Man gets life for murdering policeman
A man has been jailed for life for murdering a policeman in a town in eastern Sweden in June.
The man, 55, shot and killed Fredrik Widén in Nyköping, 100km south of Stockholm, on June 20th. Widén and his colleagues had come to the man's apartment to carry out an order to place him in compulsory psychiatric care. Widén was killed instantly; a colleague was shot in the arm.
Nyköping District Court accepted prosecutor Pär Andersson's recommendation and sentenced the man to the toughest penalty allowed under Swedish law. He was convicted of murder, attempted murder, making threats and serious gun crimes.
The man was also ordered to pay compensation of 199,000 kronor to the surviving victims and to Widén's relatives.
The court accepted the prosecution's assessment, supported by the National Board of Health and Welfare, that the man was of sufficiently sound mind to be given a jail sentence.
The man had fired the shots at Widén and his colleagues as they approached the apartment block in which he lived in central Nyköping. Widén was hit by seven bullets.
The man had previously been convicted of manslaughter for stabbing a man at a bar in Nyköping.
The court ruled that the man had not been acting in self-defence when he shot the police officer. The court said he must have understood that the shots could be fatal and he could therefore be said to have intended to kill Widén and injured his colleague.
The court backed up the decision to impose a life sentence by comparing the killing to an execution. It also took into account that the man had previously been convicted of killing a person with intent. The court also said that the fact that the victim was a policeman had been taken into account in sentencing.
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The man, 55, shot and killed Fredrik Widén in Nyköping, 100km south of Stockholm, on June 20th. Widén and his colleagues had come to the man's apartment to carry out an order to place him in compulsory psychiatric care. Widén was killed instantly; a colleague was shot in the arm.
Nyköping District Court accepted prosecutor Pär Andersson's recommendation and sentenced the man to the toughest penalty allowed under Swedish law. He was convicted of murder, attempted murder, making threats and serious gun crimes.
The man was also ordered to pay compensation of 199,000 kronor to the surviving victims and to Widén's relatives.
The court accepted the prosecution's assessment, supported by the National Board of Health and Welfare, that the man was of sufficiently sound mind to be given a jail sentence.
The man had fired the shots at Widén and his colleagues as they approached the apartment block in which he lived in central Nyköping. Widén was hit by seven bullets.
The man had previously been convicted of manslaughter for stabbing a man at a bar in Nyköping.
The court ruled that the man had not been acting in self-defence when he shot the police officer. The court said he must have understood that the shots could be fatal and he could therefore be said to have intended to kill Widén and injured his colleague.
The court backed up the decision to impose a life sentence by comparing the killing to an execution. It also took into account that the man had previously been convicted of killing a person with intent. The court also said that the fact that the victim was a policeman had been taken into account in sentencing.
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