'Serial killer' gets retrial for three more murders
A court in northern Sweden has granted Thomas Quick, who had previously been found guilty of eight murders, a retrial for the last three killings for which he had been convicted.
The convictions to be reviewed include those for the murder of a Dutch couple near Gällivare in 1984 and the murder of Charles Zelmanovits in Piteå 1976.
"What we've believed all along has been verified and confirmed, that Quick didn't have anything to do with these murders," Björn Asplund, the father of 11-year-old Johan Asplund, who Quick had previously been convicted of killing.
Prosecutors will now examine whether the charges in the two cases should be dropped, at which point a district court would make an eventual ruling as to Quick's innocence or guilt.
"This scandalous process has gone on for more than 20 years without any concrete evidence or any indication that Quick was the perpetrator," said Asplund.
Quick was previously convicted of eight murders committed between 1976 and 1988.
During therapy he admitted to the eight murders, as well as more than 20 others committed in Sweden, Norway and Finland, often describing how he butchered his victims and in at least one case ate the body parts.
He was convicted in January 1996 for the murder of Marinus and Janni Stegehuis, who were found stabbed in their tent in Appojaure outside Gällivare in 1984.
In November 1994, Quick was convicted for the murder of Zelmanovits, who disappeared in 1976 and whose remains were uncovered in 1993.
In December 2008, however, he suddenly withdrew all his confessions, saying he had been craving attention at the time and had been heavily medicated by doctors.
Questions have since been raised about the strength of the evidence used to convict him.
TT/The Local/dl
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The convictions to be reviewed include those for the murder of a Dutch couple near Gällivare in 1984 and the murder of Charles Zelmanovits in Piteå 1976.
"What we've believed all along has been verified and confirmed, that Quick didn't have anything to do with these murders," Björn Asplund, the father of 11-year-old Johan Asplund, who Quick had previously been convicted of killing.
Prosecutors will now examine whether the charges in the two cases should be dropped, at which point a district court would make an eventual ruling as to Quick's innocence or guilt.
"This scandalous process has gone on for more than 20 years without any concrete evidence or any indication that Quick was the perpetrator," said Asplund.
Quick was previously convicted of eight murders committed between 1976 and 1988.
During therapy he admitted to the eight murders, as well as more than 20 others committed in Sweden, Norway and Finland, often describing how he butchered his victims and in at least one case ate the body parts.
He was convicted in January 1996 for the murder of Marinus and Janni Stegehuis, who were found stabbed in their tent in Appojaure outside Gällivare in 1984.
In November 1994, Quick was convicted for the murder of Zelmanovits, who disappeared in 1976 and whose remains were uncovered in 1993.
In December 2008, however, he suddenly withdrew all his confessions, saying he had been craving attention at the time and had been heavily medicated by doctors.
Questions have since been raised about the strength of the evidence used to convict him.
TT/The Local/dl
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