Jennifer Fairgate ‘Unsolved Mysteries’: Top Reddit Theories About Oslo Death

One of Unsolved Mysteries‘ most perplexing cases this season has reddit sleuths digging into a crime that happened over 20 years ago, with no leads in sight. In Volume 2, Episode 2 of Netflix’s true crime reboot, titled “A Death in Oslo,” we learn about the curious case of Jennifer Fairgate, or Jennifer Fergate, a young woman who was found dead in a five-star hotel in Oslo, Norway, in 1995.

Fairgate was discovered at the Plaza Hotel three days after she checked in, dead in her room with the door double locked on the inside. Investigators initially thought she had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but the case got more interesting with some key details. For one, she checked into the hotel under a false name and without providing any identification, and a man named Louis Fairgate checked in with her, but was never identified after she was found dead.

She also gave a fake address, age, and misspelled her name twice. And when investigators looked through her hotel room, they found a collection of clothes with the labels removed, and no bottoms, only tops. Even more confusing, she was holding the gun at an odd angle, had no blood on her hands, and the weapon’s serial number had been removed with acid.

So what happened to this mysterious woman? Why did she die, and what is the meaning behind all of the puzzling clues left behind at the crime scene? Redditors are on the case. Here are some of the most popular theories from Unsolved Mysteries fans and online detectives:

Jennifer Fairgate Was Killed By “Mr. F”

One theory points to another hotel guest who was staying at the Plaza during the same time as Fairgate. Identified only as “Mr. F,” he was at the hotel in the room right next door, staying there the night she died. Reddit users have pointed out that an article about the crime published in Norwegian outlet VG says Mr. F claimed he heard nothing the evening of Fairgate’s death. He claimed to have heard about it when he checked out of the hotel on Saturday morning, but the hotel didn’t find her body until Saturday night. Why would Mr. F know about her murder before her body was found? Lars Wegner, the VG journalist, tried to contact Mr. F, but he would not respond to his questions about the Oslo hotel.

Jennifer Fairgate Was a Spy

Some reddit investigators believe that Fairgate was a spy on a mission gone wrong, pointing to the fact that all of her tags were removed on her clothes and she was using a false identity. One wrote, “Wow this is really interesting. Sounds like she could’ve been a spy or something? To speak three languages and no tags on the clothes seems strange. Could the person have left through the window? Was there a patio? Could a person have left the room between the time the guard left after he heard the gunshot and when someone came back to the room?”

Another wondered, “My crazy theory is that she was a spy, or an agent of some extremely well-organized criminal ring, and knew she was being followed and targeted. She also knew that her chances of getting out of it were slim, and she wanted to give herself a relatively dignified and painless death on her own terms rather than face a potentially crueler death and/or interrogation from others.

“Being a professional, she is careful even in her last days to obscure her identity; possibly a friend or colleague “Lois” helps her. Though unidentifiable, she also makes sure to die in a rather public way – at a hotel instead of a private residence or some wilderness for example – because she wants her enemies and/or employer and anyone who is tailing her to be quite, quite sure that she’s dead now and there’s an end to it – and her secrets go with her.”

Jennifer Fairgate Was A Sex Worker

Another theory suggest that Fairgate wasn’t a spy, but possibly a sex worker. One reddit user questioned why she would have been at the hotel in Oslo in 1995, wondering, “Was she a prostitute that did work at the hotel?” And asking, “Why did this woman come to Oslo? The hotel was favored by country leaders and ‘influential’ people. The hotel pays a huge role in solving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the secret negotiations of 1993 Oslo’s agreements. Around such events there were always a lot of security guards and country agents. During the summer of 1995, Norway no longer had such events at all, neither anything else similar – related to the international politics.”

A Guest in Room 2816 Killed Jennifer Fairgate

A bag with a USA Today magazine was found in Fairgate’s room, but it was for Room 2816, and she was staying in room 2805. A fingerprint was found on the bag, but investigators were unable to identify it at the time. As a reddit thread about Fairgate’s murder points out, “Nothing is known about the resident of the room or the room itself.”  Authorities recently sent a request through Interpol to investigate the fingerprint on the bag, but nothing has come of it yet.

If you have your own information about Jennifer Fairgate that might help crack the case, you can submit your tips at unsolved.com.

Stream Unsolved Mysteries (2020) on Netflix