Criminologist Leif GW Persson is one of those who followed the first day of the trial in the case against the two women who are suspected of having killed 21-year-old Tove. During the afternoon, the defense presented a new theory about how Tove died, something that could possibly cause the murder charge to be dropped, according to GW. – If the defense succeeds in pursuing that line fully, and the court chooses to follow the same line, I would probably say that there is a significant probability that the murder charges will be dropped, he says. According to GW, the two female suspects must have given a relatively absent impression when the prosecutor presented his description of the course of events on Monday. – It is certainly very noticeable, so they did the usual thing. They gave a rather absent impression that you often get when you’ve found yourself in a situation that you don’t really understand how you got into. They gave that impression more than anything else, it was like it was about someone else in some way, says he. The defense’s new theory During the afternoon, the 20-year-old’s lawyer Clea Sangborn objected to the forensic report. According to the final statement, Tove would have been killed by hand strangulation. The defense believes that she probably died of suffocation, but not suffocation by strangulation. According to the defense, Tove must have vomited and then inhaled it into her lungs. According to GW, the details may sound like a technicality, but it is something that could have far-reaching consequences both in terms of the 20-year-old’s account of the incident and the intent itself. – If it turns out to be that way, the 20-year-old has given a true description which at first did not seem very likely – namely that she only connected the stranglehold for around ten seconds, he says and emphasizes that it may affect the punishment. The murder charge can be dropped Does it mean that the suspicion of murder no longer applies if you go on the defense’s line? – If the defense succeeds in pursuing that line fully, and the court chooses to follow the same line, I would probably say that there is a significant probability that the murder charges will be dropped. – The crime against grave peace is not problematic in that respect, because they have both admitted it. One will likely be sentenced for grave breach of privacy and the other will be sentenced for breach of privacy of the normal degree. But it has rather little significance for the penalty they will be sentenced to. In this situation, the difference between being convicted of murder or assault and causing the death of another is minus ten years, says GW. See the interview with Leif GW Persson in the player above. Here you can also read the live report from the courtroom earlier today.
t4-general
Leif GW Persson: “The murder charge may drop”
