Teen murder suspect taken to mental clinic

A 16-year-old girl suspected of plotting the murder of a 15-year-old girl last weekend in Stureby south of Stockholm has been moved to a psychiatric clinic, much to the dismay of her attorney.

• Confession in killing of teenage girl (10 Jun 09)
• Detention hearing for teen murder suspects (9 Jun 09)
• Teenage girl found dead in Stockholm wood (7 Jun 09)

“We had created an appropriate environment with ample resources for her up at the Kronoberg detention centre and I think that moving her again is unfortunate. The fewer changes the better,” said attorney Jan Karlsson to the TT news agency.

Following a visit with his client at the detention centre on Thursday night, however, Karlsson admitted his client was not well, although he denied media reports alleging she had attempted suicide.

“As I understand it, the reason for the move was her general condition,” he said.

Karlsson said no further interrogations of his client were planned this week.

The girl, along with her 16-year-old boyfriend, has been held since their arrest last Sunday morning following the killing of 15-year-old Therese Johansson Rojo.

The boyfriend has been remanded in custody on suspicion of murder, while the girl is suspected of incitement to commit murder.

The relocation of the girl comes after she suffered what is being described in the Swedish press as a breakdown during an interrogation when she was presented with evidence from mobile phone text messages which connect her to the killing.

Prosecutors believe the 16-year-old girl convinced her boyfriend to kill Johansson Rojo after learning that the 15-year-old had flirted with her boyfriend at a party earlier in the spring.

The incident, which friends characterized as "an innocent flirt" causing the 16-year-old to fly into a jealous rage, the Expressen newspaper reports.

The boyfriend has admitted that he killed the girl during a party near a wooded hillside in Stureby late Saturday night, while his girlfriend has admitted to sending the text messages.

“She has admitted to sending text messages with certain contents, but she denies committing any crime,” Karlsson told Expressen.

“She had no criminal intent.”

An attorney for the boyfriend, Claes Borgström, said he expects the boy will be questioned further early next week.

According to prosecutor Karolina Lindekrantz, the murder of Johansson Rojo had been hard to fathom, but relatively straight forward to investigate from a legal perspective.

“We think all of this is totally surreal. How can someone plan a crime like this and then keep the text messages? Something must have happened in their relationship which caused them to lose touch with reality,” she told TT.

Police and prosecutors have gained access to more than 20 text messages sent between the two suspects in which they plan the crime.

Investigators are now trying to determine whether or not they can recover any additional text messages which may have been erased.

Lindekrantz is also waiting for information from the coroner about how exactly Johansson Rojo died.

“I’m going to receive the autopsy report on Monday afternoon. We’re not looking for a murder weapon,” she said.

At the weekend, prosecutors plan to hold a series of more in-depth interviews with several of the young people who were present at the picnic area the night of the killing but weren’t in the company of the two suspects.

Lindekrantz said she doesn’t expect the investigation into the murder of Johansson Rojo to be finished before the end of August.