New acquittal for convicted serial killer
A Swedish man, long considered to be the most dangerous serial killer in Scandinavia, was acquitted on Friday of the 1988 murder of a nine-year-old Norwegian girl.
Sture Bergwall, formerly known as Thomas Quick, was granted a re-trial in March for the murder of Therese Johannesen, but the case against him was dropped, due to a lack of evidence, effectively acquitting him. Johannesen’s body has never been found.
Bergwall is serving a life sentence in a psychiatric institution after being convicted of eight murders carried out between 1976 and 1988. At the time he confessed to all of them, plus another 20 or so allegedly committed in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
The murders were especially gruesome, and in more than one case he claimed he had eaten parts of his victims bodies.
However, in 2008 he suddenly withdrew all his confessions, saying he had been attention seeking at the time and had been under heavy medication. This gave rise to many questions over his involvement, because in all cases there was little or no evidence other than his confessions.
It is not the first time Bergwall has been acquitted of a crime. He was granted a re-trial for the 1988 murder of Israeli tourist Yenon Levi and his conviction was quashed last September.
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Sture Bergwall, formerly known as Thomas Quick, was granted a re-trial in March for the murder of Therese Johannesen, but the case against him was dropped, due to a lack of evidence, effectively acquitting him. Johannesen’s body has never been found.
Bergwall is serving a life sentence in a psychiatric institution after being convicted of eight murders carried out between 1976 and 1988. At the time he confessed to all of them, plus another 20 or so allegedly committed in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
The murders were especially gruesome, and in more than one case he claimed he had eaten parts of his victims bodies.
However, in 2008 he suddenly withdrew all his confessions, saying he had been attention seeking at the time and had been under heavy medication. This gave rise to many questions over his involvement, because in all cases there was little or no evidence other than his confessions.
It is not the first time Bergwall has been acquitted of a crime. He was granted a re-trial for the 1988 murder of Israeli tourist Yenon Levi and his conviction was quashed last September.
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