Murdered mum with dog leash, sentenced to life
A 33-year-old woman from Värnamo in western Sweden has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering her mother and a friend in what has been described as a "bizarre killing".
The woman was previously freed by the district court of the killings, but the appeals court on Tuesday found her guilty despite the dissension of one of the appeals court judges.
Both murders took place during the winter in Värnamo, 170 km southeast of Gothenburg. In the first killing, a woman was found dead in December, having been strangled with a piece of wire.
The woman's mother was killed in February. The murderer had killed her using plastic bags and a dog leash, which she used to strangle her.
The accused woman denied both murders and and after the first killing, the authorities were uncertain whether a crime had been committed at all, with suicide initially suspected.
However, this version of events was rejected by the legal advisory board of the Swedish Social Welfare Board (Socialstyrelsen).
It was only when the second woman, the now-convicted woman's mother, was found dead that suspicions of murder emerged as similarities were noted between the cases. The woman's mother was found in such a way as to appear that she had committed suicide, but the bluff was exposed.
The accused later told the police that her mother was tied up and gave other details, but was unable to give an explanation of the circumstances of the death.
It is rare for a woman to murder two other women. The attempt to disguise the murders as suicide makes the case particularly unusual.
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The woman was previously freed by the district court of the killings, but the appeals court on Tuesday found her guilty despite the dissension of one of the appeals court judges.
Both murders took place during the winter in Värnamo, 170 km southeast of Gothenburg. In the first killing, a woman was found dead in December, having been strangled with a piece of wire.
The woman's mother was killed in February. The murderer had killed her using plastic bags and a dog leash, which she used to strangle her.
The accused woman denied both murders and and after the first killing, the authorities were uncertain whether a crime had been committed at all, with suicide initially suspected.
However, this version of events was rejected by the legal advisory board of the Swedish Social Welfare Board (Socialstyrelsen).
It was only when the second woman, the now-convicted woman's mother, was found dead that suspicions of murder emerged as similarities were noted between the cases. The woman's mother was found in such a way as to appear that she had committed suicide, but the bluff was exposed.
The accused later told the police that her mother was tied up and gave other details, but was unable to give an explanation of the circumstances of the death.
It is rare for a woman to murder two other women. The attempt to disguise the murders as suicide makes the case particularly unusual.
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