The brutal murder occurred in the garage of the family’s villa on March 7, 2011.
The younger son was asleep in the living room and woke up around 10pm to find his 58-year-old mother dead in a pool of blood.
Nearby, an ax smiled.
– The victim was on her way out when she was attacked in the garage of the residence. The suspect killed the victim by delivering a large number of blows with an ax that hit her head, neck and body, says prosecutor Emma Berge.
The murder suspicions were directed at the older son, then 22 – now 35 years old. He was arrested later that night and held in custody for a few months, until the end of May.
– And the suspicion against him was then dropped and at that point there was no technical proof, other than that there was blood from the victim on the ax and that there was wiped blood on a towel that was found in the laundry room, says Emma Berge and announced that the murder suspect’s son’s track could not be secured.
Secret unit connected after new dna findings
When police forensics over a decade later, using new technology, examined the findings, DNA from the now 35-year-old man was obtained. Both on the handle of the ax and the towel used to wipe the murder weapon.
– A new assessment has been made of the DNA sample secured in the case. The technology has advanced during these twelve years, says Emma Berge.
The prosecutor reopened the murder investigation. At the same time, a special unit within the police’s national operations department, Noa, was activated to send in an infiltrator to try to solve the case.
– It has been carried out by the special operations section (SSI) which is responsible for the Police Authority’s undercover operations and it is only used in serious crime under certain conditions, says Emma Berge.
Thought it was a friend – was undercover cop
The infiltrator has, over a longer period, developed a close relationship with the 35-year-old and, according to the prosecutor, became friends with him. All with the aim of getting the man to reveal what is believed to be his secret – the murder of his mother.
And according to the prosecutor, the undercover police made the 35-year-old tell – while the police secretly recorded the conversations. In total, it is about 13 hours of recordings.
– In the case, there has been an infiltration where the suspect has told several unique details about the murder, says Emma Berge.
As the police’s infiltrators and their operating methods are covered by high secrecy and are top secret, it is not known exactly how it happened or what they got the 35-year-old to reveal.
– It is a special matter.
Acquittal: ‘Speculated with the police infiltrator’
After the trial, which was largely held behind closed doors due to the secret operation, the Växjö district court announced its verdict on Monday.
The court acquitted the 35-year-old of murder. He was, however, convicted of sexual harassment and extortion in a saved case that took place earlier this year. For these crimes he received two months in prison.
According to the district court, the evidence was not strong enough and that the murder may have been carried out by an unknown person. Among other things, when the family’s dog was heard barking on the night of the murder, something it used to do at strangers.
– Based on how the ax was used, the perpetrator should have gotten blood on himself. The technical investigation does not indicate that a shower, sink or similar has been used. No blood has been found on the defendant’s clothes or in his car or home, says Chief Councilor Daniel Haraldsson in a press release.
The 35-year-old has also explained what he said to the police infiltrator by saying that he speculated about what might have happened to his mother based on the facts he learned in 2011.