Norway Norway - Oslo, WhtFem 20-30, Fake Name, shot in hotel room, Jun'95

[lonewanderer]

I do indeed think she might be like an secret agent or a spy or something. Everything in this case is just weird. I don't believe in suicide, no blood or gunpowder on her hands. The way she holds the weapon and the position of her hands on her chest. No id, only a suitcase with bullets. And they said she might checked in with a Lois Fairgate. Who is he?

I think it’s possible this is a female name like Lois and Clark.

I wrote in depth about it in an earlier post, but it there is a lot of signs that there was two similar looking women that where sharing the room.

 

[Susikatze]

Somehow i am not a big supporter of the spy theory. This is not the Cold War era anymore (I am aware that even after the Cold War there is espionage up to the present day, but its less likely, especially if it is a German or Belgian in Norway... no reason for espionage).

And why would a spy attract unnecessary attention (expensive and very sexy clothing, expensive hotel room that is unpaid for days)?

 

[Al Ka]

Somehow i am not a big supporter of the spy theory. This is not the Cold War era anymore (I am aware that even after the Cold War there is espionage up to the present day, but its less likely, especially if it is a German or Belgian in Norway... no reason for espionage).

And why would a spy attract unnecessary attention (expensive and very sexy clothing, expensive hotel room that is unpaid for days)?

I don't lean on spy theory either, however to find full bag of amunition in any European place is very rare and intriguing. Definitely points to some criminal or ogranized crime link. That she was well dressed woman just very much adds to whole mystery.

 

[Al Ka]

Published Oct 20, 2020
Everything We Know About ‘Jennifer Fairgate,’ The Oslo Woman Who Might Have Been A Secret Agent

'Unsolved Mysteries' Episode Two digs into the details of a murder that has baffled authorities for decades.

On June 3, 1995, a young woman was found with a bullet hole in her head in a hotel room at the Plaza Hotel in Oslo, Norway. At first it looked like a suicide—she had the gun in her hand, and there was no evidence of a struggle. But when the authorities went to identify the woman, the situation quickly turned bizarre.

The second episode of Unsolved Mysteries Volume 2, “Death in Oslo,” examines the eerie case of this hotel room death. When hotel security knocked on the hotel room door on June 3 to collect a credit card from the woman, who had checked in three days prior under the name Jennifer Fairgate and not yet paid, a gunshot went off. The startled employee ran to get assistance, and left the door of the room unattended for fifteen minutes. When police entered the room, which was double-locked from the inside, shortly thereafter, the woman’s body was found lying on the bed with the fatal gunshot wound in her skull.

Who Was Jennifer Fairgate? - Unsolved Mysteries Oslo Norway Case Death Identity Details

 

[Al Ka]

As lots of images posed previously timed out by now here are photos and details from her Doe Network link just for recoup
===


(Click on image to enlarge)

Date of Discovery: June 3, 1995
Location of Discovery: Oslo, Norway
Estimated Date of Death: Minutes prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Suicide by gunshot

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 21-35 years old
Race: White
Sex: Female
Height: 159 cm (5'2")
Weight: 67 kg (147 lbs.)
Hair: Black and short, possibly dyed.
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers
Dentals: Available. Relatively expensive dental work (gold and porcelain), widely used in the U.S., Switzerland, The Netherlands and Germany.
Fingerprints: Available.
DNA: Available.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Black clothing. Long blouse, bra, long silk underwear, stockings and high-heeled shoes made in Italy. Three light-colored bras were located in her travel bag. Four jackets were also found. One was black and leather, another was a light-colored wool material. All but one label from the clothing had been removed.
Jewelry: Gold ring on right middle finger. Citizen Aqualand diving watch. It held three 370 batteries manufactured in late 1994, marked with "W395." The etching was possibly done by the merchant who changed the batteries. The watch appeared to have been manufactured around 1992.
Additional Personal Items: Ungaro Pour L’Homme 1 cologne (made for men). Turquoise-green cloth travel bag. Black Braun Büffel attaché case with eliphant logo.

Circumstances of Discovery
The woman checked into the Oslo Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, May 31, 1995 accompanied by a male companion at about 10:44 PM. She used the alias name "Jennifer Fergate" (or "Fairgate," as the room was assigned) and the man used the name "Lois Fergate." She claimed to be 21 years old and native to Belgium. The pair stayed in room 2805, which cost 1845 Kroner per night (2,900 today).

"Jennifer" spoke fluent German and English. The pair stayed in the room for three nights and did not pay for their stay, despite warnings from hotel staff that were acknowledged. "Lois" was not in the room between Thursday and Friday morning. The "do not disturb" sign had been placed on the door on those days as well.

On June 3, a gunshot (later discovered to be a "test firing" into the woman's pillow) was heard by a security guard at about 7:50 PM and a second shot was soon heard later. After a few minutes, the guard entered the room and discovered "Jennifer" lying supine on the bed with a gunshot wound to her forehead. The gun rested in her hand; held to her chest. The suicide was likely planned, according to police.

The weapon was a Browning 9mm pistol. The gun was manufactured in Belgium in 1990 or 1991. The serial number had been dissolved in acid. Some numbers were later discovered after examination. There were 32 live rounds for the gun in the woman's briefcase.

The woman had no passport with her or any identifying characteristics. Both of the hotel keys were in the room, indicating "Lois" did not plan to return after departing.

Police and witnesses theorized the woman could have been anything from a secret service, flight attendant, high-end prostitute, participant in a major drug opperation or an assassin. There is no evidence supporting any theory.

The woman was buried on June 26, 1996 in a pauper's grave.

Link to her Doe Network profile - 1420UFNOR

Edit to add - there is also link there to click under the images which will lead you to her retouched post mortem photos

 

[Lamima]

Somehow i am not a big supporter of the spy theory. This is not the Cold War era anymore (I am aware that even after the Cold War there is espionage up to the present day, but its less likely, especially if it is a German or Belgian in Norway... no reason for espionage).

And why would a spy attract unnecessary attention (expensive and very sexy clothing, expensive hotel room that is unpaid for days)?

This happened 25 years ago. Not present day.

 

[Lamima]

So in reading link at Doenetwork it says that security heard shot 1 (test shot into pillow around 7:50) and then 2nd shot came shortly after so they went to the room a few minutes after 2nd shot. Did that allow time for a murderer to leave, taking her toiletries and pants (no bottoms found in room)? Maybe she was mid packing and person just grabbed that bag. Also on the show they mentioned shower was recently used and they thought murderer showered after. But there wouldn't have been time, right? They also have the key card entry times to the room. Do they show door opening to leave the room? And intelligence guy on show said they could easily leave room locked behind them. How?

How did she get room without ID and payment? And why could they not get that answer from hotel staff? Surely they could question the staff who checked her in to see why they did it? Wonder if she was with a guy and they thought it was a prostitute using the room so they were being discreet and figured payment would be after. They say they thought a guy was with her.

 

[Kodiak]

Do they show door opening to leave the room? And intelligence guy on show said they could easily leave room locked behind them. How?

The door only recorded keycard entries, not when a door was opened to exit the room. So if there was someone else in the room, they had a good chance to leave within the 14-minute window when no one was watching, nor being detected by their door security system. As for double-locking the door from the outside upon leaving, I guess it's possible and easy to do, especially for intelligence sources. I heard it can be done by placing the keycard in the exterior slot and turning the handle a certain way.

My impression, Jennifer was already dead (first gunshot; unheard) and the second shot was into the pillow and bed to scare off the hotel worker knocking on the door.

 

[Keane]

I wonder if Lois is actually Louis.

 

[chaz]

The door only recorded keycard entries, not when a door was opened to exit the room. So if there was someone else in the room, they had a good chance to leave within the 14-minute window when no one was watching, nor being detected by their door security system. As for double-locking the door from the outside upon leaving, I guess it's possible and easy to do, especially for intelligence sources. I heard it can be done by placing the keycard in the exterior slot and turning the handle a certain way.

My impression, Jennifer was already dead (first gunshot; unheard) and the second shot was into the pillow and bed to scare off the hotel worker knocking on the door.

BBM. This has always my impression too. Perhaps it would buy some time to get away unseen.

 

[Frannie]

From the show, I believe it recorded both leavings and comings into room. That is how they knew she had been out of the room for 21 hours the day prior to her death.

They also, on the show, established from an analysis of her teeth that she was 24 years old. She looked young, but very mature.

The spy they interviewed singled out quite a few points which are unusual but pertinent to being an agent. i.e. all clothing labels removed, no identification, nothing personal found. He claimed also that the key data could easily be manipulated. There was a 15 minutes delay between the shot and security returning to the room.

What I would like to know is how thorough the autopsy was done. Did she have any drugs in her system (they did say she had no alcohol), had she had intercourse recently, etc etc

So many questions, so few answers.

 

[Beekarina]

Perhaps not "spies" exactly, but I believe there was/is absolutely organized crime and a dark underworld that exists in Scandinavia. I'm not going into details, but will say I used to have an acquaintance from a similar time period. And speaking fluent German and English isn't an unusual combination in that part of the world.

The unpaid bills may simply be that she fell into something she was not able to extricate herself from, and ran out of funds. She may have been an escort, she may have been something else, she may have been a combination. Personally, I am going to be astonished if we ever learn her identity. This case truly gives me the creeps.

 

[Beekarina]

From the show, I believe it recorded both leavings and comings into room. That is how they knew she had been out of the room for 21 hours the day prior to her death.

They also, on the show, established from an analysis of her teeth that she was 24 years old. She looked young, but very mature.

The spy they interviewed singled out quite a few points which are unusual but pertinent to being an agent. i.e. all clothing labels removed, no identification, nothing personal found. He claimed also that the key data could easily be manipulated. There was a 15 minutes delay between the shot and security returning to the room.

What I would like to know is how thorough the autopsy was done. Did she have any drugs in her system (they did say she had no alcohol), had she had intercourse recently, etc etc

So many questions, so few answers.

So...if she was 24 years old, then she could not have been Camilla, even though the resemblance between the two is quite strong. Camilla was born in 1961.

 

[Susikatze]

This happened 25 years ago. Not present day.

I am aware of this. But mid 1990s are not 1960s.

 

[Susikatze]

I do agree though that organized crime may be a strong possibility. Because guns (and obviously a gun from a shady source with removed serial) are uncommon in Europe, unless you are law enforcement, hunter or sport gunner or criminal.
However, sometimes the borders between organized crime and prostitution are overlapping and she may have carried a gun to protect herself from violent clients.

 

[andrea]

That is a fascinating case.

One question that jumped out at me: If there were now trousers / skirts in her room, how could she be out and nobody remembers? The blouse is long, but not that long. For me, that is the main thing that makes me think someone else was involved. But who?

My first thought with the male perfume and watch were that she may have intended to leave as a man after checking in as a woman? But no male clothing either, so probably not.

Also, electronic keycards were very young technology at that time, maybe the hotel had other ways to open / lock the doors as a failsafe.

 

[djtopcat]

This happened 25 years ago. Not present day.

The Cold War effectively ended in 1991. If she was an operative for the GDR's Stasi/KGB she would have been one in high school when there were still active operations in Europe, and I am not buying it.

 

[djtopcat]

I wonder if Lois is actually Louis.

Lois is a common male name in Belgium.

 

[djtopcat]

This to me is the most intriguing of all the new crop of UM episodes. #1 priority should be trying to identify her which is going to be incredibly difficult after 25 years, and her possibly being from East Germany which purged a lot of GDR records. How, or why she died is impossible to determine conclusively without knowing who she was? and why she checked into the most expensive hotel in Oslo in 1995?
I don't know if anyone else noticed but the hotel registration card has both typed parts and handwriting. The typed portion I assume was input by the hotel reservation taker over the phone, and the rest was to be filled out when the guest checked in. If you look at the box "FIRMA/COMPANY" it says "CERBIS, BELGIA"
Belgia is Norwegian for Belgium that's easy, but why input a company name like CERBIS? We know she used a fake name, but some of the Belgian info she scribbled down was pretty close to accurate. She in the very least had some familiarity with Belgian phone prefixes, street names and the tiny town of Verlaine Belgium an hour south of Brussels. On a hunch I typed CERBIS in Google and it only pointed to the case. So I played with the letters a bit thinking maybe the Norwegian employee misheard something in the phone translation. Bingo! CERIS! A diplomatic post grad school in BRUSSELS does exist. It was founded in 1985. Places in grads in embassy work, politics etc. So my theory is she either worked, attended or knew someone there to submit that very unique name on her hotel reservation. If that has not been thoroughly checked out it should be. We are pretty sure she is German, specifically East German "dialect heard by bilingual hotel employee" So likely born in the communist GDR in 1971. East Germans were not free to leave until 1989 and she would have been 18. Her clothes, travel bags, and 8 karat gold ring all from Germany. So she's German 100%. I think she would have been too young to be a Stasi/KGB operative (disbanded 1991) but it's still something to consider. Also someone involved in the criminal world somehow. Her gun was determined to be a 1960's-70's Hungarian made FEG Browning Hi-Power clone service weapon. Worn down, sights for easy holster removal. From my research a very common weapon used by police, military and criminals in Europe. After the Cold War ended surplus weapons from communist countries like that flooded into Europe. Interestingly the barrel of the gun was replaced by a 1991 Belgian BHP 9MM. The serial was chemically removed. This to me indicates a movement or organization supplied her gun. But she could have bought on the Oslo black market too I suppose. The bag with loose bullets is curious to me. I theorize a street dealer may have given her a handful with the purchased weapon. If it was an op I would think they would be preloaded in clips ready to go.
One more thing I researched was the male cologne found in the room. Some women just like to wear male colognes, but I theorize she may have been masquerading as a man for unknown reasons. That was the first thing I thought of when I saw her very short hair in the pics. Maybe she also had a disguise at another location? Or that stuff was removed along with the rest of her wardrobe (underwear, skirt, shoes, makeup, passport, etc etc)
Lastly I have fired a Browning Hi-Power 9mm. It kicks hard. This woman was roughly 5'1, petite with small hands. Maybe she could fire the gun the normal way into her head and not drop it, but turned around using her thumb on the trigger NO WAY IN HELL does it not fall out. No gpr or blood on her hands too? Something super fishy there. Hopefully they are already putting her DNA through CODIS/FBI, INTERPOL and the new familial DNA databases. Have to identify the woman first or else it's all just speculation, and some of us read too many Tom Clancy novels.

 

[jslk]

This to me is the most intriguing of all the new crop of UM episodes. #1 priority should be trying to identify her which is going to be incredibly difficult after 25 years, and her possibly being from East Germany which purged a lot of GDR records. How, or why she died is impossible to determine conclusively without knowing who she was? and why she checked into the most expensive hotel in Oslo in 1995?
I don't know if anyone else noticed but the hotel registration card has both typed parts and handwriting. The typed portion I assume was input by the hotel reservation taker over the phone, and the rest was to be filled out when the guest checked in. If you look at the box "FIRMA/COMPANY" it says "CERBIS, BELGIA"
Belgia is Norwegian for Belgium that's easy, but why input a company name like CERBIS? We know she used a fake name, but some of the Belgian info she scribbled down was pretty close to accurate. She in the very least had some familiarity with Belgian phone prefixes, street names and the tiny town of Verlaine Belgium an hour south of Brussels. On a hunch I typed CERBIS in Google and it only pointed to the case. So I played with the letters a bit thinking maybe the Norwegian employee misheard something in the phone translation. Bingo! CERIS! A diplomatic post grad school in BRUSSELS does exist. It was founded in 1985. Places in grads in embassy work, politics etc. So my theory is she either worked, attended or knew someone there to submit that very unique name on her hotel reservation. If that has not been thoroughly checked out it should be. We are pretty sure she is German, specifically East German "dialect heard by bilingual hotel employee" So likely born in the communist GDR in 1971. East Germans were not free to leave until 1989 and she would have been 18. Her clothes, travel bags, and 8 karat gold ring all from Germany. So she's German 100%. I think she would have been too young to be a Stasi/KGB operative (disbanded 1991) but it's still something to consider. Also someone involved in the criminal world somehow. Her gun was determined to be a 1960's-70's Hungarian made FEG Browning Hi-Power clone service weapon. Worn down, sights for easy holster removal. From my research a very common weapon used by police, military and criminals in Europe. After the Cold War ended surplus weapons from communist countries like that flooded into Europe. Interestingly the barrel of the gun was replaced by a 1991 Belgian BHP 9MM. The serial was chemically removed. This to me indicates a movement or organization supplied her gun. But she could have bought on the Oslo black market too I suppose. The bag with loose bullets is curious to me. I theorize a street dealer may have given her a handful with the purchased weapon. If it was an op I would think they would be preloaded in clips ready to go.
One more thing I researched was the male cologne found in the room. Some women just like to wear male colognes, but I theorize she may have been masquerading as a man for unknown reasons. That was the first thing I thought of when I saw her very short hair in the pics. Maybe she also had a disguise at another location? Or that stuff was removed along with the rest of her wardrobe (underwear, skirt, shoes, makeup, passport, etc etc)
Lastly I have fired a Browning Hi-Power 9mm. It kicks hard. This woman was roughly 5'1, petite with small hands. Maybe she could fire the gun the normal way into her head and not drop it, but turned around using her thumb on the trigger NO WAY IN HELL does it not fall out. No gpr or blood on her hands too? Something super fishy there. Hopefully they are already putting her DNA through CODIS/FBI, INTERPOL and the new familial DNA databases. Have to identify the woman first or else it's all just speculation, and some of us read too many Tom Clancy novels.

Great post! Just watching this ep now.