Defendant denies chainsaw threat in Reykholt assault case

Sigurður Gunnar Ásgeirsson, one of five defendants in the so-called Reykholt case, has denied assaulting the alleged victim or knowing that any of the other defendants had done so in April 2024, mbl.is reported.

The case is being heard at the South Iceland District Court. Sigurður rented the alleged victim a studio apartment in Reykholt, in the same row of houses where he lived. He said he saw no injuries when he said goodbye to the man around noon on Monday, April 22.

Sigurður also denied threatening the man with a chainsaw, as alleged in the indictment. He said he often used a chainsaw to cut firewood logs, but had not done so during the week before the incident.

Sigurður was the third and final defendant to testify at the court on Tuesday. His testimony concluded the second day of the main proceedings.

Earlier in the day, Halldór Logi Sigurðsson and Níels Pálmar Benediktsson gave evidence.

The indictment alleges that the particularly dangerous and serious assault was carried out at Sigurður’s instigation. He rejected that claim.

“It was not at my request that they went to meet him,” Sigurður said.

“My wife and I had no control over the situation. We were just afraid,” he said, referring to their state on the Tuesday when events had spiralled out of control.

For the first few minutes of his testimony, Sigurður referred to notes in a book where he had recorded the sequence of events. His defence lawyer said Sigurður had feared that he would “black out and not say a single word” in court. He closed the book a few minutes later.

Sigurður has been undergoing psychological treatment and taking antidepressants since the incident. He said the case had taken a heavy toll on him and his family, particularly his wife, who he said had remained in bed, “a bundle of nerves”, while the events unfolded.

Sigurður said that during a visit from his daughter, Ingunn Rut, and Andri Már Mortensen Birgisson, both defendants in the case, on April 16, they discussed the tenant owing 11 months’ rent. The tenant had also usually paid 50,000 Icelandic krónur a month instead of the 75,000 krónur stipulated in his rental agreement with Sigurður.

He said the man had travelled to Húsavík three times and worked there in slaughtering for two months at a time without paying rent. The man had said he was poor, and Sigurður had taken pity on him.

The plan had been to go to the homeowners’ association and ask it to handle a lawful termination of the rental agreement. Andri, however, offered to visit the man and explain how such rental agreements worked under the law.