The Liland affair was a Norwegian murder trial which gave rise to a miscarriage of justice. The affair became a grave embarrassment to the Norwegian criminal justice system. The crime and initial arrests At about 10:45 am on 24 December 1969, two men, John Oval Larsen and Håkon Edvard Johansen were found murdered at Glemmengata 73 in the Norwegian town Fredrikstad. Both had severe head injuries and there was a lot of blood at the scene. It was assumed that an axe was the murder weapon. The address was known to be frequented by people who abused drugs or alcohol and was referred to locally as "little hell". Three substance abusers were arrested on their way to the scene of the crime. Two of them were later freed, while the third, Per Kristian Liland, was imprisoned and in 1970 convicted of the crime. Liland always maintained his innocence. After serving his entire sentence he was finally acquitted in 1994 after it became clear that he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. The case remains unsolved and is now subject to Norway's statute of limitations. Prosecution and judgement Per Kristian Liland was a known substance abuser in Fredrikstad and was arrested near the scene of the crime on 24 December 1969, just before midday. He was charged with the murders and remanded in custody on 27 December. He remained on remand until his conviction at Eidsivating Court of Appeal on 3 July 1970. He was convicted of the premeditated murder of Larsen and the murder of Johansen (in an attempt to conceal a punishable offence). He was sentenced to life imprisonment (at the time that meant 12 years) with an additional sentence of up to 10 years if it was considered he could repeat the crime due to mental disorders. (The sentences (livsvarig fengsel and sikiring) no longer exist in that form in Norwegian law.) The time the murders were carried out was an important point in the case. Per Liland could only be connected to the murders if they had been committed on the afternoon or evening of 22 December. A local GP, Mikael Frestand, was called to the scene before the Norwegian police unit which deals with serious crime arrived in Fredrikstad. He arrived at the scene shortly after midday and testified that the bodies were "cold and stiff". He entered 24 December 1969 as the date