The son saw his father murdered – now the trial begins

Mikael and his son were on their way to the swimming pool in Skärholmen one April evening last year. But they never got there.

Before the eyes of his son, Mikael was shot to death in an underpass and today the trial begins against the 18-year-old man charged with the murder.

According to the indictment, the origin of the murder early on Monday evening, April 10, was that the man confronted three young people at an underpass in Skärholmen in southern Stockholm.

– What we know is that one of the three says something when Mikael and his son cycle by. When they parked the bikes, Mikael decided to go back, prosecutor Ove Jäverfelt said when charges in the case were brought.

There must have been an exchange of words between Mikael and the young people in the underpass that ended with the fatal shooting.

The murder is described in the indictment as particularly reckless, because the man was shot in front of the eyes of the son, who was about 60 meters away.

The accused 18-year-old is said to have fled on a bicycle after the murder, on which his DNA was later found.

Just over two months after the shooting, what is believed to be the murder weapon was also found in a basement storeroom in Skärholmen. The gun contained DNA from two people, including the 18-year-old.

The man, 17 years old at the time of the incident, is linked according to the police to a criminal network called the Skärholmsfalangen.

He has been involved in criminal circles for a long time and the police assess that he was already criminally active at the age of 13, as is evident in an LVU decision in 2021.

Another four people are charged, suspected of aggravated protection of a criminal and aiding and abetting the aggravated protection of a criminal.

The 18-year-old denies murder but admits serious weapons offences. He claims he test-fired the weapon earlier in April, but denies being present at the murder. The other four deny it completely.