During his closing statements, attorney Leif Silbersky, who is representing Eklund in his trial from the murder of Juncosa Höglund, as well as for raping and killing 31-year-old Pernilla Hellgren in 2000, read a citation from Stig Dagerman’s “Att döda ett barn” (‘To Kill A Child’).

“For life has no mercy for those who kill a child, that everything which comes thereafter is too late,” quoted Silbersky, just as he had in his opening arguments, according to the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.

“I’m going to lose it if you do this,” screamed Carina Höglund at Silbersky, at which point she completely broke down and was led out of the court room.

On her way out, she dared Eklund to meet her face to face.

“You make sure he accepts a meeting with me,” Höglund shouted.

“I want to talk to you!”

The incident came at the close of an emotional day in which the court learned that Eklund had been deemed mentally ill by experts from the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen), but not sufficiently ill to be sentenced to psychiatric care instead of prison.

Prosecutors argued in turn that Eklund should receive a lifetime prison sentence.

“The only thinkable sanction remaining is prison. The sentence is life in prison for each one of the acts committed against Engla Juncosa Höglund and Pernilla Hellgren,” said prosecutor Patrik Säflund.

Nevertheless, Silbersky made one final attempt to convince the court that his client need care rather than time in prison.

“The most important thing for Anders is that society accepts that he is in need of care, he wants to have care. And he hopes that he can one day return to society as a person who can be trusted,” said Silbersky.

But Silbersky admitted after the proceedings that he has his doubts as to whether he will succeed in keeping his client out of prison.

“I have to admit that it’s a bit of an uphill battle with a client who has confessed to two murders, one of them of a child,” he said to the TT news agency.

The day’s hearing began with a request by Juncosa Höglund’s father for 100,000 kronor ($15,000) in damages for pain and suffering related to the case.

In making the request, the father’s legal representative discussed his client’s relationship with his daughter and how he had planned to have the 10-year-old and her sister visit him in Canada where he now lives.

“This episode has been devastating for him and he feels really bad,” said the father’s representative.

A final verdict in the case is expected to be delivered on October 6th.