Christer Pettersson

Pettersson was born on 23 April 1947, to Roland Pettersson (1916–1977) and Inga Maria Hansson (1918–1973) and grew up in a middle-class family in Solna outside of Stockholm and later moved to the suburb of Sollentuna. In his youth, he attended a theatrical school (Calle Flygares teaterskola), where he was considered to be promising by at least one of his teachers.^[1] However, Pettersson suffered a head injury from which he would never fully recover. Petterson then began a period of substance abuse, which would eventually force him to drop out of school.

In 1970, he stabbed a man to death in central Stockholm, during a street brawl in what the Swedish press dubbed the "bayonet murder". The killing took place just around the corner from what would later be the site of the Palme assassination.^[2] Pettersson was sentenced to closed psychiatric care for manslaughter for the killing.^[3] After less than two years he was released and continued a life of petty crime, which financed his alcohol and drug abuse.

Tried for murder of Olof Palme

On the night of 28 February 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, a Social Democratic, was shot and killed in Stockholm as he walked home from a cinema with his wife, Lisbet Palme. The killer quickly escaped and left no traces except two .357-caliber Magnum bullets. Witness statements about his appearance were confused and contradictory.

In 1988, Pettersson was detained and accused of Palme's murder after an investigation, which appeared to have started based on rumors about his involvement among fellow small-time criminals and drug addicts. The initial investigation had uncovered little of significance, but once detained, Pettersson was picked out from a ten-person police lineup by Lisbet Palme.

Pettersson denied any involvement and claimed he had liked Palme and had left central Stockholm at the time of the murder.^[4]

However, Lisbet Palme's identification, combined with statements by acquaintances of Pettersson, who stated that he had been near the scene of the crime at the night of the murder, led to a 1989 conviction for murder. Pettersson was sentenced to life imprisonment.^[5]

Just a few months later, however, Pettersson was freed on appeal. The court cited a lack of evidence, including the missing murder weapon, and raised questions over the reliability of Lisbet Palme's identification. Pettersson was awarded about $50,000 in compensation.

Although Pettersson appears to have quickly spent the money on alcohol and drugs, he remained in the media spotlight and then raised his income by selling TV and newspaper interviews. In several interviews, particularly on TV3, Pettersson was encouraged to admit to killing Olof Palme. In such situations, he repeatedly engaged in what-if scenarios that came close to an admission of guilt. However, his confession was not treated seriously, and when cornered, he argued that he had simply come seeking money for yet another television appearance.

Police investigators continued to investigate Pettersson, with many reportedly feeling that he had got off on a technicality and was in fact guilty. In 1998, the Swedish Supreme Court rejected a prosecutor's appeal to retry Pettersson by citing that the new evidence put before it was "not of such nature that a new trial can be granted in the case."^[6]

Discover more about Early life related topics

Solna Municipality

Solna Municipality

Solna Municipality is a primary settlement and a municipality in Stockholm, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of the richest municipalities in Sweden.

Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 990,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.5 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the county seat of Stockholm County. For several hundred years, Stockholm was the capital of Finland as well, which was then a part of Sweden. The population of the municipality of Stockholm is expected to reach one million people in 2024.

Sollentuna Municipality

Sollentuna Municipality

Sollentuna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east-central Sweden, north of Stockholm. Its seat of local government is located in Tureberg, which is a part of Sollentuna urban area.

Assassination of Olof Palme

Assassination of Olof Palme

On 28 February 1986, at 23:21 CET, Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, was fatally wounded by a single gunshot while walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street Sveavägen. Lisbeth Palme was slightly wounded by a second shot. The couple did not have bodyguards with them.

Olof Palme

Olof Palme

Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until his assassination in 1986.

Swedish Social Democratic Party

Swedish Social Democratic Party

The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, usually referred to as The Social Democrats, is a social-democratic and democratic socialist political party in Sweden. Founded in 1889, the SAP is the country's oldest and currently largest party.

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Some countries have life imprisonment sentences as 25 years, such as the United States. Crimes for which, in some countries, a person could receive this sentence include murder, torture, terrorism, child abuse resulting in death, rape, espionage, treason, drug trafficking, drug possession, human trafficking, severe fraud and financial crimes, aggravated criminal damage, arson, kidnapping, burglary, and robbery, piracy, aircraft hijacking, and genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, severe cases of child pornography, or any three felonies in case of three-strikes law. Life imprisonment can also be imposed, in certain countries, for traffic offences causing death. Life imprisonment is not used in all countries; Portugal was the first country to abolish life imprisonment, in 1884.

TV3 (Sweden)

TV3 (Sweden)

TV3 is a Swedish pay television channel owned by Viaplay Group. It was launched on 31 December 1987 by businessman Jan Stenbeck.

Pettersson depicted in street art

After a brawl with police, Pettersson was admitted to hospital on 15 September 2004. On leaving hospital the following day, he reportedly fell and suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and went into a coma. Pettersson died at Karolinska University Hospital on 29 September 2004.

Pettersson was buried in Sollentuna on 20 January 2005.