Handen murders
The Handen Murders (Swedish: Handenmorden) was the murders of two police officers Uno Helderud and Lars Birger Wikander and the night guard Nils Bertil Nilsson in the central parts of Handen, Sweden, on 9 January 1967. One man was convicted of the murders; Leif Peters.
Commission of the crime
The two police officers were commissioned to watch a loading bay next to a newly constructed business center in Handen since it was suspected that a gang of thieves would show up. In close vicinity of the loading bay the two police officers encountered three men they grew suspicious of. At first the men claimed to be guards responsible for the stores in Handen Centrum but then produced a submachine gun and a pistol and killed the police officers along with a guard. In total they fired 34 shots.[1] While the investigation of the crime scene was ongoing the bodies of the victims had to remain on the ground for a couple of days due to technical reasons.[1]
Legal process
The murders were solved one month later when 28-year-old Leif Peters, once an officer cadet, was arrested in Strängnäs, Sweden and pleaded guilty to have fired the shots. On the 9 February 1967 the police raided the homes of 16 different people all over Sweden who were suspected of being associated with Peters. The raids uncovered a large gang of thieves in which Peters was the leader of.[2] Peters was sentenced to life imprisonment but was transferred to a psychiatric ward a few years later. Peters was never released and died at the age of 68[3] in July 2006.[4] His two co-conspirators Leif Torver and Leif Wahlström were sentenced to five years imprisonment.[1][2]
Since both the submachine gun and the pistol had been fired it is likely that more than one person fired the shots. However, only Peters was sentenced for the actual murders since he confessed to have fired all the shots.[1]
References
^ abcd Bastholm, Sven (13 August 2009). "45 år i samhällets tjänst". Hallands Nyheter. Archived from the original on 25 August 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2009..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ ab Nyberg, Patrik (18 May 2008). "Polismorden i Handen". Crimenews.se. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
^ Lundén, Eva (5 February 2009). "Sara Svensson har utsatts för ett justitiemord". Newsmill. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
^ Nyberg, Patrik (24 March 2009). "Bengt Sändh om sin vän polismördaren". Nyhetsverket. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
