Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot dead in Stockholm in 1986. Prosecutor says killer was Stig Engström. Foto: Claudio Bresciani/TTGöran Ärnbäck/EXP/TT

Prosecutor names Stig Engström as guilty of killing Palme

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The so-called ‘Skandia man’ has been a figure in the investigation into the death of then Prime Minister Olof Palme since day one – today the chief prosecutor Krister Petersson identifies him as primary suspect of killing Palme, 34 years ago. It effectively means that the investigation comes to a close. The prosecutor’s conclusion is derived from previously known information, and the murder weapon has not been found..

Stig Engström, also known as ’the Skandia man’, worked close to the spot where Olof Palme was shot and killed on February 28, 1986. Stig Engström contacted the police on his own accord on the day after the murder, when he learned of witnesses’ descriptions of a suspect killer that matched his profile.

”Went under the radar”

Today during the historical press conference, the chief prosecutor Krister Petersson identified him as the man that took the PM’s life. He is known to have been present at the site of the murder and to have seen witnesses that only the murderer could have been able to spot. Conversely, no murder weapon has been linked to Stig Engström, and the prosecutor’s conclusions are made based on earlier witness statements.

Besked om Palmemordet

– He went under the radar in the police investigation, but we have established the fact that he was skilled with weapons. But we are not able to place a weapon in his hand, said Krister Petersson.

Was at the murder scene

According to his own statements Stig Engström left his office at 23.15. He spoke to the guards for a moment before he clocked out at 23.19. The murder happened at 23.21.30. At 23.40 Stig Engström returned to his workplace and was in a confused state of mind.

It is during this time that the prosecutor argues that Stig Engström, who is supposed to have been in possession of a hand gun, killed the prime minister of Sweden.

– Our clear assumption is that Stig Engström saw the Palme couple on Sveavägen. That he carried a gun is something I have pursued earlier, said Krister Petersson.

Mocking the police

Krister Petersson went through Stig Engström's acts after the murder and concluded that he appears to have been mocking the police in a famous television appearance in Swedish state broadcaster SVT's news program Rapport where the murder was reconstructed.

– My interpretation is that he seems to be mocking the police with his statement.

According to Krister Petersson (whose name is very similar to a previous suspect in the Palme investigation) the investigators have spent “a significant amount of time” trying to investigate whether the Skandia man was part of a broader conspiracy. Although there were quite a number of ‘interesting’ persons in the area they have not been able to find anything to support such a theory.

– But we have also not been able to rule out the fact that he was a part of a conspiracy.

Since Stig Engström died in 2000 the preliminary investigation is now dismissed.

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Besked om Palmemordet

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