Sofie Johannesdatter lived and worked as a servant in the Stang household in Fredrikshald, the Norwegian town now called Halden. She was convicted of murder, with other charges, over deaths in that household between 1869 and 1874. She was sentenced to death and executed in Fredrikshald in February 1876, at the age of 37. She was the last woman executed in Norway. Her execution was the second-to-last carried out in the country for a peacetime offense before the penal code of 1902 abolished the death penalty in peacetime.
The deaths came in separate events across five years, in 1869, 1872 and 1874.
Sofie Johannesdatter served in the home of Niels Anker Stang and his wife Catharine Elisabeth Stang in Fredrikshald. Her date of birth, her family and her life before she entered the household are not on record; her age at death, 37, puts her birth in the late 1830s.
Three people from the household died over five years. Maren Johannesdatter died in October 1869. Catharine Elisabeth Stang died on October 15, 1872, at the age of 63. Niels Anker Stang died in December 1874.
In 1875 she was questioned by the authorities. She at first denied any wrongdoing, and then confessed to the deaths. Her motive is not on record.
She was convicted of murder, with other charges. The dead were Maren Johannesdatter, Catharine Elisabeth Stang and Niels Anker Stang. The trial court, the date of the verdict and the outcome of any appeal to the Supreme Court are not on record.
She was sentenced to death. Her application for a pardon was refused, and she was told so on January 8, 1876.
She was executed in Fredrikshald on February 17 or 18, 1876; the exact day is not settled. About a week later, on February 25, 1876, the last execution in Norway for a peacetime crime was carried out at Løten.
A broadside titled "Sofie Johannesens Dødssang" (Sofie Johannesen's Death Song), printed in Kristiania and dated 1875, is attributed to her own hand. The song presents her as a religious figure who accepted her fate, and it stands as an example of how executions of the period were given meaning for the public.
Whether the conviction covered two or all three of the deaths is not on record. The exact day of the execution, February 17 or 18, is not settled. The date of her arrest, the trial court, the verdict date and any Supreme Court review are not on record, and her motive is not on record.
Late 1830s: Sofie Johannesdatter is born (aged 37 at her execution).
October 1869: Maren Johannesdatter dies in the Stang household, Fredrikshald.
October 15, 1872: Catharine Elisabeth Stang dies, aged 63.
December 1874: Niels Anker Stang dies.
1875: Sofie Johannesdatter is questioned and confesses.
1875: The song sheet "Sofie Johannesens Dødssang" is published in Kristiania.
January 8, 1876: She is told her pardon application is refused.
February 17 or 18, 1876: She is executed in Fredrikshald.
February 25, 1876: The last peacetime execution in Norway takes place at Løten.
1902: The penal code abolishes the death penalty in peacetime.