Carter Roy (27:11)
Lars Kristin Wegner published his first piece about the oslo Plaza woman, aka Jennifer Fairgate, in 1996. Ever since then, her story had hung like a cloud over Lars head. Although her death had been ruled a suicide, Lars believed the truth was much more complicated. And in 2015, he teamed up with the Oslo police to take another look at the case. His first step was to recreate a timeline of Jennifer's movements leading up to her death on June 3, 1995. The only thing he had to work off was the room key log. The police had looked into it too, but the information was pretty sparse. The log only recorded when someone entered the room. Jennifer's key card was used just five times over her three day stay. Investigators at the time assumed this meant Jennifer rarely left her room, which they took as a sign that she was depressed and suicidal. But after checking the record against witness testimony, Lars had a very different theory. The key card was first used on Wednesday, May 31 at 10:44pm this would have been shortly after Jennifer checked in the receptionist working that night. Sasha Renee Anonson, had already been questioned by police. But in 2016, Lars tracked him down and 20 years later, Sasha remembered new details. Sasha said it had been a busy night. The last major flights of the day all arrived around the same time, leading to a wave of incoming guests. Hotel staff worked as fast as they could to clear the lobby of weary travelers. Sasha had been working at the Plaza for nearly a year. The check in process was muscle memory at this point, which came in handy on nights like this. He'd lost track of how many people he'd already helped that evening, and there were a lot more still waiting. When the next guest stepped up to the counter. She said her name was Jennifer Fairgate and explained she'd called ahead. Sasha gave her a registration card to fill out while he went about assigning her room in their computer system. When she finished, she pushed the card back across the counter. He glanced at it as he handed her two key cards for room 2805. Then he pointed her toward the elevators, wished her a pleasant night, and moved on to the next guest. Sasha was pretty sure that Jennifer was alone when she checked in. But another witness, Sasha's supervisor, Evie Tudum Yertsen, was certain someone was with her in 1995. Evie told police that Jennifer was with a man that night. He had dark hair and looked older than Jennifer. Evie guessed he was somewhere in his mid-30s. The only thing she wasn't sure of was the timing. Evie couldn't remember if they'd checked in together or if she'd spotted them at the reception area later that evening. She still wasn't sure when she spoke to Lars in 2016, but she had a vague memory of the man exchanging currency at the front desk while Jennifer stood beside him. Evie's testimony was the only piece of evidence to suggest that Lois Fairgate. The other name on Jennifer's reservation was real. No other hotel employees reported seeing him or anyone else with Jennifer during her stay. And it's not clear when he was added to the reservation. Still, the keycard log seemed to support Evi's memory. Because there was Another entry at 12:21am Just a couple of hours after Jennifer checked in. That meant someone had left the room and come back. Lars wondered if this person had been Lois. The next day was Thursday, June 1, and Jennifer's key was used at 8:34am the following entry was housekeeping at 1:00pm2 cleaners tidied up the room in 1995. They both testified that it was empty while they were there. Lahr spoke to one of them in 2017. Vigdis Valla was the room steward in charge of the entire 28th floor during Jennifer's stay. She confirmed that the room was empty. But she did add another detail that she hadn't mentioned back in 1995. As she gave the room a final once over, Vigdis noticed a pair of women's shoes. After 20 years, she wasn't sure why they caught her attention. She couldn't recall the color or style. But she remembered thinking that she might like a pair for herself. Lars was intrigued. Detectives had only recovered one pair of shoes from from Jennifer's room. He showed Vigdis a picture of them. She shook her head. Those definitely weren't the shoes she'd seen. This confirmed something that Lars had suspected all along. That some of Jennifer's belongings had been removed from the room before her body was found. The problem was he didn't know who'd taken those items or when. The key card was next used at 8:50 the following morning, Friday, June 2nd. That left 24 hours in which Jennifer was unaccounted for. And we know she wasn't in the room during that time since the housekeepers didn't see her when they came to clean. Somehow this fact escaped police back in 1995. Even though they'd examined the keycard log and interviewed Vigdis, they still assumed that Jennifer had been in her room. 24 hours was a long time to be gone from the hotel. If she didn't return to her room, where did Jennifer sleep? Lars wondered if Jennifer might have known someone in Oslo after all. A friend, a lover, a business associate. Unfortunately, no one reported seeing Jennifer leave the hotel or wandering around Oslo. But someone would have seen her come back. According to the log, the key card used on Friday morning was new. Lars couldn't track down the receptionist who was working at the time. But records indicated that Jennifer stopped by by the front desk to extend her stay. Originally, she'd booked the room for May 31 through June 2. But that morning she changed her checkout date to Sunday the 4th and was given two new keys for Lars. This was one of the most important pieces of evidence in the entire case. And it had to do with a unique security feature at the Plaza Hotel. At the time, guests were able to double lock their doors. Now, this doesn't refer to a deadbolt or some other physical lock. If a guest turned the inside door handle up and then down, no one else could get in even if they had a key. What most people didn't know was that you could also double lock the room from the outside using a key card. This meant the only way to get in was either with a key card for that room or a universal key, like the kind security had. After stopping by the front desk on Friday morning, Jennifer would have had four keys. However, only two of them were found in the room with her. At the time, police either didn't realize there were keys missing or didn't think it was important, but Lars did. It meant someone could have entered Jennifer's room, killed her, then left and double locked the room from the outside. That's why the door was locked, even though Jennifer was already dead. Of course, it's also possible a staff member with access to a universal key could have been the assailant. But that has never been proven or investigated as far as Lars is aware. And the key cards weren't the only items that were suspiciously missing by the time Jennifer was discovered. Friday morning was the last time Jennifer's key card was used. But it wasn't the last time she was seen. Jennifer ordered room service that night. The woman who delivered it at around 8:30pm Couldn't help but notice how tidy the room was. Back in 1995. She told police that Jennifer was wearing a skirt suit in a dark color, either navy blue or black, between her clothes in the room. The attendant assumed Jennifer was part of an airline crew. There were always a few staying at the Park Plaza. They wore suits and generally made less of a mess than regular guests. But there was one other thing that made her think Jennifer was a flight attendant. She had a rolling suitcase, the kind that was mostly used by flight crews at the time. The woman forgot to tell police about it in 1995, but when she spoke to Lars, she was certain she'd seen it. About 24 hours later, Jennifer's room was swarming with police. But this suitcase was nowhere to be found. Neither was the skirt the witness reportedly saw Jennifer wearing. It was looking more and more like someone must have removed Items from room 2805. It made Lars want to take a second look at the evidence that had been recovered. But when he put in the request, he was met with terrible news. In 1996, two months after Jennifer was buried, the assistant police chief got rid of everything. Since her death had been declared a suicide, he must have figured they didn't need those items anymore. The precious little physical evidence they'd had was apparently all destroyed or sold at a police auction. Lars was dumbfounded. But luckily someone at Kreipos, the National Crime Lab, refused to discard the weapon. It was the best example of serial number removal they'd seen. So they put it on display instead, where it had stayed for over 20 years. In 2016, Kripos assigned a senior engineer to take another crack at recovering the serial number. Even with the new techniques, they couldn't get a clear result. The serial number remained stubbornly out of reach. Still, Lars wasn't deterred. A lot had changed since 1995, including DNA testing. Back then, DNA technology was still in its infancy. However, the original investigators had kept a vial of Jennifer's blood just in case. Unfortunately, it was later destroyed along with the other evidence. So if Lars wanted to get his hands on Jennifer's DNA, he have to go back to the source, which would mean digging her up. Exhumations are never taken lightly. But in this case, it was their last hope of solving the mystery. So on November 16, 2016, that's what Oslo police did. They were worried the remains would be too degraded for a strong profile. But once they reached her coffin, they were surprised by how much was still intact. A week later, they had a nearly full DNA profile. Samples were also sent for specialized analysis. By studying her teeth, they could tell Germany was Jennifer's potential country of origin. Using carbon dating, they also determined she was likely born in nineteen 1971, which meant she was around 24 years old when she died. That was all interesting information, but it didn't narrow down her identity. Even after more than 20 years, it seemed no one was looking for her. Lars had a hard time believing that in 1996, and it still struck him as odd in 2007. 16. But now he had access to someone who might have an answer. Ulich Huldegger was a former head of a top secret Norwegian intelligence group. He was pretty confident that Jennifer was part of Some sort of covert operation. For him, the lack of evidence was the biggest clue. According to Ulla, removing identifying labels from clothing items was standard procedure for spies operating in Norway. He also said it was likely that Jennifer had a second place to stay in Oslo, maybe a location that was more secure than the hotel. It's possible that's where her missing belongings ended up and where she went during those 24 hours she was away from the the Plaza. She would have been trained to avoid giving out information like credit card or passport numbers. And she would have been adept at going unnoticed, which would explain why so few people remembered seeing her around the hotel. This would also explain why no one had come searching for her. If Jennifer worked for an intelligence organization, her family probably would have been quietly notified of her death and possibly even compensated for their loss. So there wouldn't have been any reason to report her missing. Espionage seemed to connect the most dots. But it was also impossible to prove, which left the door open for other theories. Reddit sleuths have suggested Jennifer was a high end escort. They think Lois Fargate may have been her client or her pimp, and that something went wrong either with Lois or another customer leading to Jennifer's death. It would explain why Jennifer was so secretive and needed extra key cards. These theorists also point to another detail. There was almost no clothing found in Jennifer's room, except for four bras. If her other items weren't removed at some point before her body was found, this may indicate that Jennifer had packed light prioritizing items she would have needed for work. And some Internet detectives think they know who her client was. The night she died, a Belgian man known only as Mr. F was staying in the room next to Jennifer's on Friday, June 3, 1995. Although he never spoke to police, Lars managed to track him down. They exchanged a few emails, but Mr. F stopped responding when Lars asked about Jennifer's death. So Lars traveled to Belgium to find Mr. F. Even then, the man refused to speak with him in person at least. Eventually he did agree to talk, but only on the phone. According to Mr. F, he didn't hear anything strange that night. However, he did say he found out about the incident on Saturday morning from hotel staff when he checked out. For Lars. This was incredibly suspicious because Jennifer wasn't found until that night. Lars tried to press Mr. F, but the mystery man wouldn't say anything else. That was the last time Lars or anyone else involved in the case ever heard from him. Still, conspiracy theorists can't let Mr. F go. They think it's possible he hired Jennifer as a sex worker, then ended up killing her. Lahr still isn't sure what the truth is, but after this second investigation, he wrote a new in depth feature for VG's website. It went live in 2017 along with a TV documentary he also made about the case. This led to renewed interest in the story, which got Netflix's attention. In 2020. The case was featured in the second season of the show Unsolved Mysteries. This was Lars goal back in 1996 to bring as much attention as possible to Jennifer's story in hopes that the right person would see it and come forward. So far, that still hasn't happened. Whether that's because Jennifer didn't want to be found or someone else was determined to keep her death shrouded in mystery, it's hard to say. But in the end, everyone deserves to be remembered. And Jennifer Fairgate, whoever she was, will never be forgotten. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy and this is True Crime Stories. Come back next time for the story of another murder and all the people it affected. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, Rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference and to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode early and ad free. We'll be back on Tuesday. True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertofsky, Lori Marinelli, Ellie Reed, Sarah Camp, and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening.