– We just want to understand why you murdered Jesper. What gave you the right to take his life? He who was so full of life, says Susanne, Jesper’s mother.
On Monday, June 1, 2020, Jesper meets some friends to go swimming. At 21.30 in the evening, he is dropped off near his home. But only a few hundred meters from home – Jesper is stabbed in the chest.
A person who is out for a walk with his dog raises the alarm, but the 24-year-old’s life cannot be saved. Now four years later, it is still not known who murdered Jesper that summer evening in 2020.
A doubling of unsolved murders
A total of 891 murders in Sweden are still unsolved, according to figures from the police. That’s more than a doubling of unsolved murders in ten years. New cases are added while old ones are not solved, which causes the number of unsolved cases to increase.
– One reason is that the cases are never statute-barred, which means that they are constantly replenished. The oldest cases are from 1985, which contributes to the increase in the number of cases, says Göran Olsson, investigator at the police’s cold case group in Stockholm.
Six of the country’s seven police regions have so-called cold case teams that work with unsolved violent crimes. The police’s cold case group in Stockholm has around 220 cases.
400 interrogations have been held
There was no particular threat to Jesper and he should not have belonged to any criminal group, according to the police.
Jesper’s murder was handed over in 2023 to the police’s cold case group. The head of the preliminary investigation declines an interview, but writes in an email:
“Approximately 400 interrogations have been held in the preliminary investigation. The police are actively working on the case and are processing technical evidence and ongoing tips that are received. At present, the tips received have not succeeded in moving the investigation forward. The police are still interested in tips about the murder.”