OSLO, Norway — Oslo police on Tuesday evening began a gradual release of the names of the dead in the Norway massacre, as the lawyer representing the man who admitted responsibility said he thought his client was insane and would spend the rest of his life incarcerated.

The lawyer, Geir Lippestad, declined to say whether his client, Anders Behring Breivik, 32, would plead insanity as a defense when his case finally reached the trial stage. But he described Breivik as “very cold,” distanced from the real world and believing that he was a warrior destined to die for the eventual salvation of European Christian values.

“This whole case has indicated that he is insane,” Lippestad said. “I can’t describe him because he’s not like anyone.”

Breivik has admitted to fashioning and detonating a large bomb in Oslo that killed eight people, then shooting and killing another 68, mainly youths, at a summer camp run by the Labor Party, which leads the coalition government, on the nearby island of Utoya. The attacks Friday amounted to one of the worst massacres in postwar Europe, and the date, July 22, has already been seared into the Norwegian consciousness.

By Tuesday evening, police had released the first four names of those who were confirmed dead — three from the bombing and one from the island. They ranged in age from 23 to 61.

The father of the youngest, Gunnar Linaker, told The Associated Press that his son was “a calm, big teddy bear with lots of humor and lots of love.” The father said he had been on the phone with his son when the shooting started.

“He said to me, ‘Dad, Dad, someone is shooting,’” Linaker said, “and then he hung up.”

Questions still persisted about the response time of the police and Breivik’s claim that he had collaborators. The police have said that there is no other evidence yet to show that Breivik had accomplices, and that so far, spent ammunition on the island appears to have come only from his two guns.

The high number of the dead might also lead to a different set of charges against Breivik. Carol Sandbye, a spokeswoman for the Oslo police, said Tuesday that prosecutors would consider charging Breivik with crimes against humanity, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years, compared with 21 years for the current charges of terrorism.

Anthrax plans

found in manifesto

The manifesto of the Norwegian man charged in the Norway attacks spells out plans for using anthrax as part of his war to defend Europe against what he called the rising threat of Muslim domination.

But experts in biological weapons said the manifesto showed no evidence that Anders Behring Breivik had actually obtained the lethal germ or could wield it as a weapon.

“He obviously doesn’t have any specialized knowledge,” Matthew Meselson, a Harvard biologist and expert on biological weapons, said in an interview. “He’s copied words from other places, and says himself that he doesn’t have the expertise.”

Weapons experts note that many extremists have expressed interest over the years in using anthrax as an aerosol weapon that, if inhaled, could cause fever, vomiting, chills, coma and death.

— New York Times News Service