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Man in Sweden faces retrial for 26-year-old murder after DNA test

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Man in Sweden faces retrial for 26-year-old murder after DNA test

A man freed 25 years ago for murdering a 16-year-old schoolgirl will now face trial again after a forgotten blood sample matched a DNA test.

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Sweden's Supreme Court on Monday gave the go ahead for a retrial in the murder case of 16-year-old Malin Lindström, who was brutally murdered in the village of Husum, north of Örnsköldsvik in 1996. 

"When it's a question of a retrial to the disadvantage of someone has previously been found innocent, more decisive new material is required," said Stefan Johansson, one of the five judges who approved the retrial.

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"This new evidence doesn't give any answers as to how and when the girl lost her life. On the other hand, it conveys that there is a very strong support for a connection between the girl and the person who was previously freed."

A young man was found guilty of murdering her at the district court, but was later freed by the high court, which judged there was insufficient evidence to tie him to the murder. 

In 2020, improved DNA-testing technology has enabled police to create a DNA profile for the killer from a drop of semen found on Lindström's trousers. 

But at first, it was little use, as all of the samples taken from the man during the 1997 investigation had been thrown away, and Sweden's High Court refused a police request to take new tests. 

However, police this year discovered an old, forgotten blood test, taken from the man in 1997, leading the prosecutor to request a retrial from the Supreme Court. 

Sweden's Prosecutor-General Petra Lundh said in a statement she had applied for a retrial as she judged that the new evidence was sufficiently strong that "it was likely that the Supreme Court would have found the man guilty". 

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