- Victim had just made an in-person-cash-for-Bitcoin exchange
- Oslo police are following the cryptocurrency link
- Sadly not the first killing linked to crypto
Police in Oslo are investigating what could be a Bitcoin-related crime following the brutal murder of a 24-year-old Norwegian man on Monday night. The murder victim had a large amount of money in his apartment at the time of the crime.
The 24-year old man who was brutally stabbed to death is reported to have just completed an in-person Cash-for-Bitcoin exchange and investigators are seeing a link between the two incidents.
Roommate found body
The Norwegian News Outlet TV2 reports that the stabbing took place on Monday morning in an affluent neighborhood in Majorstuen apartment block where the 24-year-old victim stayed. The crime could have taken place any time between 7:50 am and 12:10 pm when a roommate stumbled upon his lifeless body.
According to sources linked to the Oslo Police department who spoke to TV2, the murder victim had just completed a Bitcoin trade before the tragic incident took place and the police believe people within his social circles must have known of his cryptocurrency dealings.
Grete LIen Metlid who heads Oslo police department’s intelligence and investigations unit told TV2 that investigators were following the cryptocurrency link but did not give further details. Metlid stated:
“We are familiar with a tip about Bitcoin, but at this time we will not provide more information about the investigation, […] the department investigates “widely” and that “economic motives” are always a primary area of interest for investigators.”
Crypto related killings on the rise
In what looks like a similar incident, police in Rhode Island have arrested two women in connection with a home invasion in Killingly, Connecticut. During the incident, victims were robbed in what police believe was the culmination of a dispute involving a Bitcoin account.
According to The Bulletin, the home invasion took place because a female victim had opened a Bitcoin account for one suspect, Monique Delannoy-Jodoin, 59, who police said was already under investigation for narcotic sales and delivery through the postal system. The suspects are reported to have stolen money, cell phones and a television set beside threatening to shoot the victims.
On April 16, 2018, The Miami Herald reported a shooting incident in downtown Miami that left a man badly injured in what the police called a Bitcoin deal gone bad. The victim told police he was concerned about his safety because of a large amount of cash involved. That premonition proved prophetic, police said.
Cryptocurrency related crimes seem to be in the increase worldwide. As for the Oslo case, the police were going on with investigations and had made no arrests by the time of writing.
