In 2004, two unrelated people were found stabbed in the Swedish city of Linköping – a 56-year-old woman and an eight-year-old boy.
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The crime shocked the entire country, but investigators were unable to identify the killer despite the perpetrator’s DNA, murder weapon and bloody hat being found at the scene, and eyewitnesses described a young man with blond hair.
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Swedish police even turned to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for help, but to no avail. Over the years, as the volume of the case grew, it became the second largest unresolved crime since the 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Ulof Palme.
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In January 2019, a new law came into force that allowed police to use genealogy websites used by many people around the world to search for their relatives. Undiscovered double homicide investigators compared the killer’s DNA sample with information available on the GEDmatch and Family Tree sites.
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“We got a good result almost immediately. And after a few months we were able to detain the suspect. A sample of his DNA was taken and 100% matched. [slepkavības vietā ievāktajam DNS paraugam], “police said.
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Daniel Nyquist, 37, was arrested in June and confessed to both murders shortly afterwards.
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During the interrogation, Nyquist admitted that in his youth he had obsessive thoughts of killing other people. He chose his victims at random, first beating the boy and then the woman who saw the first attack.
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The forensic medical examination concluded that Nikvist was suffering from a serious psychiatric disorder, which also manifested itself during the murder. If he is convicted, he will have to serve his sentence in a psychoneurological hospital.
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Nykist’s lawyer said his client admits his actions, but denies the current allegations of premeditated murder, asking them to change to charges of murder.
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Nikvist is described as a socially unemployed person who enjoys playing computer games and who rarely leaves his parents’ home, where he lived at the time of the crime. Investigators point out that after the crimes were committed, Nikvist continued his lonely life in Linköping.
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