It was the night of Sunday, December 4, 1994 that the then 25-year-old Tommy Zethraeusalong with Guillermo Marquez Jara and Farshad Doosti got into a fight with the doormen at Sturecompagniet at Stureplan in central Stockholm.
The background to the fight is that the three friends are not allowed to go to the front in the queue for the pub. The door guards finally call the police when the conflict becomes physical and when Zethraeus, Jara and Doosti finally left the scene, they are said to have uttered several threats against the guards, according to witnesses.
“We will come back and you will regret what you have done” and “He (one of the doormen, ed. note) will be dead within 24 hours,” they were said to have said, which among other things Swedish Radio reported on.
Guillermo Marquez Jara. Photo: Police/TT The automatic carbine used in connection with the Stureplan murders. Photo: Police/TT
The trio then made their way to Hagsätra where Zethraeus hid weapons at a relative’s house. There they picked up an automatic carbine of the model AG3 that had been stolen from the Norwegian Home Guard.
At 05:00, after making a plan in Humlegården, they go towards Sturecompagniet, where the lights in the room have just been turned on to signal to the guests that the club is closing.
Once outside the tavern, Zethraeus opens fire on the doormen and the people standing outside. Panic breaks out and within seconds the 25-year-old has emptied the entire magazine with 20 shots.
Laila Bagge was at Sturecompagniet when Tommy Zethraeus opened fire. Photo: Stella Pictures
One of those who were present during the evening in question was the radio and television profile Laila Bagge. She was inside the Sturecompagniet when the shots started being fired.
– When you came out again, it was like coming out to a war zone. There were an incredible number of people lying on the ground screaming and with gunshot wounds. I think 20 people were hit that night, and four died. It was probably one of the worst things I’ve been through in my life. This was so surreal. When you saw everyone lying on the ground, people you knew, the DJ who played at Sturecompagniet. Friends lay and screamed, she has told in the podcast “Assefa Schlingmann”.
Photo: Ola Torkelsson/TTPhoto: Anders Wiklund/TTPhoto: Ola Torkelsson/TT
Four people died in what later came to be known as the “Stureplan murders”. Over 20 people were injured.
Tommy Zethraeus was convicted of the Stureplan murders
The hunt for the perpetrators, who managed to escape from the scene, begins immediately. However, it took until December 7 before Zethraeus and Jara could finally be arrested by the police at a roadblock.
Zethraeus was later sentenced to life imprisonment for the four murders and several attempted murders. This while Jara and Doosti, who were only arrested on 22 December 1994, were sentenced to six years in prison for, among other things, aiding and abetting murder.
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Tommy Zethraeus. Photo: TT
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Tommy Zethraeus’ time in prison
In 2003, Tommy Zethraeus, who was then incarcerated at the Hall prison, was convicted of further serious crimes. Despite being behind bars, he had, according to The evening paperwas able to organize “million dollar deals with narcotics” and violent crimes.
He was therefore sentenced, along with several other inmates, for drug offences, aggravated robbery and aiding and abetting a serious weapons offence.
Photo: Lars Pehrson/SvD/TT
In the same year, Zethraeus also began studying, initially at high school level and then at university. Ten years later, in June 2013, he obtained a master’s degree in psychology.
“The next step in his career is currently not clear, but his aspiration is still to obtain a doctoral position. In the event that he does not succeed in obtaining a doctoral position or equivalent position, he will continue his studies in psychology and social psychology as a hobby,” he has previously stated in the district court, according to a decision from 2016.
Tommy Zethraeus was released – came out to his wife and children
In 2018, Tommy Zethraeus had his sentence commuted to 39 years and in December 2020 it was announced that he had been paroled after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
– The guilt is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life and I think about the victims especially when I see my own children who are starting to reach the age the victims were at the time of the murders, Zethraeus said in court before his release, according to Today’s Law.
When Zethraeus was heard for his release, he stated that he would not mind being a “stay-at-home dad”.
“His wife works full-time and should it become difficult financially, they can live on her salary. The opportunities that society has to contribute to support will still apply to him as well. He currently has his own income in the form of a customary student grant. He sees his situation as privileged as he will come out to a family and thus have a roof over his head”, can be read in the decision which News24 took part in.
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Tommy Zethraeus was registered in Östermalm. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT
Later could Today’s Law report that Zethraeus, after his release, was registered in a 180 square meter apartment in Östermalm – just 900 meters from Stureplan – together with an elderly couple. The man in the couple had then, just two years earlier, been convicted of gross theft in connection with a well-known art coup. Prior to that, he had served a longer prison sentence after being convicted of serious drug offences.
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Tommy Zethraeus today – convicted of new crimes
After being released, however, it wasn’t long before Tommy Zethraeus found himself in the crosshairs of justice again. In November 2022, he was sentenced to one year in prison for aiding and abetting a particularly serious drug crime.
When the case was taken up in the Court of Appeal, the sentence was increased to 1.5 years in prison. Since Zethraeus was on parole at the time, they also added an additional 1.5 years in prison, according to the statement The Express.
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