Published: Just now
After being expelled from the Hells Angels, Linus Bergh lived under death threats.
In March, he was shot dead in an industrial premises in Lidköping.
Five months later, his killer is on the loose – and his survivors are in shambles.
– He is missed every day and I try to keep it together as a mother to our children, says Jonna Sailon.
The first time she saw Linus Bergh was in a bar.
At the time she was a singer in a rock band and had just performed at a 40th birthday party at a motorcycle club.
He was sitting at the bar.
Fit and with hair in a bun.
– I just thought: oh my god, that guy is going to break my heart.
Despite Jonna Sailon’s attempts to play elusive, they soon became a couple.
– I fell for a fantastic person with an extremely big heart and who was extremely happy. The first to line up if something happened.
Thirteen years, a wedding, three children and a separation later, the singer from the bar would be vindicated.
She got her heart broken.
Just not in the way she had first thought.
On the evening of March 20, Linus Bergh was shot dead with several shots in an industrial premises in Lidköping.
He was 36 years old.
– I know people will have their prejudices, but they didn’t know Linus. But yes, it was like that. He lived two lives. One with the family and one with the club.
Facts
This is the Hells Angels
The Hells Angels are a criminal international motorcycle gang that was established in Sweden in 1993.
The organization is considered to be the most stable of the motorcycle gangs in Sweden.
According to the police’s assessment, the capital of violence is fundamental to the criminal activity:
According to a police report from 2021, the Hells Angels then consisted of 156 people – members, prospects and hangouts – spread over 13 departments. Two out of three were on the criminal record. A total of 1,096 crimes were committed.
In addition to violent crime, the club’s intimidation capital is seen as the major societal threat and means that members rarely need to resort to violence in debt collection.
The police report also shows how the motorcycle gang exploits legal structures for crime, above all through financial crime connected to companies.
Read more
They were married for almost ten years before they separated in 2020. The relationship was stormy at times. They had recently had their first child when Linus Bergh joined the Hells Angels.
– There was a side of him that looked for kicks. In the club, he felt a sense of belonging and acceptance for who he was. Even though I felt cheated standing there with a baby, I chose to support him if that was what he really wanted.
Linus Bergh followed in his father’s footsteps. When he became a full member in 2013, his father Joakim Persson was already part of the club.
– Linus had a fantastic heart. He loved his children. He worked and had his own painting company. He also enjoyed riding motorcycles. It was like Linus said: Dad, we’re not normal. We had the wild side too.
He continues:
– We were members. We punched people in the face. We didn’t take shit. But we were never involved in anything like this. There wasn’t.
The first time the son told about his thoughts to join, the father asked him to think carefully for a month.
– After three weeks he said he had made up his mind. I could not sit on a pedestal and say: it suits me, but not you. But we had one rule: we shouldn’t owe the club or anyone in this environment any money. I was so fucking naive, he says.
The police assumed early on that the crime took place in a criminal environment.
After the murder, Aftonbladet’s survey showed that Linus Bergh had been a member of the Hells Angels for several years and that in 2015 he was sentenced to ten months in prison for an extortion attempt on behalf of the club.
Documents from the Social Services showed that he was excluded in January this year. The police then assessed that there was a very high threat against him.
Unknown cars had been seen circling his home and he had, according to a picture on social media, approached rival motorcycle gang Satudarah shortly before his death.
Two men with connections to the environment around the Hells Angels have been detained in the murder investigation. One of them is still in custody on suspicion of aiding and abetting murder. There is no one in custody for having carried out the murder.
On the night Linus Bergh was murdered, he made his way to the venue – which previously housed a local motorbike club – believing he was going to a meeting. His new partner was in the room and witnessed the crimet, which she told about in Expressen.
Joakim Persson was also called to the meeting and believes that he himself would have been killed on the spot.
– I arrived seven minutes late. When I arrived he was lying there. I had to lift my son up with blood pouring from his mouth. He was already dead. I’ve had a million thoughts since then. I was his father and was supposed to protect him but failed the last time. It is heavy to carry.
Joakim Persson was expelled from the club some time before Linus. In both cases, there must have been a question of perceived debts as a background to the decisions.
– I thought so much of the club and that there was this camaraderie. Both Linus and I thought so, but it wasn’t right. People make things up. It affected both me and Linus. I feel incredible regret that we joined.
In contact with the authorities, Linus Bergh has described a good childhood. As a youngster, he loved sports and was a promising bandy player.
At the same time, a restlessness and a constant search for kicks was present.
Only in adulthood was he diagnosed with ADHD. By then he had self-medicated for many years.
– It was a struggle for him. In the past, people didn’t talk about ADHD like they do today. It’s a shame it wasn’t discovered sooner. With the right tools earlier in life, I don’t think he would have gone the way he did, says Jonna Sailon.
2022 is a record year for deadly gun violence.
Linus Bergh became the 17th person to be shot dead.
His survivors want to tell about him so that his death will not become a number in the statistics, waiting for the next act to count.
– I have lost my best friend and great love. People think he was a brutal monster who lived with us. But he was a softie who loved his children more than anything else, says Jonna Sailon.
When their youngest child recently turned four, he released helium balloons into the air.
– He looked up and shouted: “take my balloon, dad!”. It hurts a lot in moments like that. The party, the school meetings. Now I’m alone with it. At home we try to talk about him every day, I don’t want the children to feel that you can’t talk about dad.
The last time she saw Linus Bergh was a month before the murder.
She talks about the last memories:
She sensed that something bad was about to happen. Reminded him that he has three children and that she does not want to be left alone as a parent.
He tried to reassure her, promised that he would always be there.
Then he walked towards his car.
Just before he jumped in to drive off, he called out.
It was his last farewell.
– See you soon, baby.