Norwegian black metal musician given prison time

A Norwegian black metal musician who broke into a church mortuary and chopped off the head of a corpse in order to display it during a party was jailed for one year Monday (August 18), officials said.

Under the influence of both drink and cannabis, the 26-year-old — the former bassist for the band Svartahrid — had broken into a chapel with three friends as they were holding a party near the southeastern town of Skien on the night of June 14, the court heard.

Initially looking for valuables to steal, the group had noticed several coffins awaiting burial, and had proceeded to break open four of them.

The young man who received the sentence of two years with one suspended had hacked off the head of one of the corpses with a knife.

He then stuffed the head into a plastic bag and took it to display at the "heavy metal" rock music party he was attending, the court heard.

The accused, who went by the stage name Illvastar, said he could not remember carrying out these offenses.

"I just took the best and first head," he testified, according to Aftenposten. "I was so high I only remember brief glimpses of that night." He had been drinking moonshine with 96 percent alcohol content and smoking hashish.

His three companions were also intoxicated, having drunk the same alcohol and ingested ecstasy and rohypnol.

No clear motive for the descrations have emerged, though the main suspect testified that there was a bet where he could win hash for cutting off a head. The knife used, a "Sami knife" with a 21.5 cm (8.5 inch) long blade, was shown in court.

Two brothers, the defendants aged 19 and 22, denied any role in the desecrations. They told the court Thursday that they had gone to the chapel to steal some speakers and look at corpses. They said they went along for the excitement, and because they had never seen dead people before.

The main suspect in the gruesome corpse mutilations was the only one of four defendants to receive a prison sentence on Monday. The other three suspects received community service.

"I note that all four have received milder sentences than I suggested. We believed that unconditional prison sentences for all four was the correct reaction," police lawyer Svein Folkestad (photo) told Norwegian news agency NTB.

Folkestad said that the verdict would be discussed with the district attorney and possibly appealed.

Lawyer Bjoern Naerum, who defended the musician, told radio station P4 that they would likely appeal the verdict.

Source: Blabbermouth