Attunda District Court said it could not prove that the man killed his wife. The court said it could not completely rule out explanations other than murder, and therefore he was acquitted of the charges.
"There are several alternative explanations that are not ruled out by what has emerged," the verdict states.
The court was divided: two jurors believed the man should be convicted of murder.
The man was released from custody after the main hearing in the district court concluded in May.
Suspected as early as 2015
In January 2015, the 39-year-old mother of two was found dead in a ditch in Sigtunafjärden after being reported missing by a worried friend a few hours earlier.
Shortly after she was found, her husband was arrested, but he was released after a month because the evidence was insufficient for prosecution and the preliminary investigation was closed.
In 2024, the case was reopened after a relative of the woman requested the coroner's report. The following year, the man was re-arrested on probable-cause suspicion of murder.
The couple were divorced at the time of the incident. They had separated and the woman had met a new boyfriend.
The man's explanation
The man, who is now in his 50s, has always denied any wrongdoing. He said they had gone together to a pier at Sigtunafjärden and talked for a while. According to him, she wanted to call off the divorce. He opposed it and went home after a while. The woman was alive at the time, he says.
He was sentenced to 10 months in prison for drug offenses.
