Norway Killer: Lawyer Says He's Nuts--and There Are Cells of More Like Him

Lawyer says Norway Gunman Appears ‘Insane’

Selah Hennessy | London July 26, 2011

The lawyer of a man charged with killing at least 76 people in Norway says his client appears to be insane.

Case indicates client insane

Defense lawyer Geir Lippestad said the case indicates his client Anders Behring Breivik is insane. But he said it is too early to say whether Breivik will plead insanity at trial.

He said Breivik talks a lot about a manifesto that he wrote outlining his beliefs.

“He hates all the Western ideas, and anyone in the West who believes in democracy and believes in the values of democracy, he hates,” Lippestad said.

Gunman admitted attacks

Breivik has admitted responsibility for exploding a car bomb Friday in downtown Oslo before travelling to a nearby island where he shot dozens of people, killing a total of 76 people.

It took Norwegian SWAT police over an hour to arrive at the shooting scene after local police first received an alert about the attack. Breivik surrendered without a fight.

Lippestad says his client was surprised to have been able to carry out his attack for so long. “He suspected that he would be stopped earlier by the police or someone else,” he stated.

Lippestad said Breivik has reported being part of an anti-Islam network that has two cells in Norway and more abroad, a claim some officials doubt. MORE