Östermalm deaths likely murder-suicide: police

A Stockholm school is mourning and family friends are searching for answers in the wake of an apparent murder-suicide that has shocked the upscale district of Östermalm.

• Deaths shock upscale Stockholm district (20 Nov 12)

On Monday, police were called to an apartment on Styrmansgatan in Östermalm where they found the bodies of a man in his fifties and an 11-year-old boy.

At first police were tight-lipped about the case, but details have emerged which paint a picture of a 53-year-old father who was having trouble managing several issues in his life.

"It appears as if he killed the boy and then took his own life," an anonymous source told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

Police arrived at apartment after a call from concerned friend of the 53-year-old who had been unable to reach the man.

As the 53-year-old was a registered gun-owner, police brought a negotiator with them, but found the man and his son already dead inside the flat.

A week prior, the man had been behaving "out of balance" and visited a doctor who told him "not to do anything stupid", Aftonbladet reported.

The man, who had a career in finance but was currently unemployed, was facing trial on charges that he had abused an ex-girlfriend and her 15-year-old son.

"The fact that he had a trial hanging over his head was probably the reason he chose to take his life," the ex-girlfriend told the Expressen newspaper.

"He had a position in society. He really loved his son, so no one can understand why he also chose to take his son's life."

The mood at the 11-year-old's school was sombre as staff and teachers attempted to help other children deal with the loss of their classmate.

"We've made sure there are three or four adults in every classroom so that the children have a chance to answer questions and receive honest answers," school principal Agnetta Zetterström told Expressen.

While police don't currently suspect anyone else was involved in the deaths, investigators are now focused on mapping out the events that may have led the father to kill himself and his son.

The Local/dl
Follow The Local on Twitter