Man charged with raping wife over 1,000 times

A 70-year-old man is on trial in Eidsivating Court of Appeal, accused of raping his ex-wife repeatedly between 1983 and December 2015, as well as domestic assault. A lower court previously sentenced him to eight years and six months in prison after finding he had raped her more than 1,000 times.

The woman testified that resistance made the assaults more brutal, and that she kept coded diary entries out of fear he would find them. She used symbols like “N: – +” to record nighttime incidents, with minus indicating attempted or completed intercourse and plus meaning it was over and she could sleep.

She described being held down despite saying no, and said the attacks occurred several times a week. In 2012, she began documenting the abuse in a diary, which prosecutors say corroborates her account.

In 2015, she first used the word “rape” in her diary, writing on May 15: “Dreaded it—and with good reason. Raped!!!” She later fled to a crisis shelter.

The man denies all charges, calling the allegations shocking and unreal. He claims their marriage was happy and that he was blindsided when she left in 2015. He also says she initiated sex on multiple occasions.

Two of their children testified they witnessed some of the alleged rapes, hearing their mother say “no, stop” and “leave me alone” while he held her down.

The trial concluded this week in Gjøvik. The couple formally divorced in 2017.