The 3 Most Likely Theories of Who Killed Jennifer Fairgate
Episode 2 of Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries takes us to Oslo, Norway, for one of its most bizarre cases yet: the apparent suicide of an unidentified woman, checked into the Plaza Hotel as “Jennifer Fairgate.”
Fairgate was found dead in her room a few days after her arrival. She had a gunshot wound to the forehead. She possessed no ID. In the room with her were clothes (only tops, no bottoms) with the labels removed and a briefcase with 25 rounds of ammunition.
Audun Kristiansen of the Oslo Police department told Netflix they had found no traces of other persons in the room. There was also no sign of a struggle. Documents shown in the documentary reveal Oslo police concluded with “99.9% certainty” that Fairgate’s death was a suicide.
Others were not convinced. Journalist Lars Christian Wegner continued searching for Fairgate’s identity for the next 25 years, hoping his finding might shed light on what exactly happened in Norway.
So how did the unknown Jennifer Fairgate die? Here are a few theories the series (and now the internet) explores.
She died by suicide
This, of course, was the police theory, but many interviewed disagree.
Torleiv Ole Rognum, M.D., PH.D., chief pathologist at Oslo University questioned the forensic conclusions, noting the absence of blood spots on her hand—which, he says, would be expected for suicides of that nature. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a case without any blood spots on the hand.”
It was also noted that investigators never checked Fairgate for anything other than alcohol. The fact that no struggle occurred could suggest that she was drugged.
The gun itself also seemed suspect. Some in the documentary noted the gun’s recoil and expressed skepticism that it would actual rest in her hand the way it was found had she indeed pulled the trigger herself.
Also, why had she brought 25 additional rounds if she had checked into the hotel planning only to kill herself?
Many interviewed for the series question the cause of death as suicide.
She was killed by someone she knew
It was noted that Fairgate also signed another name on the hotel’s registration card while checking in: Lois Fairgate. Some witnesses believed they saw a guest with the unknown woman, but he disappeared soon after.
If Lois Fairgate did indeed visit the woman at the hotel, he wasn’t there as a friend. He was betraying her.
She was killed by a foreign intelligence service
Oslo’s Plaza Hotel was noted as a common location for foreign conferences, and it was not uncommon for powerful players to stay there. It’s possible then that neither Fairgate nor her murderer were Norwegian.
In the series, Ola Kaldager, a group leader for Norway’s intelligence service, E14 pointed out various features of the crime scene that might suggest Fairgate was the target of an intelligence assassination.
He noted the oddity of the clothing as well as the documented events of her coming and going from the hotel room. (She left her room only a few times and for long intervals.) Kaldager said the latter was consistent with movements of an intelligence operative. Her removing of clothing tags was also common for intelligence agents, he said.
As for the gun, Kaldager noted the registration number had been removed “in a professional way”—leaving no mark of erasure.
“From my point of view this is a very well carried out intelligence operation,” he said. “What actually happened there is very hard to say, but I have a feeling that she was executed.”
Kaldager said this might explain why no one has come forward: The families were all paid to stay quiet—or rather, “taken care of” for life because of their daughter’s patriotism.
Kaldager noted that intelligence operatives could easily break in and make the door look as though it was locked from the inside. Fairgate could have been drugged and then killed by someone kneeling on top of her—which might explain the lack of blood on her own hand.
Redditors point out similarities to this “suicide” and others with believed espionage backstories—including the “Isdal Woman.”
She was killed by a domestic intelligence service (with the help of the hotel—and maybe the police)
How was Fairgate able to check into the hotel without presenting ID or credit card information? Why did the security guard leave after he heard gunshots, allowing a 15-minute window for someone to leave the room? Why didn’t investigators more thoroughly investigate the crime scene, or how did they conclude with such certainty that the event was a suicide?
Some Redditors have pointed out these questions, suggesting the killing occurred not without some help from hotel staff that day.
This might suggest that Fairgate was an enemy to the state and so a target Norway’s E14. We do learn that Fairgate likely spent time in East Germany, suggesting she could have been affiliated with the KGB.
But like every other theory, we still can’t know for sure. And since it’s already been 25 years since Fairgate’s death, some answers may lie buried forever.
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