This fall's reviews in Aftonbladet pointed to several shortcomings in the investigation of the murder in Knutby in 2004, and questioned whether it was really the nanny who fired the fatal shots at the pastor's wife in the bedroom.
Among other things, a medical examiner and an autopsy technician who participated in the original autopsy have confirmed that there was no bleeding in the hip where the nanny said the first shot hit. The conclusion from this was that the woman was already dead when the nanny fired her shots.
Death before the shots
Based on the new information, the nanny's lawyer Johan Eriksson filed an application with the Attorney General's Office (RÅ) to reopen the case, as a first step to pursuing justice.
On Tuesday, however, RÅ decided not to reopen the preliminary investigation or request a retrial.
This is because what is being relied on is mainly new interpretations of material that has already been examined, according to Chief Prosecutor Mats Svensson, who decided on the case. An application to reopen the investigation was rejected, but Svensson still examined the evidentiary value of what was presented.
And in those cases where I have examined the evidence on the merits, I have concluded that it is in principle devoid of evidentiary value and that it is not likely that it would have led to a different outcome, even if there were new circumstances.
Questioning reliability
Among other things, he questions the fact that the application to RÅ assumes that the nanny was completely reliable in her statements, and that discrepancies with the technical evidence must therefore have other explanations.
No court has tested whether she is credible and reliable regarding what happened in the bedroom when she shot the victim, says Mats Svensson.
According to him, there is reason to question the information she provided about shooting distance and about whether she shot the victim first in the hip and then in the head, rather than the other way around.
I'm not saying it's that way. I'm just saying you can't completely rule it out.
Lawyer Johan Eriksson tells Aftonbladet that after the announcement, they themselves will apply to the Supreme Court for leave to reopen the case.
My opinion that there are grounds for reopening does not change for a second just because the Attorney General does not think so, he says.
On January 10, 2004, the wife of pastor Helge Fossmo was found murdered in the couple's home in the small community of Knutby outside Uppsala. In the neighboring house, a 30-year-old man was found shot to death.
Fossmo was later sentenced to life imprisonment for incitement to murder and attempted murder, and the woman, referred to as the nanny, who carried out the acts, received forensic psychiatric care.
The incident also drew attention to the Philadelphia congregation to which Fossmo belonged. Information gradually emerged about the group's special interpretation of the Bible, where the concept of the bride of Christ was interpreted as meaning a specific person - a woman in the Knutby congregation.
Fossmo's sentence was later commuted, and he has been on parole for several years. The nanny was released in 2011.
