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CRIME

Police hunt for double murder suspect

Police in southern Sweden have put out a warrant for the arrest of a 35-year old man for the murder of two men found in the trunk of a burning car near Halmstad on Sweden's west coast earlier this month.

Police hunt for double murder suspect
Police seal off a building just south of Dalby

The man, who is still at large, is believed to be one of several suspects involved in the murders, which new evidence suggests took place near Lund in southern Sweden. An investigation is currently underway at a house in the Dalby-Genarp locality outside Lund, where police investigators believe the murderers recently attempted to cover their tracks. The police have issued an appeal for information from anyone who may have noticed digging in the area on January 14th, 2010.

“About two metres of earth was removed from a three metres squared area,” Bo Lundqvist, Skåne county criminal investigation commissioner, told TT.

The police and public prosecutor have confirmed that the murders have an international connection. Previous media reports have indicated that the murders were linked to drug smuggling cartels in Norway and Russia.

The bodies were found after emergency crews received a call about a red Volvo S60 on fire on a bridge over the E6 motorway on January 6th, 2010.

Police investigations have revealed that both victims were subjected to extreme violence before being stowed away in car which was subsequently set alight. So far only one of the victims, a 25-year-old man from Värmland in western Sweden, has been identified. The other victim, has not yet been identified but is believed to be a 40-year old relative of the man.

According to Police in Mälmo in southern Sweden, the suspect and the victims knew each other.

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CRIME

IN NUMBERS: Has Sweden’s wave of deadly gang violence peaked?

The number of deadly shootings in Sweden has fallen after hitting a record in 2022, according to the latest annual statistics from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). But violent killings continued to rise and more women and youths were victims.

IN NUMBERS: Has Sweden's wave of deadly gang violence peaked?

How bad was 2023 for violent homicide in general? 

With 121 violent homicides recorded, 2023 was the worst year for murder in Sweden since 2020, when 124 people were killed in violent attacks, continuing a rising trend seen since 2021. The number of violent killings was up 4 percent on 2022, when 116 people were killed. 

It’s worth pointing out, however, that this is still lower than the 129 people who died of “murder, manslaughter or violent attack” in Sweden back in 1989,  when the population was nearly 20 percent lower. 

The graph below shows how the number of violent homicides in Sweden rose sharply in about 2014, after which it has seen a gradual but unsteady increase.  

Homicides in Sweden between 2013 and 2023. Source: Brå
 
What about deadly shootings?
 
When it comes to the gang shootings that have dominated headlines in Sweden in recent years, there were signs of improvement, with 53 people shot dead in 2023, down from a record 63 in 2022.  
 
It’s hardly great news though, as 2023 still witnessed the second highest number of deadly shootings ever recorded in Sweden. 
 
The number of fatal stabbings also increased slightly in 2023 to 41 from 35 in 2022. 

 

Deadly shootings, stabbings and other forms of violent murder between 2013 and 2023. Source: Brå
 
Tragically, in 2023, gang criminals in Sweden increasingly began to target the relatives and loved ones of their rivals and also to use minors in their gang wars, leading to a spike in the number of women and youths killed. 
 
Ten more women and nine more people under the age of 18 died in violent attacks in 2023 than in 2022, pushing the number of female victims to 33 and the number of youth victims to 17. 
 
“This year more minors and women have been homicide victims compared with the year before,” Jan Lundbeck, a statistician at the council said in a press release. “This is partly a result of conflicts in criminal circles which had had deadly consequences in which people under the ae of 18 and even women have been affected.” 

Ten of the 33 women killed were in a relationship with their killer, the same number as in 2022. 

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