According to Councilor Tord Edlund, it has been a rare brutal act.
"A deliberate attack on an elderly defenseless woman, without any other motive emerging from the perpetrator's side than a desire to kill to experience power and control", says Edlund in a press release.
The woman – who was 74 years old – was the first in a series of intended victims. In November 2023, she was found severely injured in a forest area in Gnosjö.
According to the indictment, she had received repeated blows to the head with a hammer. She had also been stabbed in both the head and torso – and shortly thereafter, the woman died from her injuries.
The brutal murder spread fear in Gnosjö.
Not previously acquainted
At the same time, no perpetrator could be identified for several months.
It wasn't until ten months later that the 28-year-old contacted the police himself and confessed to the murder.
He was not previously acquainted with the woman. But in police interrogation, the man confessed to the crime and provided details that were not publicly known. Technical evidence also linked him to the crime scene.
The man has also confessed to planning to commit more murders in Gnosjö and in Gothenburg. He has, among other things, bought knives and reconnoitered crime scenes.
He explained that he chose to surrender to the police because he was in debt.
"Wants to be in prison"
According to the man's defense attorney Carl-Oskar Morgården, a contributing factor was that the 28-year-old wanted to get away from society.
My client wanted to be in prison for life. He also said in court that he didn't see himself changing, says Morgården to TT.
A forensic psychiatric examination has shown that he does not suffer from any serious mental disorder. In Jönköping District Court, the 28-year-old is therefore sentenced to prison for murder and for eight cases of preparation for murder.
It is currently unlikely that the verdict will be appealed, according to the defense attorney.
I don't think my client will want to appeal the verdict. But I will consult with him in peace and quiet so that he hasn't changed his mind, says Carl-Oskar Morgården.
