Court Hears Chilling Abuse Claims

0:00 Ah Calorougus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Crown and Controversy Norway I'm Your Palace Intrigue host Mark Francis. Tuesday was a significant day in the trial of Marius Borg Hoibe, as the proceedings combined emotional testimony, new evidence, and a key decision from the court about whether Hoibe should remain in custody. We'll begin with that decision. The court rule that Marius Borg Hoeby will not be released from pre trial detention. His defense team had asked the court to free him while the trial continues, but the judges rejected the request. In its written ruling, the court stated there remains a strong probability that Hoybe could commit new criminal offenses if released, offenses that carried potential prison sentences are more than six months. Because of that risk, the court determined that the legal grounds for keeping him in custody still apply. Weeby has been in detention since the day before the trial began, after prosecutors charged him with additional alleged crimes. The trail itself is now well into its sixth week. Much of Tuesday's court room proceedings centered on testimony from a close friend of the woman known in court as the Frogner woman. As always, we've used AI to assist in the translation and at times interpolated the dialogue when it comes to idioms or tenses. The witness had described the moment she first learned about the violent incident that eventually led to Hoyby's arrest. According to the witness, the woman called her and described what had happened inside

1:31 the apartment. The witness said the woman told her that Hoeby had hit her, choked her, thrown her onto the bed, ripped down the chandelier, smashed a mirror, and thrown a knife into the wall. At first, the witness said, she struggled to imagine how serious the destruction really was. She told the court she initially thought, essentially, how bad could it really be if someone said the apartment had been trashed, But when she later returned it to Oslo and saw the apartment herself, she said the situation became clear. She told the court the apartment had truly been destroyed, with glass shards everywhere, the chandle the had torn down, and the mirror above the makeup table hanging loose and broken. The witness also described what she heard the following day, despite the violent incident earlier, she said she found the couple lying in bed together. She told the court that arguments followed by a reconciliation were not unusual in the relationship.

2:21 But later that day, she said, the two stepped onto the balcony to talk, and that is when she heard Hoebe shouting. The witness said she had never heard anyone yell at another person in that way before. Knowing that the woman had already said she had been hit earlier that day made the situation even more frightening. She told the court she feared the situation might escalate and that he might hit her again. The witness also spoke about the emotional dynamic she observed between the two. She said the woman often seemed focused on protecting Hibi rather than herself. The witness recalled the woman once saying something that deeply disturbed her. She said, I can handle being hit. I can take it as long as he's okay. It's something I can live with. The witness told the court she responded immediately telling her friend that this way of thinking was wrong, saying that's not how it's supposed to be at all. The testimony also included an incident that allegedly happened just days before the trial began. According to the witness, the woman told Hoibe she had to leave his apartment because the trial was about to start. The witness quoted, the woman is saying, I actually have to go home.

3:22 The trial is starting soon. I can't stay here. The witness said. The woman told her that Hoibe panicked when she tried to leave. According to the testimony, Hoyby pushed her into a door during the confrontation. The witness also said the woman told her that Hoibe grabbed a knife from the kitchen and threatened to harm himself if she left. Despite the violence described in court, the witness said the woman still hoped Hoibe might eventually seek help. The witness told the court that the relationship had no future unless Hoiby committed fully to rehabilitation. When asked what the woman hoped for, the witness said, she hopes that Marius will get better. It'll go to rehab and improve, and then maybe they could be together. Later in the day, the court turned to another major piece of evidence, a long series of text messages between Hoyby and influencer Norah Hauckland.

4:09 Court officials read the exchanges aloud in the courtroom. Several of the messages focused on the fallout from the controversial photograph that circulated publicly. In one message presented in court, Hoiby wrote that the scandal had damaged the reputation of his family. He wrote that the reputation of me and my family has been seriously weakened, not just in Norway, but across the whole effing Europe. Another exchange included a message about influencer Sophie Elise Isaacson. In one text message shown in court, Hoibi wrote, I hate Sophie with all my heart. I hope she burns and Helen dies. I would have beaten the hell out of her if I saw her. Halkelm responded by defending her friend. Earlier in the trial, Hoiby had suggested that Sophie Elise was responsible for deliberately sharing the photograph that sparked the controversy, and he had indicated he did not want Halclm to remain friends with her. The reading of the text messages continued for much of the afternoon, with the court officials reading both signs of the exchanges so the full conversations could be heard in court. At one point, the proceeding paused briefly before the reading resumed. During that portion of the session, Hoybee asked to sit in a separate room while the messages were being read aloud. More crown and controversy in just a moment. Taken together, today's proceedings added significant detail to the prosecution's case. The witness testimony provided a vivid picture of the alleged violence and the aftermath inside the apartment.

5:36 There was also a notable evidentiary development Ingrid Meir, who lived in the same building as the Frogner woman at the time, said she recorded two videos after hearing loud arguing and shouting. She later realized they might be relevant to the case and sent them to the police. She told VG, I have two videos on my phone that I sent to the police because I thought they were relevant to the case. She also said Education Minister Carrie Nessa Norden told her clearly that the recordings needed to go to police immediately. In court, the prosecutor said the recordings were made at seven fifteen in the morning and five point fifteen in the afternoon on the same day. When asked whether the shouting voice in the background was his.

6:16 Hoyby did not really deny it. He said, I still can't hear what is being said, but it's probably me. Another important thread from the day was the prosecution's effort to show that Hoibe has changed parts of his story as more evidence has emerged. Under questioning, he acknowledged that he had lied in earlier police interviews about secretly taking intimate images. In an audio clip played in court, the Frogner woman accused him of lying in the interview about taking photos of her without consent. Weiby responded, yes, I lied about it fine. In court, he explained that at the time he was not yet charged with sexual offenses, everything was leaking and he did not want to read about it in the papers. The next day he said it was embarrassing. That is a significant detail because it allows a prosecution to argue that he has only admitted facts when confronted by evidence. The questioning by that Frogner woman's lawyer, met Yvonne Larsen also seemed to expose a broader problem in Hoibe's account. Again and again, she asked him to consider how the shouting, the hidden images, the violence might have affected her. He repeatedly struggled to answer directly.

7:19 When asked how she must have felt identifying intimate images of herself and police interviews, he eventually said that must have been completely awful. When asked about the August fourth violence, he ultimately said, I think she had it completely awful. That much of the time he drifted back towards his own feelings, his own jealousy, and its own sense that when she was calm and cold, that was somehow the scariest version of her. That contrast was striking. The prosecution side was trying to center her fear and damage, his answers kept pulling the focus back to himself. There were also a few harsh details that helped round out the picture of his state of mind. One was a snap style message read in court after the August four incident, where a photo of the frogman woman's clothes was accompanied by the line, there go all the ugly dresses of an unfaithful whore. Asked whether he thought at that moment about what he had done to her, Hoeby said, at that moment, I didn't think about it. It was pretty blurry and it took some time before I realized what had happened. On the subject of intoxication lars and pressed him because he has blamed drugs and alcohol so often.

8:24 She pointed out the blood tests from August fourth showed no alcohol by the time samples were taken, but did show drugs, including cocaine, MDMA and THHC asked how intoxicated he felt during the incident, Hoeby said I didn't feel much other than that I was very sad and very frustrated and angry. The trial will continue in Oslo District Court tomorrow. And there you have it. I'd like to email us. He addresses the Palasindrink at gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple, on the app of your choice. Him Mark Francis. But thanks to John McDermott, this is Crown and Controversy Norway