Summary
Although it is a head-scratcher, “A Death in Oslo” feels more like a journalist’s obsession rather than hope to find out who this woman was.
This recap of Netflix series Unsolved Mysteries season 2, episode 2, “A Death in Oslo” contains information of an unidentified woman who was found in a hotel dead in Oslo, Norway with the alias name Jennifer Fairgate.
We recapped every episode — check out the archive.
The opening
A young unidentified woman was found dead in a hotel with a bullet in her head in Oslo, Norway. In May 1995 a woman checks into an expensive hotel. She hadn’t handed the receptionist a credit card. Three days later a staff member checks out the room and when they knock, they hear a gunshot. The staff member went down the elevator to alert the police. There was a 15-minute gap where the room wasn’t guarded after this point. “A Death In Oslo” shows how the police found no evidence of a struggle or traces of someone else in the room; the police theorised that she was living in the room and she was preparing for her death — they stated it was a 99.9% certainty of suicide.
“A Death In Oslo” discusses an unidentified woman who died in a violent circumstance and how one investigative journalist vowed to find the woman’s identity.
No trace, no identity, nothing
The mystery is that the woman had zero identity. No passport or anything that indicated her name. Strangely, she was able to get a room with no identification or credit card — it broke all rules at the hotel. On her registration card, she called herself Jennifer Fairgate and the address she wrote down was a place in Belgium. When the police contacted Interpol, the person didn’t exist — it was a false name. Even fingerprints were unknown. On the registration form, a “Lois Fairgate” was written down but there’s no evidence that he exists either.
It’s almost like we are dealing with a real-life Hanna.
She was buried alone
In June 1996 the woman had to be buried after the case was closed — it was the most lonely funeral; there was no headstone because no-one knew who she was. A journalist did a story on it because he was so intrigued.
Visiting the town
Episode 2 shows how this woman claimed she was from Verlaine, Belgium. The journalist feels there must be a reason she chose this little town. They suggest she didn’t live there but she did know about Verlaine.
Was it suicide?
And then “A Death in Oslo” delves deeper; the woman used the shower in the hotel, she was dressed nicely and had heels on; she was on her way out. She also had a briefcase with loads of rounds — it doesn’t sound like a suicide because why would she have so much ammo to shoot herself in the head? The woman also had a very powerful handgun. The way she was holding the gun when she was dead on her bed didn’t make sense — it was odd how the gun didn’t fall out of her hands. Episode 2 hints that there may have been a second person.
Was she a spy?
“A Death in Oslo” sees how criminal experts were consulted to recreate the crime scene. There are many possibilities; was she a spy? An assassin? A prostitute? When they dig even deeper, an intelligence expert claims it sounds like a very well carried out operation — an execution.
Episode 2 shows how they decided to dig up her body. They created a full DNA profile. She was of European heritage. The hotel front desk said she spoke German with an Eastern German accent. She was most likely the age of 24.
Although it is a head-scratcher, Unsolved Mysteries season 2, episode 2 feels more like a journalist’s obsession rather than hope to find out who this woman was. This is an unfortunate crime story or a cover-up by a secret agency.
