Did Sture Bergwall kill the Stegehuis Family? That is THE question now in Sweden so they are reopening this case.
The Dutch couple Marinus and Jannie Stegehuis were found murdered in their tent in July 1984 near Lake Vuolep Appojaure, Sweden.
Sture Bergwall, convicted and sentenced in their case, is serving life for several crimes. However, some he recanted. And, in some cases there is actually evidence he did not commit them.
Bergwall confessed to 30 murders, was sentenced for eight, and has been acquitted in five of those cases.
Is Sweden’s serial killer really a murderer or a compulsive liar? From the BBC: “The convicted killer, who is now 62, told AP news agency he had lied about the murders “to make myself interesting”, and while under the influence of heavy medication.”
Bergwall was convicted in January 1996 of murdering a Dutch couple, Marinus and Janni Stegehuis, who were stabbed in Appojaure in 1984. In November 1994, he was convicted of murdering 5-year-old Charles Zelmanovits, who disappeared in Pitea in 1976, and whose remains were uncovered in 1993. Prosecutors will now examine whether the charges in the two cases should be dropped, at which point a district court will rule as to Bergwall’s innocence or guilt.
From the Guardian: “In 2008, Hannes Råstam, one of Sweden’s most respected documentary-makers, became intrigued. He visited the former Thomas Quick, now known as Sture Bergwall, at Säter, trawled through the 50,000 pages of court documents, therapy notes and police interrogations and came to the startling conclusion that there was not a single shred of technical evidence for any of Bergwall’s convictions. There were no DNA traces, no murder weapons, no eyewitnesses – nothing apart from his confessions, many of which had been given when he was under the influence of narcotic-strength drugs. Confronted with Råstam’s discoveries, Bergwall admitted the unthinkable. He said he had fabricated the entire story.”
This is one case to watch!
Hat tip to Clouseau, webmaster par excellence, for sending me this newspaper article.
[…] against Bergwall on the murder of the Dutch Stegehuis family were waived in May 2013. The BBC reports that “After his convictions were quashed, Mr […]