In December 2023, police from the prostitution group in Stockholm first get wind of what they see as a serial offender targeting prostitutes.
A woman who usually greets the police with a smile now sits silently, staring into empty space. After a while, she tells them that she met a man a few days earlier and got into trouble.
"He said that if I talked or said anything, he would kill me, and he didn't put away the knife he was holding against me," she says in the interrogation.
Contact online
The contact was made through an escort site, and he asked her to leave the door open before the visit. When he came in, he was already masked and armed with a knife. He held it against her throat and back as he raped her, she says.
A phone number can be linked to the man, and it turns out that there are more who have encountered him. In January, at least four women warn about a man with the same number. The warnings are posted on a closed forum for women who sell sex.
"Violent thief," writes one woman. "He wants to steal or rape," writes another.
Calm surprise
In late January, the police manage to identify the man, who has since appeared in several cases. When he is arrested two weeks later, one of the police officers notes his calm surprise.
"He initially asked no questions at all about how we ended up at his door early in the morning," notes a police officer afterwards.
The man is in his 40s and has a municipal employment as a caseworker.
He initially denies having bought sex at all, but later admits to having chatted with escorts. A few times, he has met women and paid for sex.
He denies having raped or robbed anyone. Maybe, he reasons as an explanation for the warnings the police have found about him, women got angry when he scheduled meetings but didn't show up.
"It could be about many thousands just in lost income. So I think a vendetta has been created against me, among other things on this forum and revenge against me."
In August, the man is charged with two counts of aggravated rape, three counts of aggravated robbery, and two counts of buying sex. In addition to the women's testimonies, there is evidence in the form of communication they had with people after the events, chats from the man, and mast connections from his phone.
The trial is ongoing in Solna District Court.
The man has, according to the prosecutor, committed seven crimes between December 7, 2023, and February 15, 2024.
12/7: Aggravated rape of a woman he had scheduled a meeting with to buy sex. The woman was threatened with a knife.
1/12: Aggravated rape of a woman he had scheduled a meeting with to buy sex. The woman was threatened with a knife.
1/24: Purchase of sexual services and aggravated robbery. The robbery was committed against the woman he had bought sex from. The man was armed with a knife.
2/5: Aggravated robbery of a woman he had scheduled a meeting with to buy sex. The man threatened the woman with an air pistol.
2/15. Purchase of sexual services and aggravated robbery. The robbery was committed against the woman he had bought sex from. The man was armed with a knife.
