The 1995 death of the "Oslo Plaza Woman" is featured in Unsolved Mysteries, and various pieces of crucial information are left out in favor of efficient storytelling. Directed by Robert M. Wise, "A Death in Oslo" prominently features VG journalist Lars Christian Wegner, who speaks about his extensive coverage over the years. Everyone familiar with the case knows that the Oslo Plaza Woman died from a bullet wound to the forehead. What remains unclear, though, is her actual identity and the truth about what led to her death.
On May 31, 1995, a young woman registered at the Oslo Plaza Hotel in Norway and was given access to room 2805 without providing a credit card. As noted in Unsolved Mysteries, the guest registered as "Jennifer Fairgate" - but twice signed her name as "Jennifer Fergate" - and registered a "Lois Fairgate" as well. Three days later, a security guard knocked at room 2805 after the hotel's repeated attempts to secure a payment from the Fairgates. A loud noise rang out, presumably a gunshot, and the security guard left to inform the head of security, rather than using a two-way radio to broadcast his suspicions. Fifteen minutes later, authorities discovered Jennifer's dead body. A subsequent investigation determined that the woman had "99.9 percent" committed suicide, and that a second registered guest had never been in the room. Unsolved Mysteries attempts to unravel the mystery of the Oslo Plaza Woman.
Unsolved Mysteries heavily implies that Jennifer most likely didn't kill herself. For one, the death scene in room 2805 raises major doubts about the suicide theory, evidenced primarily by the deceased's post-mortem grip on her pistol. A retired crime scene investigator describes the gun as an "assault weapon" and states that it would've likely been dropped after the shooting due to a hard recoil, especially when considering that Jennifer had gripped the trigger with her thumb. Unsolved Mysteries also reveals that the deceased didn't have any blood on her shooting hand, which serves as further evidence that the body had been staged. In the present, all that's known about the Oslo Plaza Woman is that she was presumably 24 years old at the time of her death, and that she was most likely from East Germany. As for her actual identity, Norwegian intelligence operative Ola Kaldager believes that Jennifer was a secret agent.
What Unsolved Mysteries Leaves Out About Jennifer Fairgate's Last Meal & Death
Unsolved Mysteries presents a clear timeline of events and details Jennifer's day-to-day movements. In fact, Wegner's investigation reveals that Jennifer left the hotel for approximately 20 hours at one point. The police theory posits that Jennifer fired a single gunshot and killed herself when a security guard knocked at room 2805, while murder theories have a suspect leaving the room during the 15-minute stretch after the security guard left. Thorough as the Netflix episode may be, it leaves out two important pieces of information.
An autopsy revealed that Jennifer had undigested food in her body, which is significant because it's the same food that she ordered from room service 24 hours before her death. On Friday, June 2, the Unsolved Mysteries subject called for a “Hotbite” of bratwurst and potato salad at 8:06 p.m. Upon receiving the meal, she offered up a 50-kroner tip - five times more than was expected by hotel employee Kristin Andersen. One day later, a forensics unit noted that half of the meal had been eaten. If the suicide theory is correct, then Jennifer would have eaten her room service meal one day after-the-fact before committing suicide around 7:50 p.m. on June 3.
Unsolved Mysteries also leaves out the fact that two shots were fired, not one. The suicide theory implies that Jennifer fired a test shot into a pillow before killing herself. She may have done that long before security knocked at room 2805, or she may have done it right after. However, if Jennifer was indeed killed one day prior on June 2, then what did the head of security hear the following day? Perhaps a warning shot meant to alarm the knocker? If the deceased was indeed some type of secret agent, an argument could be made that someone - presumably an assassin - killed her on June 2, stayed in the room through June 3 to cover up the crime scene (hotel employees noted an "acrid" smell), staged the body, fired a warning shot, and then exited the room once security left.
What Unsolved Mysteries Leaves Out About The Browning Pistol
In Unsolved Mysteries, interviewees spend a good amount of time discussing Jennifer's 9mm semi-automatic Browning pistol and the 25 rounds that she had in a briefcase. For audiences, the backstory of the weapon isn't necessarily what's important, but rather how it connects to the death scene. In that case, Netflix gets the job done by informing viewers about the specifics - how Jennifer held the gun, and why its powerful kickback suggests that it would've fell from Jennifer's hand.
What Unsolved Mysteries doesn't cover, however, is the revelation in Wegner's VG report that the weapon isn't actually an authentic Browning pistol. Why is this important? Because it's one of the few pieces of evidence that wasn't destroyed in 1996 after Jennifer's case was closed. The pistol was found during Wegner's investigation, and a weapons expert claims that it's actually a Hungarian copy from the '60s or '70s that's compromised of several parts. The pistol is also reportedly a military weapon, which could potentially fuel the secret agent theory. Most importantly, however, Jennifer's fingerprints were not found on her alleged suicide pistol, which strengthens the theory that someone killed her and then wiped the gun.
What Unsolved Mysteries Leaves Out About A Serial Killer Connection And Mr. F
In Unsolved Mysteries, Wegner makes a trip to Verlaine, Belgium - the town that Jennifer listed on her Oslo Plaza Hotel registration. He acknowledges that the mystery woman probably wasn't from the community but had enough knowledge of the area to pass herself off as a resident. In Wegner's VG investigate piece, he goes a bit deeper into the Belgian connection and links it to the serial killer Marc Dutroux. During the mid-'90s, Dutroux kidnapped and murdered several young women, which subsequently changed how missing persons paperwork was handled within Belgium and throughout surrounding areas in Europe. The first disappearance took place on June 24, 1995 - just three weeks after Jennifer died. According to Wegner:
"In theory, it could be that a missing persons report was stuffed into a drawer in a local police office somewhere in Europe without ever making it into the centralized registries."
Unsolved Mysteries leaves out the fact that a newspaper was found in room 2805 with the number 2816 written on it. Unfortunately, the Oslo Plaza Hotel doesn't have guest lists from 1995, so it's unclear who stayed in room 2816. However, Wegner did discover that the occupant of room 2818, Borghild Strandenes, called the Oslo police six days after Jennifer's death and informed them about a suspicious couple. Wegner also discovered that a Belgian man had stayed in the room across from Jennifer shortly before her death. In the VG report, the man is identified only as "Mr X," and he's tracked down to his home address in Belgium. Upon being questioned about Jennifer, Mr. X claims that he was informed about the 28th floor death upon checking out on the morning of Saturday, June 3. The only problem with that statement, however, is that Jennifer died on the evening of June 3. So, why did Mr. X claim that he was informed about the murder before it happened, and is it possible that Jennifer did indeed die on Friday, June 2 after partially eating her room service meal?