The woman was found dead in her apartment in central Linköping on March 21, after family and friends had tried to reach her by phone. The woman, who was 12 weeks pregnant, had extensive injuries on her body and the police immediately suspected murder.
By chance, the now accused 34-year-old was stopped for a police control in Stockholm barely a day later. They thought the man behaved strangely and wanted to take him in for questioning.
Findings in the car
At the same time, the police in Stockholm received information that the man, who had had a relationship with the 40-year-old, was now suspected of the murder in Linköping.
Then he is arrested for this murder. When the police search his car, they find, among other things, bloody towels and a bloody baton in the trunk, says prosecutor Gabriella Ergül, who on Wednesday charged the man with murder.
According to Ergül, the man killed the woman sometime between March 20 and 21, by strangulation and extensive violence against her body and head. He is then said to have cleaned up the crime scene and removed traces from the apartment.
The motive for the murder, according to the prosecutor, is that the man did not want to have a child with the woman.
He has in various ways tried to contact this woman. He has also, through mutual friends, tried to convey that he does not want to have children. Then I claim that he seeks out the woman in her home and then commits this crime.
The findings made in the trunk are important for the investigation and clearly link the 34-year-old to the murder, says Gabriella Ergül.
There, they have found, among other things, clothes with his DNA and her blood on. There was also a bloody shower curtain that comes from her apartment.
Furthermore, there is information that the woman was afraid that the 34-year-old would harm her.
Denies
The man has consistently denied the murder and claims that he was not at the woman's home during that time.
The 34-year-old is also charged with, among other things, unlawful threats against two other women. It concerns events that occurred before the suspected murder.
An investigation has shown that the man does not suffer from a serious mental disorder, and in the event of a guilty verdict, he can therefore be sentenced to prison.
The trial in the case begins on January 13.
