A native of the upper class, received a first-class education, Olof Palme served twice as Prime Minister of Sweden. From 1969 to 1986, he was not just the leader of the local Social democratic party, but the true star of European policy: he was blamed for democratic change, the struggle for disarmament, apartheid, human rights. The big shock was the death of the Prime Minister, turned into a Swedish national tragedy — it is believed that the killer’s intended target was not a specific person, and everything a free society, not a politician, and the foundations of European democracy. Now one of the most notorious political assassinations of the second half of the twentieth century is solved, but the investigation stopped: the killer voluntarily died two decades ago.
28 Feb 1986 59-year-old Olof Palme was shot on one of the busiest streets in Stockholm. Friday night, the head of government with his wife Lisbet were walking back from the cinema, where spontaneously went without bodyguards — the Prime Minister liked to walk around the capital without them. To a couple approached the unknown and made two shots from a gun: one in politics, the second his wife. Olof Palme died almost instantly, Lisbeth Palme was slightly wounded and soon gave the first reading (she died only in 2018).
Direct witnesses of the crime were more than ten people questioned were thousands, has attached to the case more than 22 thousand of evidence. The investigation became the largest held in Sweden. After two and a half years on charges of murder was arrested Christer Pettersson (Christer Pettersson) is a man without a definite occupation, with mental problems, suffering from alcoholism, drug users who have committed 63 crimes, including murder, and 18 times sentenced to various prison terms. Petterson might have a motive, but evidence was not convincing. In 1988, the main suspect was sentenced to life in prison, but in 1989, after the appeal Christer Pettersson was acquitted. In 2004, the offender died.
During the following decades, the subject of the murder of Palme not just the front pages of the media in connection with new versions or new components. Considered possible involvement in the crime intelligence agencies, a conspiracy of right-wing extremists, wrong shot — supposedly the Prime Minister mixed up with big-time drug dealer. Actively discussed the “Kurdish trace”, there is a theory that the attack implicated South African militants Palma sharply criticized the apartheid regime, supported the African national Congress and supported its efforts to close the smuggling routes to South Africa of arms and oil. Due to the fact that a politician is actively trying to help end the Iran-Iraq war, the investigators were asked to consider a possible intervention in the Swedish policy on the part of Iran and the CIA. Finally, in January 2011, German weekly magazine Focus claimed that the murder of Palme — the handiwork of agents of socialist Yugoslavia.
In 1984 first as a witness, and then a potential suspect in the case were the Stig Engstrom (Stig Engström), known as “Skandia-man”: graphic designer, employee of the head office of the insurance company Skandia, which is located near the scene of the crime. Engstrom was the body of the Prime Minister one of the first and interrogations lied to the police about his actions the night he was killed the Prime Minister. “Skandia-man” had access to weapons and consistent with the description of the killer, but in the end, the police considered him an unreliable witness, in every way trying to attract attention to his person.
10 June 2020, the Stockholm Prosecutor’s office, leading the investigation, called a press conference and announced the closure of the case of Olof Palme in connection with the death of the main suspect. Murder accused Stig Engstrom, even though the evidence against him would be strong enough for trial. At Engstrom could also be a motive: the designer has conservative values and a sharp rejection belonged to politics and socialist views of Palma. In addition, he had financial difficulties and had an uneasy relationship with alcohol. However, according to attorney-General Christer Pettersson (Krister Petersson) — by a strange coincidence, the Prosecutor was the namesake and the namesake of the first accused, the consequence still has no “clear idea” about what inspired Engström on the murder of Palme, but that pulled the trigger that he, no doubt almost none.
Theory about what Engstrom was the murderer of Olof Palme, was first presented in 2016 in the book by Swedish journalist Lars Larsson (Lars Larsson) “enemy of the people”. In 2018, the accusation was repeated by the authors of the publication Filter Thomas Pettersson (Pettersson Thomas) and Mathias Goransson (Mattias Göransson), who published a book about His Den osannolika mördaren (“the Incredible killer”). In it the son of Olof Palme marten (Marten Palme) claims he saw the crime scene of a man who matched the description of His — Martin Palma broke up with his parents shortly before the shooting. Now the son of the late said with relief greeted the news that, in the case of the murder of his father come to an end, although the killer and not be able to stand trial. In June 2000, the 66-year-old Stig Engstrom committed suicide.
