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“Cop killer” Östberg fails in parole bid

Annika Östberg was left "extremely disappointed" as a Los Angeles parole board for the third time turned down her request for clemency. She was found guilty in 1981 of being an accessory to two murders, including that of a policeman, and sentenced to "25 years to life imprisonment".

Published: 1 June 2005 13:30 CEST

She asked the Board of Prison Terms for a fixed sentence and to be able to serve the remainder in Sweden.

Östberg, now 51, moved to California with her mother in the 1960s. As a teenager, she ran away from home and soon became a heroin addict. She married and attempted to stop her drug abuse. But when the marriage collapsed, she returned to her former lifestyle.

She then started a relationship with a drug dealer, Brian Cox. In April 1981, the couple argued with restaurant owner, Joe Torre, over money. Cox shot Torre dead.

The following day, they got a puncture and policeman Richard Helbush pulled over to help them. Thinking they were about to be arrested, Cox shot Helbush dead as well. The couple fled in the police car and were later arrested after a police pursuit and a gunfight. Cox hanged himself in his cell prior to the trial.

According to Californian law, Östberg is just as guilty as Cox, even though she did not pull the trigger.

Östberg was not hopeful in the run-up to the latest hearing. Her pleas had been turned down in 1997 and 2002. The fact that Cox killed himself, was crucial, since it left her to bear the burden of guilt. She also felt the presence of the murdered policeman’s family would be decisive.

“Since the actual murderer took his own life, they want to lay all the blame on me. The murdered policeman’s daughter can attend the hearing and speak against me. As long as a relative of the victims turns up on these occasions, I don’t think I’ll ever be released,” she told Expressen.

During the hearing, Östberg attempted to convince the Board that she was remorseful and that she had changed during her 24 years in prison.

“I’ve been a liar, drug addict, prostitute and murderer. What happened stays with me every day, but I’m a different person now,” she told the hearing tearfully.

As expected, Helbush’s two daughters addressed the Board in highly emotional terms.

“You don’t kill cops, you did that,” said one.

“I hate you. I hope you stay here until you die,” said the other, Tara Salizzoni.

The Chairman of the parole board, Margareta Perez, referred in her decision to the “cold-blooded” nature of the crimes and the “trivial motive”.

“She continues to belittle the extent of her involvement,” said Perez. Referring to the support Östberg has received from her native country, Perez said the Swedish press had given a one-sided view of her and recommended that she continue therapy.

Östberg has been the subject of high-level representations from prime minister, Göran Persson, and justice minister, Thomas Bodström. She’s also received assistance from the Swedish consulate in Los Angeles and consul-general, Tomas Rosander, was extremely disappointed after the hearing.

“She had good references, but they were completely ignored. It was as if they didn’t exist.”

As a Swedish citizen, Östberg faces expulsion from the United States when (or if) she is finally released. Rosander had been hopeful that she would therefore be allowed to serve some of her sentence in Sweden.

“It would be good for her to have a transition period in a Swedish prison to allow her a better chance to acclimatise to a new country,” he said.

Östberg’s next chance to appeal is in 2008.

Sources: Svenska Dagbladet, Expressen, Aftonbladet

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CRIME

EXPLAINED: What we know about the attack on a Swedish anti-fascist meeting

Several masked men, described by anti-racism magazine Expo as "a group of Nazis" carried out the attack at an event organised by the Left Party and Green Party. Here's what we know so far.

Published: 25 April 2024 09:35 CEST
EXPLAINED: What we know about the attack on a Swedish anti-fascist meeting

What happened?

Several masked men burst into a Stockholm theatre on Wednesday night and set off smoke bombs during an anti-fascism event, according to police and participants.

Around 50 people were taking part in the event at the Moment theatre in Gubbängen, a southern suburb of the Swedish capital, organised by the Left Party and the Green Party.

“Three people were taken by ambulance to hospital,” the police said on its website, shortly after the attack.

According to Swedish media, one person was physically assaulted and two had paint sprayed in their faces.

“The Nazis attacked visitors using physical violence, with pepper spray, and vandalised the venue before throwing in some kind of smoke grenade which filled the foyer with smoke,” Expo wrote on its website. 

The magazine’s head of education Klara Ljungberg was at the event in order to hold a lecture at the invitation of the two political parties.

What was the meeting about?

According to the Left Party’s press officer, the event was “a meeting about growing fascism”. 

Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar described the event to public broadcaster SVT as an “open event, for equality among individuals”.

As well as Ljungberg from Expo, panelists at the event included anti-fascist activist Mathias Wåg, who also writes for Swedish centre-left tabloid Aftonbladet.

“They were determined and went straight for me,” Wåg told Expo just after the attack. “I received a few blows but nothing that caused serious damage.”

“I was invited to be on a panel in order to discuss anti-fascism with representatives from the Left Party and the Green Party,” he told the magazine. “I didn’t know this was going to happen, but there’s obviously a risk when Expo and I are in the same place.”

What has the reaction been like?

All of Sweden’s parties across the political spectrum have denounced the attack, with Dadgostar describing it as a “threat to our democracy” when TT newswire interviewed her at the theatre a few hours after the attack occurred.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, from the conservative Moderates, called the attack “abhorrent”.

The Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals are currently in government with the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats, while the Social Democrats, Left Party, Centre Party and Green Party are in opposition.

“It is appalling news that a meeting hosted by the Left Party has been stormed,” Kristersson told TT. “I have reached out to Nooshi Dadgostar and expressed my deepest support. This type of abhorrent action has no place in our free and open society.”

“Right-wing extremists want to scare us into silence,” Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson wrote on X. “They will never be allowed to succeed.”

“The attack by right-wing extremists at a political meeting is a direct attack on our democracy and freedom of speech,” Green Party co-leader Daniel Helldén wrote on X. “My thoughts are with those who were affected this evening.”

Sweden Democrat party leader Jimmie Åkesson wrote in an email to TT that “political violence is terrible, in all its forms, and does not belong in Sweden.”

“All democratic forces must stand in complete solidarity against all kinds of politically motivated violence,” he continued.

His party has previously admitted to being founded by people from “fascist movement” New Swedish Movement, skinheads, and people with “various types of neo-Nazi contact”.

“It is an attack not only on the Left Party, Green Party and the Expo Foundation, but also on our entire democratic society,” Centre Party leader Muharrem Demirok, who referred to the attackers as “Nazis”, wrote on social media. “Those affected have all my support.”

Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch and Liberal leader Johan Pehrson both referred to the attackers as “anti-democratic forces”.

“It is never acceptable for a political meeting to be stormed by anti-democratic forces,” Busch wrote. “There is no place for this in our society.”

“Anti-democratic forces like this represent a serious threat to our democracy and must be met with society’s hardest iron fist,” Pehrson said.

What about the attackers? Has anyone been arrested?

Not yet. The police had not made any arrests at the time of writing on Thursday morning.

According to TT, police did not want to comment on who could be behind the attack.

It is currently being investigated as a violation of the Flammable and Explosive Goods Act, assault, causing danger to others and disturbing public order.

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