Three convicted in Oslo for theft of Munch's 'The Scream'

A Norwegian court has convicted three men for the theft of Edvard Munch's masterpiece The Scream and another work, Madonna.

The court found Bjorn Hoen, 37, guilty of planning the bold daytime theft from Oslo's Munch Museum in August 2004. He was sentenced on Tuesday to seven years in prison.

Petter Tharaldsen, 34, who is believed to have driven the getaway car, was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Peter Rosenvinge, 38, received a prison sentence of four years.

Furthermore, Hoen and Tharaldsen have been ordered to pay 750 million kroner (about $135.4 million) in compensation costs to the city of Oslo, which owns the two paintings. They must make the payment within the next two weeks.

Police have yet to find The Scream and Madonna, despite the city of Oslo's offer of two million kroner(about $360,000) as reward for their return and the fact that the two paintings are too well known to be sold on the open market.

The three other men who were on trial were acquitted, including 30-year-old Stian Skjold, who authorities portrayed as the mastermind of the theft during the six-week trial.

Also acquitted were Morten Hugo Johansen, 39, who had been accused of providing the getaway car, and Thomas Nataas, who had been on trial for receiving the stolen paintings on his farm before passing them on.

All six men had pled not guilty when the trial began in February.

Because the paintings have not been recovered and there had been a lack of physical evidence left at the scene of the crime, the authorities were forced to base their case on telephone surveillance of the six accused recorded in the period after the theft.

The authorities believe that the two Munch works were stolen in the brazen daylight robberybefore stunned museum staff and tourists to distract police from investigating a previous multimillion-dollar theft in which a police officer was killed.

A pioneer of the early 20th century Expressionist movement, Munch created several versions of his key works, including The Scream, known for its anguished subject screaming under a lurid sunset sky.

He painted four versions of The Scream, all part of a series called "The Frieze of Life."

The original is in Oslo's National Gallery, while the stolen work the main reproduction and another version were given to the Munch Museum after the artist's death. A private collector owns the fourth.