Spoke about God, the devil and Jesus Christ during his arrest

Alfreð Erling Þórðarson, a 45-year-old man accused of killing a couple in Neskaupstaður on August 21, was reportedly on his way down to Hallgrímskirkja church to light a cross when he was arrested.

A police officer who sat with him in a police car just after he was arrested says Þórðarson was very calm and cooperative.

“I have rarely had a conversation like this with anyone,” said the police officer who gave a report in the main hearing of the case yesterday.

“He just talked about God and the devil and Jesus Christ, he said he was working through them. This was not a normal conversation,” the police officer said.

Doing a job for God or the devil

When asked what Þórðarson had said, when asked what errand he was on when he was arrested, the police officer said:

"He just said he was on his way down to Hallgrímskirkja to do some work for God or the devil. He was going to set fire to a cross in front of Hallgrímskirkja," the police officer said.

Þórðarson is accused of using a hammer to attack the couple and repeatedly hitting them in the head. He has long struggled with mental health problems and had been sentenced to 12 weeks of compulsory psychiatric care at the time of the murders. Þórðarson chose not to elaborate on the circumstances of the case, but he appeared at the main hearing yesterday morning and gave a brief statement. There he made it clear that he did not want to answer further questions or explain the facts of the case. He did not want to comment on his mental evaluation.

This considerably disrupted the agenda of the main hearing, but the prosecutor expected to be able to take a statement from the accused and, among other things, present him with a video.

A special forces officer gave a report

A special forces officer who arrived at the scene on Strandgata in Neskaupstaður on August 22 last year says that coming to the scene was, to say the least, unpleasant. He says there were bloodstains on the walls.

The special forces officer gave a report in court yesterday.

"We go through the main door and you can see right away that there are drops of blood and splashes there, not a lot, just a little," said the special forces officer.

The special forces received a call shortly after the emergency services arrived at the scene, but the first ambulance crews to arrive at the scene believed that a firearm had been used.

The special forces officer said that initial information about the case had been unclear, but that further information was received while they were on their way to the scene. The special unit was called in from Akureyri and arrived on the scene long after Þórðarson was arrested in Reykjavík on August 22.

A policewoman who was the first to arrive on the scene has also given a statement. She entered the scene first and, like the paramedics, believed that a firearm may have been used.

Knitted socks for the person who murdered her

Alfreð Erling Þórðarson, a 45-year-old man accused of killing a couple in Neskaupstaður in August last year, was a frequent guest at the couple he is accused of killing.

People close to the victims Björgvin Ólafur Sveinsson and Rósa G. Benediktsdóttir say that Alfreð often came to their place and had food. Then Heiðar Sveinsson, the brother of the deceased, said that Benediktsdóttir, among other things, knitted socks for Þórðarson.

"He has come over the years and had food. Rósa has knitted socks for him," said Heiðar and added: "He came when he was hungry."

First to arrive

Sveinsson arrived at his brother Björgvin and his sister-in-law Rósa’s home as they lay in their blood on the bathroom floor.

Þórðarsonis accused of hitting them with a hammer and repeatedly hitting them in the head. They died from their injuries.

Sveinsson was the first to arrive at the scene after Björgvin's friend, Valgeir Kristján Guðmundsson, had called him and asked him to check on the couple. Sveinsson had keys to his brother and sister-in-law's apartment. He describes the approach as follows:

"So I went there, opened the door and went in. When I entered the hallway, I noticed blood. I walked into the living room and saw no movement there. Then I went into the garage. Then I went halfway up to the attic, called out and got no answer. Then I noticed that the bathroom was closed and opened it, of course. Then I saw my brother lying on the floor there and my sister-in-law behind the door. And I just froze and was in shock.”

Sveinsson says he then called Valgeir, he and his son, Hafþór Ingi Valgeirsson, came quickly and he left the house. Then Valgeirsson went inside, but Hafþór is also the brother-in-law of the accused, Alfreð Erling Þórðarson.

Valgeirsson also gave a statement to the district court yesterday.

“I knew for sure that they were dead”

Valgeirsson also testified that Þórðarson had sometimes been a guest at Björgvin and Rósa’s over the years. “He would sometimes stop by and have coffee in the evenings and eat when he was hungry.”

When Sveinsson had called Valgeirsson, he immediately called the emergency line while the father and son arrived at the scene. When he arrived at the scene, he went into the house.

The emergency line representative asked Valgeirsson to take the couple's vital signs, and when he found no signs of life on Björgvin, the representative told him that he didn't need to take Rósa's vital signs. It was clear that they were not alive.

"I knew for sure that they were dead before I took their vital signs."

The emergency line representative then sent a message to Hafþór's phone and he was connected to a video call with the police. That way, he was able to show the police the scene. "Then he asks me to go out and not come back in."

Valgeirsson describes coming to Strandgata like this:

"When I enter the hall, for some reason, I take off my shoes, out of old habit. When I'm taking off my shoes, I see that everything is covered in blood, and when I enter the bathroom, I see that everything is covered in blood there. I run back to put on my shoes and while I have the emergency number on the phone. When I get back into the bathroom I see Rósa, I hadn't seen her before.”

Þórðarson was immediately suspected

Witnesses who had previously given statements to the district court yesterday say that there was talk at the scene that Þórðarson knew about the couple. When asked, Valgeirsson says that he immediately suspected that Þórðarson had murdered the couple.

He had seen Þórðarson the night before and saw him walking towards Björgvin and Rósa's home.

Valgeirsson says he had not had much contact with his brother-in-law Þórðarson. He had heard about his mental illness through his in-laws and knew how much he had deteriorated in the months and years before the murders were committed.

"I knew how crazy he had become," Valgeirsson said when asked what he knew about Þórðarson's mental state in August last year.