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Sweden’s ‘Laser Man’ charged with murder in Germany

One of Sweden's most notorious killers has been formally charged by German prosecutors over the murder of a Jewish woman in Frankfurt in 1992.

Published: 9 May 2017 11:55 CEST

Sweden's 'Laser Man' charged with murder in Germany

Ausonius (centre) pictured in 1995. Photo: Yvonne Åsell/TT

Dubbed the “Laser Man” in Swedish media, 63-year-old John Ausonius gained notoriety in the 1990s when he went on a six-month shooting spree with a laser sight between 1991 and 1992 in Sweden, injuring 10 immigrants and killing one.

He is serving life behind bars for the attacks, and in January was sent to Germany by Sweden to stand trial for another murder, that of 68-year-old Blanka Zmigrod in Frankfurt on February 23, 1992.

READ ALSO: More background on 'Laser Man' Ausonius

On Tuesday, German prosecutors formally charged the Swedish citizen with murdering Zmigrod, who he had been in an argument with a week before she was killed 25 years ago.

The case has been built on both forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts from 1992, according to the prosecutor.

“The prosecutor considered there to be sufficient evidence, in part from witnesses, in part from bullet casings found at the crime scene which are consistent with ammunition secured in Sweden,” Nadja Niesen from Frankfurt's prosecution authority told Swedish news agency TT.

According to the charge sheet, Ausonius is alleged to have followed Zmigrod after she left the restaurant she worked at, then shot her in the head at close range. He also took her handbag before fleeing, and a week before the alleged murder had accused her of stealing an electronic calendar from him.

Ausonius agreed to be sent to Germany last January to stand trial after it was agreed that any eventual sentence would be served in Sweden. He denies the crime, but has admitted that he was in Frankfurt around the time of Zmigrod's death.

It is currently unclear when the trial will begin according the prosecutor, but it is hoped that it will take place during the summer.

READ ALSO: 'Laser Man' murderer starts prison blog

Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

The accusations come at a time of strained relations between Moscow and the West following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the European Union’s support for Kyiv.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a newly concluded government investigation found that a cyberattack targeting members of the Social Democratic Party had been carried out by a group known as APT28.

APT28 “is steered by the military intelligence service of Russia”, Baerbock told reporters during a visit to Australia.

“In other words, it was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack on Germany and this is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences.”

APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, has been accused of dozens of cyberattacks in countries around the world. Russia denies being behind such actions.

The hacking attack on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party was made public last year. Hackers exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook to compromise e-mail accounts, according to Berlin.

Berlin on Friday summoned the acting charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy over the incident.

The Russian embassy in Germany said its envoy “categorically rejected the accusations that Russian state structures were involved in the given incident… as unsubstantiated and groundless”.

Arms, aerospace targeted: Berlin

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the cyber campaign was orchestrated by Russia’s military intelligence service GRU and began in 2022. It also targeted German companies in the armaments and aerospace sectors, she said.

Such cyberattacks are “a threat to our democracy, national security and our free societies”, she told a joint news conference in Prague with her Czech counterpart Vit Rakusan.

“We are calling on Russia again to stop these activities,” Faeser added.

Czech government officials said some of its state institutions had also been the target of cyberattacks blamed on APT28, again by exploiting a weakness in Microsoft Outlook in 2023.

Czech Interior Minister Rakusan said his country’s infrastructure had recently experienced “higher dozens” of such attacks.

“The Czech Republic is a target. In the long term, it has been perceived by the Russian Federation as an enemy state,” he told reporters.

EU, NATO condemnation

The German and Czech findings triggered strong condemnation from the European Union.

“The malicious cyber campaign shows Russia’s continuous pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, by targeting democratic institutions, government entities and critical infrastructure providers across the European Union and beyond,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

The EU would “make use of the full spectrum of measures to prevent, deter and respond to Russia’s malicious behaviour in cyberspace”, he added.

State institutions, agencies and entities in other member states including in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden had been targeted by APT28 in the past, the statement added.

The latest accusations come a day after NATO expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s “hybrid actions” including disinformation, sabotage and cyber interference.

The row also comes as millions of Europeans prepare to go to the polls for the European Parliament elections in June, and concerns about foreign meddling are running high.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told AFP that “pointing a finger publicly at a specific attacker is an important tool to protect national interests”.

One of the most high-profile incidents so far blamed on Fancy Bear was a cyberattack in 2015 that paralysed the computer network of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. It forced the entire institution offline for days while it was fixed.

In 2020, the EU imposed sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the APT28 group over the incident.

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