July 22nd 2011, a day now indelibly ingrained in Norway’s history, is the date Anders Behring Breivik killed eight people by setting off a bomb outside government headquarters in Oslo. He also embarked on a 90-minute shooting spree, resulting in the death of 69 teenagers on Utoya Island.
In a program commissioned by Discovery Networks International and set to air this month across the United States, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, Discovery Channel chronicles the events of that horrid day – and the impact it has on a nation – in NORWAY MASSACRE: THE KILLER’S MIND. The hour-long special will premiere on Discovery Channel in the United States on Monday, August 8 from 9-10PM ET/PT.
Breivik calls his actions “atrocious but necessary”, but exactly who is this man, and what led him to act? Through psychological analysis NORWAY MASSACRE: THE KILLER’S MIND examines the mind and the motives of the self-confessed assassin who is responsible for these heinous killings. This program provides new insight into Breivik’s motives by some of the world’s leading experts on criminal psychology, including Professor David Wilson and Johns Hopkins University’s Katherine Newman, analyzing his likely psychological journey during that day and asking just what drove him to orchestrate and carry out a plan of carnage.
Weaving together the moments leading up to this tragedy, the documentary also charts the hour-by-hour events from the time of the bomb set off in Oslo, to the cold-blooded shooting of defenseless young people on the idyllic island of Utoya. In addition, the special will provide first-hand accounts from eyewitnesses and survivors who personally suffered the tragedy.
NORWAY MASSACRE: THE KILLER’S MIND will have an encore presentation on Investigation Discovery, airing under the ID Investigates banner on Thursday, August 11 from 8-9PM ET. Military Channel will air the special under the title 90 MINUTES IN HELL: ASSAULT ON OSLO on Tuesday, August 16 at 10PM ET.
NORWAY MASSACRE: THE KILLER’S MIND was commissioned by Elizabeth McIntyre, Head of Production & Development, DNI Factual and is being Executive Produced by Chris Shaw at ITN Productions.