The abduction
At about 6:40 a.m. on February 3, 2010, Faiza Ashraf was walking toward a bus stop at Høvik in Bærum on her way to work when she was forced into the trunk of a car. Within minutes, she managed to call Norway's 112 emergency number.
Faiza remained on the telephone with police while the car was moving. She described what had happened and identified an unwanted suitor, Shamrez Khan, as someone she suspected might be behind the kidnapping, while making clear that the man physically abducting her was someone else. Police attempted to trace the call, but the signal could not be located precisely enough to reach her before contact was lost.
The search and discovery
Police quickly arrested Khan and later Håvard Nyfløt. A large search followed. Nyfløt eventually admitted carrying out the kidnapping and directed investigators to a wooded area near Solli in Asker.
Faiza's body was found there on February 22, 2010. Investigators concluded she had been killed on the day she was abducted. Nyfløt maintained during the proceedings that the death had not been intended; prosecutors alleged a planned killing connected to the commissioned kidnapping.
The first trial
At the first trial in 2011, the court reached different conclusions about the two defendants. Nyfløt was convicted of intentional killing and kidnapping and received 17 years. Khan was convicted in relation to arranging the kidnapping that resulted in death and received eight years, while being acquitted of premeditated murder at that stage.
Both defendants and the prosecution pursued appeals, so those first-instance outcomes did not become the final legal result.
The appeal changed the legal outcome
In September 2011, the Borgarting Court of Appeal found both men guilty of premeditated murder. The appellate court imposed substantially longer sentences: 19 years for Shamrez Khan and 18 years for Håvard Nyfløt.
The distinction matters because older reports describing the first trial can make the case appear legally divided between murder and a kidnapping resulting in death. The later appeal resolved that issue differently and convicted both men of the premeditated killing.
Supreme Court refuses further appeal
On March 28, 2012, Norway's Supreme Court appeals committee refused to hear further appeals concerning procedure and sentence. That left the Court of Appeal's convictions and prison terms in place: 19 years for Khan and 18 years for Nyfløt.
The final status is therefore not merely that two suspects were arrested or that one man confessed to an abduction. Both defendants received final criminal convictions after the appellate process.
Timeline
February 3, 2010: Faiza is abducted at Høvik and calls police from the trunk of the car.
February 2010: Khan and Nyfløt are arrested during the investigation.
February 22, 2010: Faiza's body is recovered near Solli in Asker after Nyfløt identifies the location.
April 2011: the first trial produces convictions and sentences of 17 years for Nyfløt and eight years for Khan, with differing legal findings.
September 2011: the Court of Appeal convicts both men of premeditated murder and sets sentences of 19 and 18 years.
March 28, 2012: the Supreme Court refuses further appeals, leaving the appellate result in force.
Current status
The case is solved / adjudicated. Shamrez Khan and Håvard Nyfløt were both finally convicted in connection with Faiza Ashraf's kidnapping and premeditated murder, and the 19- and 18-year sentences remained in force after the Supreme Court declined further review in 2012.
Sources
- Aftenposten / NTB — Supreme Court refuses further appeals, March 28, 2012
- Aftenposten — Court of Appeal convictions and increased sentences, September 2011
- Aftenposten — kidnapping timeline and first-trial background, April 14, 2011
- Norway's News in English — recovery of Faiza's body and investigation, February 2010