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CRIME

“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

POLICE

Swedish police leaks scandal: How gang criminals got hold of sensitive information

A new report in Dagens Nyheter has revealed over 514 suspected leaks of sensitive information from at least 30 members of the police force to criminals since 2018. Here's what we know so far.

Published: 30 April 2024 12:28 CEST
Updated: 30 April 2024 15:45 CEST
Swedish police leaks scandal: How gang criminals got hold of sensitive information

What’s happened?

According to an investigative report by newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN), multiple gang members have infiltrated the police force by, for example, dating police employees, or using family connections to gain access to sensitive information about ongoing cases.

The first article in DN’s series focuses on a woman the newspaper calls Elin, who met a man, Jonas (not his real name), on a dating app when she had one year left of her police education. She falls in love, but his only goal with the relationship is to get a source within the police force which he can use for access to secret information.

Over the course of four years until she was caught, she made multiple illegal searches in the police register for Jonas, his associates and enemies, as well as providing him with information on ongoing investigations against him.

Other cases investigated by the newspaper include a border guard who sold classified information to gangs, a police officer who leaked information to what DN describes as “one of Sweden’s most notorious criminals” and an investigator who was dating a man she was investigating, who she shared screenshots of sensitive information with.

In another case, the police received a tip-off that information was being leaked to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang. It was discovered that a group of five alarm operators had made an unusually high number of searches for members of the Hells Angels, who were later discovered to have connections with the gang that they had lied about during their background checks.

What have the consequences of these leaks been?

In some cases, the leaks preceded revenge attacks on enemies of the gang member involved in the relationship. In other cases, the gang members’ enemies disappeared or were murdered.

Some of the people from the police force involved in the leaks were sentenced to fines for illegal data access or breaches of professional secrecy, while the evidence against others was not sufficient to prosecute. 

At least 30 employees had for different reasons been considered “security risks” and either resigned or were forced to quit, the newspaper reported, with over 514 suspected leaks taking place from police to criminals since 2018.

How do criminals find police officers?

According to DN, they look for things that can be used as blackmail, like police officers who buy drugs, or set “honey traps”, like the one used against Elin, where they meet police officers or students on dating apps and start a relationship.

“You take Tinder, for example, and set your search radius so the police school is in the centre. When you get a match, it’s easy to check if it’s a student, through class lists or how they present themselves on social media. They’re proud of their line of work,” Jonas told DN.

They might also use their family connections to put pressure on relatives who work in the police force.

Why is this important?

It’s important because Sweden has seen a rise in gang-related violence in recent years, with a surge in shootings and bombings as gangs fight for control over different drug markets.

Swedes also have a high level of trust in the police force – 72 percent according to a 2024 study by Medieakademin, topping the list of state authorities, with a higher level of trust than universities, healthcare, the courts and even the Swedish church. This was five percent higher than in 2023.

Although the vast majority of police officers do not leak information to criminal networks, Sweden does not have a history of organised crime infiltrating the police force, so officials are keeping a close eye on these leaks to make sure they don’t become more common.

On April 29th, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told TT newswire that the leaks were “very serious”, potentially putting trust in the police force at risk.

“There are many great risks and one is that trust in police declines, that people get the idea that mafia-like methods are used to infiltrate law enforcement,” he said, before adding that he was unable to say whether it constituted a threat to national security or not purely based on the initial DN article.

“But the mere suspicion of these types of connections are damaging,” he told the newswire.

What happens now?

Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer told DN that he planned to call a meeting with police leadership about the reports, which he described as “extremely serious”.

“[At that meeting] we will consider the need for further measures,” he said.

“Leaking sensitive information to criminals is against the law and can have very damaging consequences for the work of the police force,” Strömmer told DN, adding that it could undermine trust in the police and “damage democracy”.

Last summer, the government increased the penalty for breaching professional secrecy, and a special investigator was tasked with looking at a potential reform of the rules on corruption and professional misconduct in February – the Crime Prevention Council is also involved in that investigation, where it has been asked to provide information on how gangs use government employees.

“Protecting the integrity of the justice system against infiltration and other security threats is a central part of the new national strategy against organised crime that the government decided on earlier this year, and it is given the highest priority in our assignments to the authorities,” Strömmer told the newspaper.

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