in some way, and how? Well, she enters her room, interrogates her because she has no way to pay, she wanted to barely pay attention, she continues to be depressed, the guard loses patience and gets no more answers and thinks that she is of some “intelligence” and interrupted some crazy plan ( They would not lack imagination at that time) and decide to act quickly, as they say: they plant the weapon wrong and set the stage and what about the entry and exit records of the place? Well, the software that they handle, no matter how modern it is, as well as the cameras in that hotel, whoever designed the system or who handles it is likely to need to manipulate at will, you know the hotel cannot be linked to anything that happens inside taking the category it has for human error.It was already something perhaps rehearsed or mentalized for whoever did it, so quickly when he took the action of planting the weapon (doing it wrong) he ran in the preparations to erase the record of his entry. 15 min is enough if the one who does it is one of the few who know how to do it. That is to say, ask yourself: that is, does it sound reasonable? A woman of “intelligence” is not usually men at that time? Enter “armed”? Suicide “on the” third day “why wait as long if your determination was since you got a gun? Who would have more facilities to enter your room, because it is already seen as a fact that someone put the gun in his hand. It is a hotel 5 stars as someone of intelligence could violate it? The day that it was affirmed that that was possible, I imagine that it would be worse if someone died in it without apparent explanation.
Ihop
That’s dumb
Kim
Were her hands ever checked for gunshot residue? Considering she had no bruising or blood to her hands would suggest she didn’t shoot the gun
Susan Price
I have an Ancestry account and have had some success at building family trees for people through their DNA. I would love to have a go at having a look at her DNA profile.
Sue
Anonymous
I knew nothing about this case until today. I am half Swedish, and the female Police Chief looks a lot like My Aunt! I have never been to Norway, only seen it in books and films. A few thoughts. First, were there two key cards or 4 total? The *excellent* lengthy VG article linked in the comment above says she was given two additional new keycards a day or two into her stay. Second, was Lois a Woman, or did Jennifer specify that it was a Man? Third, the fact the room service was meant for another room is strange, or was it a fluke? Had she called it in from another room, then gone back to her room? the other room’s newspaper is another oddity. It has an unidentified fingerprint. Was the person spoken to that was in that room too? Was she a prostitute? Had she been stolen from? Maybe she had arrived with a great deal of or just some cash? did the calls to order the room come from belgium? Did they trace her arrival on boat or plane? Fifth, the delay in eating is strange. is it possible she was there for a whole day before they found her, and ate it Friday, then lay undetected? Sixth, is it possible the second shot was fired that was the blank to frighten away the knocker? Or impossible because the second shot was under Her? Seventh, has hotel Staff been investigated? Eighth, could an average normal person remove tags for comfort? Less likely i suppose considering that shoe ones were removed too. Ninth, sad that there were no rape kits or fingernail scraping? So relevant. Or bathtub residue drain residue in case the Person showering was not her. 10th what about cc tv? 11th the address in the VG article {excellent work btw, and I just saw a cool new show called Wisting where the female Character works as a journalist at VG and her Dad the title character is a cop and they both solve crimes} is clearly Rue de la Station. It’s scrawled yet to Me anyway very legible and obvious. This may help in rental records etc. And perhaps the receptionist at the hotel just spelled it wrong by mistake when taking the phone call, and it really is Fergate. is it possible that two different women called in to reserve the room, since in one call the caller spoke english and in another, german? I was surprised they sold her possessions instead of keeping them as evidence. This may be customary I have no idea. As an aside, this hotel is featured in the great Norwegian film THE QUAKE. An iconic place! She had seemed to order an iron. Did the hotel have a laundry? Is that where her skirt//other clothes were? why wasnt the linen evidence saved? Was She sharing the room with another man or woman? Could the witness have seen another woman in the room instead, the skirted woman with the shoes, maybe a flight attendant or relative or friend? this might explain the duvets? Unless she was cold? In English Lois is a Woman’s name. or were her skirt and shoes stolen or removed from the scene? Could Someone have come to stay with her bc it would not have registered the open door, when they entered, and when she went out it would not have registered. So maybe she was not out the whole day. Or possibly. Maybe she was having an affair with a Norwegian or Belgian or someone else and it ended badly. Or she was simply sad and depressed and suicidal for some reason. The do not disturb sign is interesting too. That could mean any number of things. Was she simply depressed scared and distraught she could not pay the thousand dollar bill and when the knock came she ended her life. Weird too someone reported it being told to them before anyone knew. wonder if they will do reverse familial dna. Happy that DNA evidence is more advanced now. it really helps solve crimes. All of it is so strange. This kind of detective puzzle is like straight out of Agatha Christie Anne Holt Henning Mankell or Jo Nesbo etc. It just is so perplexing! makes me want to be a cop! Makes us all want to solve it! Anyway Just some thoughts. Hope it can be solved! Thanks for your cool smart insights! My thoughts and prayers are with the victim. Have a good day!
Tim
Isn’t it a little late for prayers?
Darragh
They could put her DNA into ancestor websites like in the golden state killer case where the detective done this and found a relative of the killer and could track him down this way maybe they could do the same with her DNA and find a relative of hers
Hernan
there are keys in her address one of them is the area code belongs to the netherlands 7963, Verlaine is a literary work which says that she was murdered with her lover’s gun, maybe the lover is a private agent like the fbI
Marilyn
She provided an address in Verlaine, Belgium with a phone number that could be associated with that address. Could it be possible she had a relative who lived in Verlaine at some point in time; did she use that relative’s information and simply change a few things? That might explain why the mayor of that village did not recognize her sketch. Perhaps you should look at the residents of Verlaine at the time of the murder. Was there a family of East German descent living in the village? Did that family have a relative who might resemble the sketch? I would not give up on the Verlaine link quite yet.
K
I was a hotel front desk clerk in a large city for several years in the mid-90s, and we absolutely required payment at check-in. And If you put down a credit card, we were required to ask for ID. Then we put a hold on the card for however many nights the guest was staying. You could pay with cash without an ID, but you had to pay for your entire stay plus an extra deposit for incidentals (phone calls, room service, pay movies). You would get your deposit- or whatever amount you didn’t use- back at check-out. The hotel procedures here seem very odd- especially for a big city like Oslo.
Lenka
definitely the second “La Femme Nikita”! her look, her clothes, her haircut, her eating habits… the name was a joke – there is no surname like “Fairgate”; her handwriting looks like to be from the former Soviet Union area or former Yugoslavia; and I remember Paul VERLAINE tried to kill his friend Arthur Rimbaud in the hotel room with a revolver
V
I’ve found some things that I don’t remember from the documentary:
1) the man (Lois) who supposedly was in the lobby, had a reservation in the same room with Jennifer, but then she stayed alone?
2) there was a second keycard? wasn’t she alone in the room?
3) the guy who carried her dinner said she was wearing a skirt (that wasn’t in the room when discovered the body). How? Did she throw It from 28° floor? Did the killer took the clothes?
4) there was a man from Belgium (Mr. F) staying at the room in front of hers. He left the hotel in the morning (before the gunshot), but then when he was asked, he said he didn’t hear anything that night. This man was never located. Does he know more than it seems? Maybe the timeline isn’t right?
5) How they know she had the “do not disturb” sign for 2 days? Did they look at the door every hour to see any changes? Or is it just a coincidence?
L
i have mixed feelings
I think someone reserved that room for her and forced her to suicide (and the hotel is part of the murder). So she is playing with the gun like getting ready to shot herself when the guard knocks the door (could’ve think that was the person who forced her) and as a reflex she pulls the trigger. This situation could also be as a murder: heard something and shot quickly as a reflex.
But that doesn’t explain how her hands were clean and without the cctv we don’t know if someone exited the room.
We can also think that the person who killed her entered the room with her (according to the records) but if it was closed and someone from intelligence entered, would that be in the records if they didn’t use a card? Could a person entered at like 10am and surprised her?
And we also know that she entered the hotel with a bag full of bullets. Again, was she forced to kill herself? Was she a killer that resulted killed?
I can’t stop thinking that someone made up that reservation and the whole situation with the receptionist (and would explain why she didn’t need an ID or passport). She may be an agent trying to not be identified
anonymous
I think she was a spy given her identity has not been traced and she was very smart at concealing her identity at the check-in desk and checked in without giving her identity or raising an iota of doubt on the hotel personnel. I think she may be playing with the gun and knock on the door scared her and she shot herself accidentally.
Viviane Zago Sartor
they didn’t say it happened with a similar case in norway in 1970 i think it has some connection with this 1995 case of Jennifer Fairgate.
matti
she was Burnt puzzle for intelligence services either country’s.
I. den Boer
I have just entered a tip. The way the woman has written numbers are the same the way children are tought to write numbers in Germany: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFMSJiiC8K8
Kosmin
Verry intresting ,but i.m sure somebody know s well what happen there.
The police ,some of the staff from the hotel at that time they know something but they keep secret
She was a spy for sure .
And that security guy who was there when gun shot happen then he go down and he came back after 15 minutes ,maybe also he know something cause if i.m was in his side then i.m was staying there waiting for reinforcements but not leaving for 15 mins so…..”Jennifer” she knew some important secrets informations that s why the “Assasin” killed her and autorities could know something but they can t do nothing because “somebody with bigger rank” told them to “stay back”
Michal
The journalist has conducted a much deeper investigation than we learn from this Netflix episode. You can read the English version on the Norwegian newspaper site: https://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/i/xRjoWp/mystery-at-the-oslo-plaza
Vincent
I think that it might be a suicide because she left her room sometimes and if someone wanted to kill her then why didn’t he follow her when she went out? If it was a killer, then why did the killer kill her in the hotel room? That is a stupid location to fire with a pistol. But yeah this is a very weird case to be honest….
Maia
I think it was the security guard.
1) Why would the assassin WAIT for someone to knock on the door? people would know something was up.
2) He had access to the security cameras, he could have turned it off!
3) He waited “To see if anyone would come out,” but why didn’t HE CALL FOR BACKUP?!?!?!
4) When he was “waiting” he could have been, i don’t know, CLEANING UP THE EVIDENCE THAT IT WAS HIM?!
5) He could have been the one who let her in the room without credit card and/or license
6) He could have had connections to someone in the police force
7) He is a security guard, he had access to her room.
Nouran
I watched this one a couple of days ago but I think I remember them saying that they found where she grew up. couldn’t they go to schools there and see the documents of the students who went there? maybe they will be able to find her picture or they could just research and find every student.
Carmen Ortiz
As someone already mentioned, with the aid of DNA data banks such as 23andMe or Accessory.com, it’s now possible to get a match to a close or distant relative of the woman to help narrow down her identity. I can’t believe this was not mentioned or tried. Of course if she was a secret assassin, then I’m sure there are ways to erase her DNA links from those data banks.
Juliana
As everyone else on here, I have a few thoughts.
1. Someone has already pointed this out, and I’m sure the journalist has thought about it as well, but, why would the killer wait for someone to knock to shoot the woman? They mention things had been cleared out – no toiletries or ID, the bottom garments, and so on. Why would a killer remove all of that first and then carry out the actual murder at the very last second? Perhaps she was actually staying at a different place, and she was only at this hotel room as part of her mission. Perhaps the clothes that she brought in were just meant to make it look like someone was staying there so there was nothing to actually clear out? Still, the timing of the shot doesn’t make sense to me.
2. In any case, it’s fair to question if some of the hotel staff at the time were involved. She was given a room without any proper procedure, and again, the timing of the shot is weird. Perhaps the security guard that knocked on the door was actually alerting the killer of a cue, if indeed that’s when she was shot? Why did it take fifteen minutes for someone to come back up?
3. I think it might be worth releasing some sketches with different hairstyles and different hair colours. People can look entirely different going from long hair to a shot pixie cut. Especially someone so young, it’s not unreasonable to think she looked fairly different up to her trip to Norway.
João
This whole case is a bit strange.
The security story is very poorly told and they must investigate the security. A person who wants to kill another person will not wait for someone to knock on the door to fire a gun and there will be witnesses, if the security guard knocked on the door if someone wanted to kill someone, they would not do it right now because they would be very exposed. If he heard gunshots because he left the scene and simply did not contact the supervisor by radio?
Another thing that is strange is the fact that the hotel has a CCTV system and the police do not want to see them. Both on the bedroom floor and at the reception there must be at least one, and they could easily identify the man who appeared to be with her at check in.
Both the hotel and the security guards appear to play an important role in the case, which the police simply dismissed.
Another thing is that the address she supposedly put at check in really exists, you can check it on google street view, how did you go to the location and didn’t find the house? If on google street view there is a house with the number 148 on the street that she placed?
James
They only checked for alcohol! Then when they dug her up later what did they find in her system. Why did the security guy just run away when he heard the gunshot. Did anybody ask the check-in clerk why they let her in without a passport or ID. There is surely a reason for the tags on her clothes to be missing. The hand grip on the gun was fake and contrived by someone else.
Radu
To me, the hotel employees seem very suspicious.
Denisse
Wow me asombra la respuesta de las personas! Como es posible que el investigador que lleva años en el caso no se le haya ocurrido todas estas opciones de las que hablan los comentaristas???
Slick
I don’t think it’s a matter of incompetence. Lets assume that she was a secret agent / spy or assassin. Maybe, there’s already a hit in a dna database but the records are sealed / confidential / classified.
“Niclas” already referred to the “Isdal Woman”.
But a more recent case (2009) is that of “Peter Bergmann”. Why are these people still unidentiefied? Maybe it should stay just the way it is…..
Mosa
If you can’t find her family you’re just incompetent
Yoma
23andMe… Ancestry.com lots of DNA places narrow down family members all around the world
Ratch82
YES! I kept screaming this in my head as I was watching the episode. I do not understand why this has not been done yet.
Dalva
According to the police report, was found food in the hotel room where she is found dead.
The food was analizaed for the poiice? What type of food? Tipical region?
She was left hand ou right hand?
The police analized her caligrafy?
Maybe the number adrees she give is a 14+8 or 1+4+8?
She buy the food in the restaurant in Oslo or ordering the food on the hotel?
The green bag has a brand name ou etiquet?
The hotel room 2805 is on 2° floor ou 28° floor? If is the 2° another person could jump from the window?
2805 is the hotel number room, she dies on 31/05 (3 days window), just the sames days she stay on the hotel.
Check the birthadays womens on 28/05/1971 and 31/05/1971 in Germany and next locations;
Slick
The only label that was left was in a grey blazer. The blazer was from the German fasion house, René Lezard.
A turquoise travel bag was from the German manufacturer Travelite. The Travelite logo too remained in place, irremovable without cutting the bag.
Marcus Richardson
I think her misspelling of Fairgate as Fergate could be a significant clue. The English word “fair” has been imported into the languages of the former Yugoslavia (Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian) as an Anglicism. In sport for example, the concept of “fair play” is rendered “fer plej”. Or when people want to say “it’s not fair” they’ll say “nije fer”. The “fer” is pronounced the same way as English “fair”, just with a Slavic accent. It’s not pronounced like the ending of “Jennifer”, for example. So this may be a case of accidental confusion of “fair” and “fer” in the fake name.
Some other things that make me think she could come from the former Yugoslavia:
1. She has a Balkan “look” to her, both in terms of facial features/hair color etc. and body type, and also the predominance of dark clothing, which was very typical of Bosnia/Croatia/Serbia in the mid-90s.
2. By June 1995 war had been raging in Bosnia and Croatia for several years. One of the many consequences of those brutal wars was the birth of numerous mafia-style criminal groups, often led by (former) military/paramilitary leaders who were heavily involved in the commission of war crimes and organized crime that spread through Europe, particularly with drug trafficking and prostitution. These gangs – particularly Serbian groups – were ruthless and led by men with significant military training and combat experience. They had established a significant presence in Scandinavia by the mid 90s – particularly in Sweden and Denmark, but no doubt were always looking to expand their territories into the likes of Oslo. Just google “Serb mafia Scandinavia” and you will see more about this.
3. The Browning pistol was commonly seen in military/paramilitary circles in the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s.
4. A lot of speculation here has been on whether this was an intelligence-related thing or criminal underworld. Serbia in particular in the 1990s under President Milosevic blurred the boundaries between intelligence agencies/special forces and paramilitary thugs. See for example the notorious Special Operations Unit (aka Red Berets) which was formed by merging several notorious paramilitary units and placing them under the command of State Security. So outfits like this were in some ways both organized criminal gangs and extensions of a country’s state security apparatus. They had all the trappings and impunity of an intelligence organization, and the criminal mentality to commit ruthless crimes.
So, I think there is a strong possibility that this is Balkan mafia-related. DNA profiling should be re-examined. Even if no close matches can be found, a good estimate of her ethnicity should be very easy to do and if she was from the Balkans this would show up very easily.
Source: I speak Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, have lived in Serbia in the mid 90s and have a lot of inside knowledge of the wars in the Balkans and related paramilitary activities and organized crime.
Mary Gorman
I believe she can be identified using a genetic detective! I was surprised they hadn’t tried that!!
Den
Reverse DNA
Den
Reverse DNA, that’s the way to find her !!
sally
check out the missing children’s names in different countries, she might be kidnaped …
Renee
They should use Gedmatch- that is the company that solved the Golden State Killer murder mystery in California. It can show family lines and if any of her realtives are in the system thus getting us closer to her identity. I wondered about the cctv footage as well. They should be able to track her everymove. How did she pay everywhere she went? Cash? And who let her in the hotel not paying???? Someone checked her in- did they not ask for ID? I mean i get this was the 90’s but someone let her in and broke protocol checking her in. So many loose ends. Where was Lois? When was the last time he was seen?
Penca
For me it ends in 98 as well…
adyel
I think Cece Moore can Identify this woman. Why cant we ask her? This one case left me baffled similar to the feeling i had when i watched the Rey Rivera’s case. They never said anything about dental records…or if they could track down her clothes to a manufacturer, check distributors around Europe…make some sense of where she bought them. There must be still evidence on those clothes. And the gun, can they tell if it was fired previous to the event?
ally
I think it was the security guard.
1) he had access to the security cameras so he could have easily destroyed them which is why they had no way of checking them.
2) why would they wait to shoot after he had knocked on the door? they wouldn’t if the security had gone in the room , the killer could have easily been compromised and intelligence wouldn’t have done that
3) the security guard mentioned that he wait a long period of time to see if anyone came out of the room then ran down stairs, why couldn’t he just call for backup why would he have left the scene
4) when he supposedly waited after the gun shot he could have easily been the one destroying all the evidence before notifying anyone else
5) he is a security guard he could’ve let her in to the hotel which explains why she was let in without any sort of ID or credit card , if it was any other hotel there would have not let her in without any sort of identification or payment
6) he could’ve had someone in the police force helping him which explains why he was never throughly interviewed considering that he was the only one on scene and their biggest lead
7) also if he did have connections to the police force that would explain why the investigation why not throughly conducted
8) he is a security guard for the hotel he had access to her room
Niclas
There was a pretty similar case in 1970 also in Norway called “isdal women” which was talked about in a Podcast (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isdal_Woman?wprov=sfti1).
Maybe the cases have more similarities than appearing on the first look, but obnvious are the missing tags on everything and that she was never identified with roots in europe, connections to belgium and germany as well.
Rawan
i read about this case and i find the name os israel there and then you read about jenifer case and again at the same hotel there was israli – palestnian secret meetings .
WOW
Giani
This case was covered up by the police. They’ve had a suspect murder and no one has checked the cctv’s inside the hotel ?! How it’s that possible ? Also, no drug tests ? I doubt that hey are so poor prepared. It’s sad but i think this was a counter Spionage murder due to the coverage and the missing evidence such as the labels of her clothes.
Dana
If she wasn’t in intelligence then I think perhaps the man she was with was. She could have been his mistress or someone she was involved with who was involved with shady stuff. I agree, putting her DNA in ancestry websites is our best bet now. We can find out who she is possibly related to and work backwards from that. I am really upset that the police didn’t check cameras at all when they first reported. Also if her parents were like between 22-26 when they had her, her parents would be around 70-75 now, so possibly still alive now.
Cristi Whitehead
I got really excited when I saw that Jennifer’s DNA was tested. But, I was expecting a little more, such as suggested above. Test her DNA through MyHeritage, Ancestry, 23&me, she is bound to have family who have tested. It may take time, but her family can be narrowed down with autosomal DNA.
Kimberly Krebs
I said the same thing out loud to myself! lol
They went to the trouble to exhume her body for DNA. There are several DNA and forensic companies (like Parabon Nanolabs) that work with law enforcement to solve cold cases. It’s worth a shot.
Kevin
The unusual things in this case which were not fully explained or further investigated in the episode.
1) Why was she allowed to check in and go to her room without producing any ID or credit card? I don’t know of any hotel that would allow that!
2)What happened to the cctv footage of her in the reception? Why did that mysteriously disappear?
3) The security guard heard the shot after he knocked on her door. Why would an assassin wait until someone knocks on her door before he shoots her?
4) How could the assassin be certain the guard wouldn’t immediately open the door to find out what had happened? He would then have to also shoot the guard!
Aly
I wish we knew more about the man she showed up with, Luis. Maybe someone out there would know/speak up about him.
Fred
They said that the adress she gave
« 148 rue de la station, Belgium » does not exists, but it exists in Google Streetview..
Kasper Grøndahl
Has anyone thought about running the womans DNA profile through sites as Myharitage and s o forth. In case that could prove a match?