Man Officially Charged For Birna’s Murder

Deputy District Prosecutor, Kolbrún Benediktsdóttir, has officially charged a man with the murder of Birna Brjánsdóttir, reports RÚV.

The man has been in custody since his arrest on the Greenlandic trawler, Polar Nanoq, at the hands of Icelandic Special Forces in January of this year.

Another crew member aboard the Polar Nanoq was also arrested as he was under suspicion of participating in the crime but charges have since been dropped.

The accused has denied all involvement in Birna’s murder, but has confessed to another – unrelated – drug smuggling charge.

As reported, Birna went missing in January after she failed to come home after a night out in downtown Reykjavík. Following a heartfelt plea for help from her mother the nation undertook the largest search and rescue effort in Iceland’s history in the hopes of finding Birna.

Birna was found dead a week thereafter, in a cove at Selvogsvita, west of Þorlákshöfn, south Iceland. Afterwards thousands of people marched in Birna’s honour and in solidarity with her family.