It's one of the most macabre stories to come out of Norway in years: Four young men stand accused of desecrating three corpses, and one of them has admitted chopping off one of the heads. Police actually found the head of one of the corpses, an elderly man, at the home of one of the suspects.

The four men, aged 19 to 26, reportedly broke into the chapel at a cemetery (Nordre Gravlund) in the Telemark town of Skien over the weekend.

They then opened five of the six caskets stored in the chapel and literally attacked the corpses lying in them. Police said three of the corpses had been partially pulled out of the caskets and subjected to "gruesome" violence.

"One of the corpses had its head removed," assistant police chief Runar Karlsen told a press conference in Skien Tuesday. "The three that were dragged out of the caskets had been stabbed repeatedly and beaten.

"It also appeared that the assailants had trampled over the corpses."

Karlsen said police in Skien had never been involved in such a macabre case and he said investigators were badly shaken by what they saw.

Both the mayor of Skien and a local church official were present at the press conference to answer questions.

One of the suspects has admitted to decapitating the corpse. Police said several items also were stolen from the chapel, including candlesticks, a carpet and an urn.

All four suspects, two of whom are brothers, are from the local area known as Grenland and all have been charged in the case. None has a prior criminal record. They were due to appear in court on Tuesday for a custody hearing.

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=566116