Man charged with murder of Croatian au-pair
A 25-year-old man has been prosecuted at Gothenburg Distict Court in connection with the murder in April of a 20-year-old Croatian au-pair. The suspect has also been charged with rape, as well as the attempted rape of two minors.
Jelena Ivanisevic was found in the house of a family for whom she worked as an au pair. She had lived at the family's home in the Långedrag district of Gothenburg since moving to Sweden from Croatia. The family was on vacation at the time her body was found.
Police went to the house after Ivanisevic's friends expressed concern that she had not been in touch for a few days. She is believed to have been killed on Easter Sunday, April 8th, several days before her body was discovered.
An autopsy confirmed that she had been murdered.
The suspect was arrested on April 17th and later remanded in custody following the discovery of Ivanisevic's body on the night of April 12th. The 25-year-old has confessed to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
It is known that the man attended the same course as Ivanisevic at Gothenburg University. Police have also confirmed that he is not a Swedish citizen.
The prosecution believes that the suspect suffocated Ivanisevic while her hands were retrained behind her back.
"The man has admitted that he caused her death and now it is up to us to prove that it was intentional; we have high hopes of being able to provide evidence of this," prosecutor Per Lind told news agency TT.
The 25-year-old is also suspected of having attempted to rape two 14-year-old girls after drugging them with wine and narcotics. He was however interrupted by a third party, who drove the girls home.
The two 14-year-olds later contacted the police after they recognized their attacker in the media description of the man who killed Jelena Ivanisevic.
The suspect is also accused of having raped a 20-year-old woman in the toilets of a pub in Gothenburg in April 2006.
"She reported the rape and the man was arrested two days later. At first he was detained but he was later released by the district court," said Peter Lind.
Police did not come into contact with the suspect again until after the murder of Jelena Ivanisevic.
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Jelena Ivanisevic was found in the house of a family for whom she worked as an au pair. She had lived at the family's home in the Långedrag district of Gothenburg since moving to Sweden from Croatia. The family was on vacation at the time her body was found.
Police went to the house after Ivanisevic's friends expressed concern that she had not been in touch for a few days. She is believed to have been killed on Easter Sunday, April 8th, several days before her body was discovered.
An autopsy confirmed that she had been murdered.
The suspect was arrested on April 17th and later remanded in custody following the discovery of Ivanisevic's body on the night of April 12th. The 25-year-old has confessed to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
It is known that the man attended the same course as Ivanisevic at Gothenburg University. Police have also confirmed that he is not a Swedish citizen.
The prosecution believes that the suspect suffocated Ivanisevic while her hands were retrained behind her back.
"The man has admitted that he caused her death and now it is up to us to prove that it was intentional; we have high hopes of being able to provide evidence of this," prosecutor Per Lind told news agency TT.
The 25-year-old is also suspected of having attempted to rape two 14-year-old girls after drugging them with wine and narcotics. He was however interrupted by a third party, who drove the girls home.
The two 14-year-olds later contacted the police after they recognized their attacker in the media description of the man who killed Jelena Ivanisevic.
The suspect is also accused of having raped a 20-year-old woman in the toilets of a pub in Gothenburg in April 2006.
"She reported the rape and the man was arrested two days later. At first he was detained but he was later released by the district court," said Peter Lind.
Police did not come into contact with the suspect again until after the murder of Jelena Ivanisevic.
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