Malmö sniper Peter Mangs 'not mentally ill'

Convicted serial killer Peter Mangs does not suffer from a mental disorder, a forensic psychiatric evaluation report revealed on Wednesday.

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The forensic psychiatrist in charge of the evaluation made the assessment that "Peter Mangs didn't commit these actions under the influence of a serious psychiatric disorder", said Malmö District Court in a statement.

Mangs wasn’t suffering from mental problems at the time of the assessment either, judged the psychiatrist. Therefore there “is no reason to hand Peter Mangs over to psychiatric care”.

Mang’s sentence, set to be delivered in October, will be based on the report from the psychiatric evaluation, and is now likely to involve a long time behind bars.

The result of Mang’s mental assessment has dragged out due to the very extensive criminal investigation.

For some time, Mangs was observed 24 hours a day by a forensic psychiatrist, a psychologist, several social workers and health care staff to get to the bottom of his mental health.

Mangs was arrested in November 2010 after a massive manhunt following a string of shootings against people of immigrant origin that gripped Sweden's third largest city with fear.

He was charged with killing two men of immigrant origin, aged 23 and 66, in 2003 and a 20-year-old Swedish woman who had been sitting in a car with an immigrant man in 2009.

He was also charged with 12 attempted murders in which he fired numerous shots with his Glock 19 pistol at homes, businesses and cars as well as out in the open, seriously injuring a number of people and coming close to killing many others.

In July, after a highly publicized trial and a lengthy criminal investigation, the court ruled that he was guilty of 13 of the charges, among these two murders, four attempted murders and three cases of making illegal threats.

Wednesday's decision by the forensic psychiatrist means that the sentencing in October is likely to mean jail time for Mangs. His trial is scheduled to begin again on October 3rd, at which time the findings of the psychiatric evaluation will be presented in court.

TT/The Local/rm
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