Norway killer back on island for reconstruction

OSLO, Norway — Held tightly on a police leash, the Norwegian man who confessed to killing 69 people at an island youth camp has reconstructed his actions for police back at the crime scene.

Police said Sunday they took Anders Behring Breivik back to the island of Utoya on Saturday for a hearing about the July 22 terror attacks, when Breivik shot the victims dead on the lake island near Oslo after killing another eight people in the capital with a bomb.

The 32-year-old described the killings in close detail during an eight-hour tour on the island together with 10-12 police, prosecutor Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby told a press conference in Oslo.

The hearing took place amid a massive security operation that aimed to avoid escape attempts by Breivik and protect him against potential avengers.

“The suspect showed he wasn’t emotionally unaffected by being back at Utoya ... but didn’t show any remorse,” Hjort Kraby said.

“He has been questioned for around 50 hours about this, and he has always been calm, detailed and collaborative, and that was also the case on Utoya,” he said.

Breivik walked roughly the same route as the one he took during the shooting spree and explained what happened with as little interference as possible from police, Hjort Kraby said.

The entire hearing was filmed by police and will later be used in court, he added.

Images of the reconstruction published in the Norwegian daily VG show Breivik simulating shots into the water, where panicked teenagers tried to escape from him.

It had been arranged to avoid the need for a reconstruction in the midst of the trial and to make the suspect remember more details, Hjort Kraby said.

The prosecutor also confirmed Norwegian media reports that police received several phone calls from Breivik himself during the terror attack, but wouldn’t say how police had reacted to the calls.

According to Norwegian daily Aftenposten, Breivik offered to surrender several times and asked police to call him back, but they didn’t.

Breivik’s lawyer has said he has admitted to the terror attacks, but denies criminal guilt because he believes the massacre was necessary to save Norway and Europe from Muslims and punish politicians who have embraced multiculturalism.

Initial speculation suggested others were involved in the terror attacks, but prosecutors and police have said they are fairly certain that Breivik planned and committed them on his own.

Breivik faces up to 21 years in prison if he is convicted on terrorism charges, but an alternative custody arrangement — if he is still considered a danger to the public — could keep him behind bars indefinitely.