Murder suspect: 'the noise made me do it'
A 39-year-old man from Karlskrona in southern Sweden who admitted to stabbing his neighbour to death blamed the attack on the incessant noise coming from the victim's flat.
The suspect was remanded in custody by the Blekinge district court on Friday on suspicions of having murdered his 19-year-old neighbour in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
A constant creaky noise from the neighbour's apartment is the only explanation the 39-year-old suspect has provided investigators as to why he attacked his neighbour.
According to a statement released by prosecutor Pernilla Åström, the man said he felt bothered by the noise and armed himself with a large knife before ringing the bell on his neighbour’s door.
He then allegedly stabbed the 19-year-old victim repeatedly. The young man later died in the building’s stairwell from his injuries.
After the stabbing, the 39-year-old made his way to the Blekinge Institute of Technology, where he worked. He then sent an email to the local Sydöstran newspaper explaining what he had done and where he was.
He requested that someone from the newspaper alert the police.
But no one from the Sydöstran’s editorial offices read the email until after the 39-year-old had already been spotted by another employee at the university, who in turn called police.
The man, who had barricaded himself in a room at the university, was later arrested without incident and subsequently admitted to killing the 19-year-old.
At Friday’s remand hearing, the court also ordered the man undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
“I don’t want to pass judgment on my client’s mental status. Obviously, one doesn’t feel well when something like this happens, just like everyone else involved,” the 39-year-old’s attorney, Christer Holmqvist, told the local Blekinge Läns Tidning (BLT) newspaper after Friday’s hearing.
Prosecutors hope to bring formal charges against the man by February 20th.
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The suspect was remanded in custody by the Blekinge district court on Friday on suspicions of having murdered his 19-year-old neighbour in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
A constant creaky noise from the neighbour's apartment is the only explanation the 39-year-old suspect has provided investigators as to why he attacked his neighbour.
According to a statement released by prosecutor Pernilla Åström, the man said he felt bothered by the noise and armed himself with a large knife before ringing the bell on his neighbour’s door.
He then allegedly stabbed the 19-year-old victim repeatedly. The young man later died in the building’s stairwell from his injuries.
After the stabbing, the 39-year-old made his way to the Blekinge Institute of Technology, where he worked. He then sent an email to the local Sydöstran newspaper explaining what he had done and where he was.
He requested that someone from the newspaper alert the police.
But no one from the Sydöstran’s editorial offices read the email until after the 39-year-old had already been spotted by another employee at the university, who in turn called police.
The man, who had barricaded himself in a room at the university, was later arrested without incident and subsequently admitted to killing the 19-year-old.
At Friday’s remand hearing, the court also ordered the man undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
“I don’t want to pass judgment on my client’s mental status. Obviously, one doesn’t feel well when something like this happens, just like everyone else involved,” the 39-year-old’s attorney, Christer Holmqvist, told the local Blekinge Läns Tidning (BLT) newspaper after Friday’s hearing.
Prosecutors hope to bring formal charges against the man by February 20th.
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