'Bone buyer' takes stand in skeleton lover trial

A man who reportedly bought three human skulls from a woman facing criminal charges for using bones as sex toys is set to testify in Gothenburg on Wednesday, the day after the woman said there was nothing sexual about her obsession with death.

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The 37-year-old woman, whose collection of bones has made headlines around the world, faces charges of violating the peace of the dead (brott mot griftesfriden).

The trial against her began on Tuesday and is predicted to be a three day case.

A man from Uppsala, who according to the prosecutor bought three skulls and one spine from the woman, will take the stand on Wednesday.

The woman explained in court on Tuesday that she had made contact with the man after he showed interest in the skeletons from an "artistic perspective", wrote the TT news agency.

On Tuesday, the woman's defence lawyer, Annika Stanislaus, explained that her client was collecting the bones for other reasons.

"She had the impression that they were very old bones and she had them as historical objects," Stanislaus told the court.


WARNING: RELATED GALLERY CONTAINS IMAGES THAT MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO VIEWERS

“I understand that my interests can be construed as strange,” the woman confessed in court, according to the Expressen newspaper.

She explained to the courtroom that she also had planned to write a book, but that it was not yet underway.

She denied that it was her who took the photographs confiscated by police, claiming she didn’t even own a camera.

Police officers have failed to get access to the two computers in her apartment, with the 37-year-old explaining that she had encrypted them as she supports file sharing.

A friend of the 37-year-old testified behind closed doors on Tuesday, explaining to the court how her friend had indeed used the bones for sexual purposes.

However, the accused woman denies the claims, stating that she is not “sexually interested in skeletons”.

The woman was arrested in September when police arrived at her apartment and found human skeletons and knives after responding to a call about gunfire coming from the flat.

So far, investigators have confirmed that 397 bones, 15 skulls, and 13 teeth found in the woman's are human remains, according to the Expressen newspaper.

A preliminary psychiatric investigation showed the woman does not suffer from any mental illness.

If convicted, the 37-year-old faces up to two years in prison.

TT/The Local/og
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