A former home care employee, who is on trial for strangling a woman to death in her home, is to be sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. This was demanded by the prosecutor when the trial ended on Tuesday.
The man, who is in his 50s, was previously employed by the municipal home care service in Strömstad and, according to the indictment, murdered the woman during a home visit in November last year.
The trial in Uddevalla District Court has been ongoing since June, with a pause to await a statement from the National Board of Forensic Medicine, which arrived a few days ago.
The statement concludes that there has been no serious mental disorder in the legal sense, and this means that imprisonment can be imposed. Given the severity of the crime and how it was committed, it is life imprisonment, says Chief Prosecutor Daniel Veivo Pettersson to TT.
Parts of the sequence of events were filmed and spread by the man in a computer game group, according to the prosecutor. It was through the film that the police became aware of the murder. By then, the woman had already been cremated, under the assumption that the death was natural.
Interest in violence
The defendant is still detained pending sentencing. He denies the murder.
"The request is therefore that the indictment for murder should be dismissed. However, my client acknowledges that he has committed the act described in the indictment, but that this was at an earlier, previous time, and that it did not lead to death," writes defense attorney Elin Hagström in a comment to TT.
In the evidence against the man, the prosecutor refers to texts that contain descriptions of serious violent crimes.
There is an interest in writing and participating in stories about how people are tortured and killed and murdered, says Daniel Veivo Pettersson.
The event has evoked strong emotions. Within the home care service in Strömstad, employees have received extra support since the investigation against the man began.
It is an extremely heinous act that the indictment concerns. We think a lot about the relatives and it has evoked many feelings and thoughts in our staff group, says Helena Lilliebjelke, social manager in Strömstad Municipality.
Routines have been followed
The municipality has conducted its own investigation after the event.
Our internal investigation shows that we have followed the routines we have and that the person met all the requirements and received good references from previous employments. There was nothing deviating in that, says Lilliebjelke.
In connection with the discovery of the event, the staff received many questions from both home care recipients and relatives.
It has been a lot about how our employees have received extra support in how they can meet the anxiety.
The verdict will be announced on July 30.
