Supreme Court rejects appeal: Veronica Lystrup must serve 16 years for murder in Løten
The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the appeal from Veronica Lystrup, and the sentence of 16 years' imprisonment for murder and abuse of a corpse in the Løten case is now legally binding.
Supreme Court concludes Løten case
The Supreme Court has unanimously rejected the appeal from Veronica Lystrup, according to NRK Norge. The district court's verdict thus stands: 16 years' imprisonment for the murder and abuse of a corpse of her former partner Ole Andreas Sønstvedt (37).
In the ruling, it states that the appeals panel "unanimously finds that there is not sufficient grounds for the appeal to be brought before the Supreme Court, cf. the Criminal Procedure Act § 323", and that the appeal is therefore not allowed to proceed.
In addition to the prison sentence, Lystrup must pay 450,000 kroner in damages to two of Sønstvedt's surviving relatives.
No comment from defence counsel
Defence counsel Svein Holden tells NRK that he has no comment at present, and that he will meet with Lystrup the day after the rejection.
It was Holden who, on behalf of Lystrup, announced that the sentencing would be appealed to the Supreme Court following the district court's verdict in March this year – an appeal first reported by Hamar Arbeiderblad.
In the court of appeal, the defence counsel requested acquittal for the murder, on the grounds that it occurred in self-defence. They also argued that Lystrup should in any case be sentenced as leniently as possible for the abuse of a corpse, and that any prison sentence should be set at 14 years.
Sønstvedt found dead in tipi on the farm
The background to the case dates back to New Year's Eve 2023, when Ole Andreas Sønstvedt from Skien was last seen – on Lystrup's farm in Løten. He was reported missing on 11 January 2024.
On 24 January, police and investigators from the National Criminal Investigation Service entered the farm. They were particularly interested in a tipi that lay some distance from the other buildings, close to the main road. The dogs from the criminal investigation unit alerted there.
Inside the tipi, forensic technicians found bloodstains on the wall, bench and floor, as well as a fire pan with a diameter of 95 centimetres. After sifting through the contents, they recovered a total of 2.2 kilogrammes of bone remains, remains of a burnt mobile phone, a necklace, a finger ring and two shoe protectors.
Lystrup was arrested the same evening as the police operation. She was initially charged with unlawful deprivation of liberty; three days later this was expanded to suspicion of murder or complicity in murder. More than a year later, the charge was expanded again – to include murder and abuse of a corpse.
Police believe Lystrup killed Sønstvedt with an axe, that she then dismembered him and burned the remains in the fire pan.
Two rounds in court
Lystrup was sentenced in summer 2025 to 16 years' imprisonment by Hedmarken and Østerdal district court. That verdict was appealed to Eidsivating court of appeal, which in early 2025 also sentenced her to 16 years. Now the Supreme Court has closed the final avenue of appeal, and the verdict is final.
Source: NRK Norge