Four teenagers, including four brothers, have been acquitted by the Svea Court of Appeal for the murder of a 26-year-old man who was found hanged outside Enköping last year.
According to the court, it is not possible to determine how he died or who is responsible.
"I understand that it's frustrating and disturbing," says the judge.
In the district court, all were convicted of involvement, with three convicted of murder. Two others were convicted of aiding and abetting. Now, three brothers are convicted of murder, robbery, gross desecration of the dead, and gross protection of a criminal. A fourth brother and his girlfriend are convicted of murder and robbery.
The 26-year-old man was found hanged in a tree in the Hjälstaviken nature reserve in April last year. He had gone missing a week earlier. His taxi was found abandoned 500 meters away with the taximeter still on.
The motive for what prosecutors said was a murder was reportedly revenge for a supposed rape that the victim allegedly committed against the woman.
In the district court, all denied involvement in his death, but before the appeal hearing, the murder-convicted brothers provided new information.
They said they were at the scene but only thought they would confront and rob him – that he died was an accident, said all three. According to them, he was then lifted up into the tree to make it look like a suicide.
However, the statements were not consistent. One said he died when one of the brothers pulled a rope around his neck, while the other two said he died from a grip around the neck. Furthermore, the brother who said he accidentally killed the man can protect someone else, according to the court.
Overall, it is considered that it is not possible to know who or who caused his death. It is also not possible to determine how he died, as the forensic medical investigation does not provide clear answers.
High Court Judge Kerstin Elserth says in a comment that she understands that it is disturbing for the relatives that the court cannot provide an answer to who killed the man:
"But even in these situations when it is clear that the responsibility for what happened is with a small group of people, the high court must be convinced of who or who is responsible for the man's death and we have not been able to establish that."
Prosecutor Moa Blomqvist notes that the court makes a completely different assessment than the prosecutors who wanted all five to be convicted of jointly killing the man.
The man who was 18 at the time of the incident is sentenced to seven years in prison. The other four receive closed youth care.
Since no one is convicted of causing the man's death, the family will not receive compensation.
