Probe ends into prime minister’s murder in ’86
STOCKHOLM — Sweden on Wednesday dropped its investigation into the unsolved murder of former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was shot dead 34 years ago in Stockholm, saying the decision was made because the main suspect died in 2000.
Palme was gunned down on Feb. 28, 1986, after he and his wife, Lisbet Palme, left a movie theater in the Swedish capital. The murder shocked the nation and shook the Scandinavian country’s image as being so safe and peaceful that politicians could wander around in public without protection.
More than 100 people have been suspected in the crime and the unsolved case has generated scores of conspiracy theories, with possible villains ranging from foreign governments to rogue Swedish police with rightwing sympathies to a lone shooter.
The investigation was being closed because the main suspect, Stig Engstrom, died in 2000, the case’s chief prosecutor, Krister Petersson, said Wednesday.
Hans Melander, head of the investigation, told the news conference that 134 people had confessed to the murder — 29 directly to police — and some 10,000 people had been questioned during the 34year probe.
Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin said the unsolved killing “is still a wound” in Sweden.
Palme, who cut a flamboyant, even boyish figure, had sought to live as
ordinary a life as possible and would often go out without bodyguards.
Lisbet Palme was injured in the attack and later identified the shooter as Christer Pettersson, an alcoholic and drug addict who was convicted of Palme’s murder. The sentence was later overturned after police failed to produce any technical evidence against him, leaving the murder an unsolved mystery. Pettersson died in 2004.
David Keyton and Jan M. Olsen are Associated Press writers.