• Sweden edition

Young man gets nine years for murder

Published: 6 Jul 09 14:35 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/20490/20090706/

A 19-year-old man was sentenced on Monday to nine years in prison after shooting a man to death and burning the body in a Stockholm suburb.

The body was found in a garage in the neighbourhood of Skärholmen in west Stockholm in January.

The 19-year-old was found guilty of murder, aggravated arson and disturbing the peace of the dead (brott mot griftefrid) by Södertörn district court.

The seriousness of the crime is such that the 19-year-old would have been sentenced to life in prison had he been older, the court said in its judgement. He had not yet turned 19 when he committed the crime. Police found a pair of shoes and a pair of gloves with blood traces from the victim at the 19-year-old's residence.

The 36-year-old was shot twice in a cellar connected to the property and was then placed in the back seat of a car the 19-year-old ignited with petrol. The court stated that the 19-year-old must have had help to move the body, but it has not proved possible to discover who else might have been involved.

A 21-year-old man, who was charged as an accessory to arson, is thought to have purchased a container of petrol and given it to the 19-year-old. The court did not, however, find beyond a reasonable doubt that the 21-year-old knew what the petrol was to be used for and he was subsequently acquitted.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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19:41 July 6, 2009 by ironman294
Are you kidding me? Bara 9 år?

Just because he was 18? The guy is dead. Someone who shots and then burns a body, gets only 9 yrs. The guy should rot in jail forever.

Add this to a girl who trie sto strangle her cousin with a bikini, what is going on in Sverige besides all the crazy rapes?

Either it is something in the water or a lack of faith.

Someone please teach the children about the love of God and Jesus again in Sverige and the world!
19:47 July 6, 2009 by Kaethar
Rofl at first comment.

9 years is completely reasonable. How about you stick to your own justice system and we'll stick to yours. :)
19:56 July 6, 2009 by Dazzler
I fail to see how believing in a fictional diety will make a person less murderous, especially considering how many people die because of a made up dogma.

9 years is pretty fu*king pathetic. Then again, its a major leap forward he was even convicted, considering the inept judicial system here.
21:12 July 6, 2009 by Harding00
9 years, not long enough. Believing in mythical thing, wouldn't have helped. I live in Sweden now, am I allowed to complain?
22:11 July 6, 2009 by ironman294
I knew writing something about God and Jesus would elicit comments.

But how can you say 9 år is reasonable? The other one is dead. No mroe life? 9 år? He will get out after less than 6 easily and probably weekend furloughs like in Norge.

Perhaps if people believed in the ultimate judgement when you die, one might reconsider doing bad things?

Anyway anyone who commits murder or rape should get life.

because anyone that depraved will only commit such things again
23:37 July 6, 2009 by jimmyjames
Yea, 9 years reasonable. For every single person out there, Swede or not, sit in a room, in the quiet, by yourself, and be absolutely honest with yourself....ask yourself would I think 9 years was enough for the cold-blooded murder and incineration of my father? my brother? my best friend from childhood who I've known for 30 years? If you say yes then you are without a doubt a liar and a fool.Wake-up ! Stop living in some bull- fantasy, make-believe, utopian dung that only serves to get good people killed and lets their killers off with a hand-slap....9 years for murder.....you Swedes do not deserve to have the protection of the World Powers. If you will not protect yourself and those you love I got no sympathy for you.
12:11 July 7, 2009 by hjoian
i dont know if it was a judge or jury that decided the length of sentence....but...what the f*uk did they have for breakfast? Used to be a time murder was a life sentence,and not the stupid 12-15 year stretch it would be in the UK,but 9 years.....call that a deterrent? I dont care how old he was,if he vcan make a predetermined judgement to murder someone,and then try to dispose of the body,i dont call that juivinille innocence(scuse the spelling).Im not saying this person will kill again when he gets out in probably,6 yrs,but its a fu*king appalling judgement.
12:55 July 7, 2009 by AR Studio
Since you are throwing around the J word, why not ask yourself: What would Jesus do?
13:03 July 7, 2009 by bobthedog
"The guy should rot in jail forever"

Ah the spirit of Christian forgiveness ! One more good reason not to be a christian.
13:45 July 7, 2009 by Dodie
Anyone know what the motive was for this crime?

Perhaps the sentence would make more sense if it were revealed that the victim had tortured or abused his killer prior to his own murder.

I don't want to detract from ther seriousness of the crime, but there must be more to the story.
15:32 July 7, 2009 by Harding00
Was there more to the story, maybe, but probably not. To Sweden's criminal justice system, this IS a long sentence. That is the scary point. Also, Sweden doesn't have a jury system here, only a main judge and several other judges to help determine the case.
15:44 July 7, 2009 by Kaethar
The Swedish system believes in rehabilitation, not punishment. And yes, I think that's reasonable.

Since you're religious I don't see what your issue is with this. Surely Jesus will punish him in the afterlife, so what's the problem?

A friend of mine was stabbed to death when a man went on a killing spree. I think I'd know more about this than you. Perhaps you're simply more blood-thirsty than I am - perhaps it's a difference in culture? Either way, unless you're a Swedish citizen and member of the Swedish society you really have no right to complain about our rules.
15:47 July 7, 2009 by ironman294
AR Studio and Bob the dog, I guess you guys never attended sunday school.

Forgiveness you can grant, but that doesn't mean you don't serve your time in prison or deserve punishment in this life.

David Berkowitz, the famous son of sam killer. He became a christian in jail, and says he knows he is forgiven, but should remain in jail for the rest of his life to serve out the punishment he deserves.

Do you get it to forgive does not mean let out of jail early. Besides it is up to God and the victim's family to forgive not me.
15:52 July 7, 2009 by Kieruk
I thought taking one life to pay for another is still taking a life? And what is the difference between killing someone and locking them up and saying that no matter how much you change, or how ever much you are rehabilitated you can not come out? Both are taking a life.

Punishment works alongside treatment and rehabilitation. It does not work on its own.
18:27 July 7, 2009 by CTIDinÅrsta
There is an articĺe in DN giving more background. The 19 year old was a gang member/leader and drug dealer, the 36 yr old victim his supplier.

The teenager got into debt with the supplier (200,000:-) who in turn racked up some debts with his suppliers. They met to sort things out and the 19 yr old shot the other guy twice, put him in a car and set the car on fire.

Not many mitigating factors there.

But, hey, this is only the tingsrätt. Lets spend another 250k on a re-trial in the hövrätt and see if things change.
23:12 July 7, 2009 by Playmaker
@bobthedog it is one of the most important rules of the 10. "though shall not murder". the family is the only one that can give forgiveness not a judge. i am no real christian i do not go to church or pay church tax but the way of life is ok. it say right in the bible that you must obey the laws of the land and pay caesar what is caesars. 9 yrs is a joke what he will be out in 5 have weekend passes by the end of the year. lol. well this makes me not so scared to kill is self defense. waiting for the day that a muslim sees my danish cartoon that i had tattooed on my back.
03:41 July 9, 2009 by slickscott
Sorry about my comment on July 7th. Thought maybe someone on here was upset with some of my prior replies to stories in the past lambasting Sweden's criminal justice system and these little trite thugs who dont know what to do with themselves. And because of that I tried to post a comment to one article and the server came back with something to the effect "Comment not allowed" . There were no swear words in there and couldnt figure out why the system wouldnt accept it. Oh well its good to know Im not banned. Anyways on to this matter: Yes nine years for a violent crime that would have been severely punished in the US and perhaps a death penalty case.
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