On June 2, 2005, Tor Öberg and his common-law partner Gerd Wiklund were found murdered on a farm in Brattås outside Härnösand. On Friday, a 45-year-old man was charged after DNA-based genealogy research was used in the investigation.
The method was previously used in a pilot project in 2020 to solve the double murder in Linköping in 2004, where genealogist Peter Sjölund helped find the perpetrator.
"It's exciting that it's finally happening. It's been many years since Linköping," says Sjölund.
“A trauma”
After the case in Linköping, the Swedish Privacy Protection Authority ruled that the method was illegal. An inquiry was set up and since last year DNA-based genealogy can be used in murder investigations. In August 2025, prosecutors decided to use the method in the Brattås case.
Even though Peter Sjölund himself was not involved, the case is close to him - literally.
I live in Härnösand and can see Brattås from here. This has really been a trauma for this town for all these years, and there are lots of rumors and theories about who it was and why this happened.
It would be nice to know what happened and why.
In short, the method involves entering a DNA profile from a crime scene into a genealogy database. If the profile from the crime scene matches other DNA profiles, it becomes possible to find the person who once left the traces through genealogy.
If you have pieces of DNA that are the same, then you are related. DNA doesn't lie, says Sjölund.
Unlike the police's own databases, genealogy databases are much more detailed. According to Sjölund, the police use around 15 pieces of DNA - compared with at least 700,000 in a genealogy database.
19th century
In the Linköping case, Peter Sjölund surveyed around 800 people and went back to the 19th century. It took him five weeks to find the perpetrator.
There was a murder weapon, a knife. And on that knife there was blood from three people. First the two victims and then a completely unknown man. And then you know, okay, here we have the killer's DNA, he says and continues:
Here in Brattås, the concern is that if his DNA was on her bones, it proves that he was there and that he touched her. But it doesn't prove that he killed her.
Now he hopes that the method will be used in more cases - and implemented early.
The Hagamannen was at it for eight years. Today we had found him in three weeks.
A case that becomes relevant for genealogy goes through four stages.
1. DNA analysis: An extended analysis of the biological trace is performed, and the answer is formatted for comparison with genealogy databases.
2. Comparison with genealogy databases: The data is transferred, and the Swedish Data Protection Authority is informed. The handling is done separately, so that no one else can search against the current DNA trace.
3. Hit list and selection. The police receive answers in the form of a hit list, and based on this, more traditional genealogy research is carried out to see who the perpetrator may be.
4. Hit against a person. If a person can be identified as a reasonable suspect, they can be forced to undergo a swab test, which can then be tested against the DNA trace. Swab testing can also be done voluntarily.
Source: Police.
