Facts: Four indicted for the gym murder
17-year-old: Charged with murder, attempted murder and aggravated weapons offences. Was 16 years old at the time of the murder. In addition to the murder, charged with aggravated public destruction for a bomb attack on a restaurant on Södermalm in Stockholm a little over a week before the murder. A mouthguard with both the 17-year-old’s and the victim’s DNA, as well as the murder weapon, was found in an apartment. In the district court, sentenced to closed youth care for two years and eleven months for murder, aggravated weapons offense and aggravated public danger.
19-year-old: Accused of aiding and abetting murder, aiding and abetting attempted murder and aiding and abetting the gross protection of a criminal. Was 18 years old at the time of the murder. Suspected of driving the getaway car. The man’s DNA was found on a sleeve found in the gym. Acquitted in the district court.
31-year-old: Accused of aiding and abetting murder, aiding and abetting attempted murder, violation of the Weapons Act, drug offenses and minor doping offences. Suspected of having mapped the actual target and of having bought and handed over the getaway car to the two younger men on the day of the murder. The man’s DNA was found in the car. In the district court acquitted of the charges relating to the murder. Sentenced to one year in prison for drug offences, violations of the Weapons Act and minor doping offences.
32-year-old: Accused of aiding and abetting murder, aiding and abetting attempted murder and drug offences. Suspected of having procured and handed over the car together with the 31-year-old. In the district court acquitted of the charges relating to the murder. Sentenced to 3 months in prison for drug offences.
On March 28, 2022, a lone perpetrator, dressed in black and masked with a light blue mask, stormed into a gym in central Stockholm.
According to the police, the target was a man in his 40s with connections to a criminal motorcycle gang. But as the killer approached his intended victim, another gym-goer stepped in between. The man, who was 55 years old, was shot in the head and later died in hospital.
The boy, who was 16 years old at the time of the crime, was sentenced in March, despite his refusal, to closed youth care for two years and eleven months for murder, aggravated weapons offense and public dangerous destruction.
The evidence consisted of, among other things, a mouth guard with both the boy’s and the victim’s DNA, surveillance images and identification data. According to the district court, the total penalty value for an adult was 18 years in prison.
Was cleared at the dentist
After the verdict, the 17-year-old was placed in the youth home Tysslinge outside Södertälje. Just over a month later, he was freed by several armed people in connection with a visit to the dentist in Södertälje.
After staying away for just over a week, he was arrested in an apartment in Strängnäs in connection with a house search for suspected drug offences.
Both the defense, which wants to see an acquittal, and the prosecution, which is demanding eight years in prison for the boy, appealed the district court verdict.
Rescheduled hearing
On Thursday, the trial begins in Svea Court of Appeal, which moved the hearing from the Court of Appeal’s premises on Riddarholmen to a security room at Attunda District Court in Sollentuna.
The boy was sentenced in addition to the murder for having on another occasion thrown a hand grenade into a restaurant on Södermalm in Stockholm. He was charged but acquitted of attempted murder of the alleged target.
Three more men – 19, 31 and 32 years old – stand accused in the case, suspected of aiding and abetting murder and aiding and abetting attempted murder. All were acquitted in the district court. The prosecutor has also appealed against that and wants the Court of Appeal to sentence the men to prison.