Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
The police have finally had a breakthrough. More and more point to the fact that Torgny’s holiday flirt Christine Schürrer may be the culprit. The child murders in Arboga part 2 is a nerve-wracking story about the police’s search for evidence.
on the evening of march 17th ,2008. swden is shaken by a brutal dead
22 – year old emma jangestig andher children , mas and saga are attacked by an unknown person with a hammer in arboga.
the children die shortly after.
a women that emma’s partner had a fling with is a suspect.
a 31 year old German woman called christine chürrer.
the police find out that her phone was in Arboga that evening. the day afterthe murder , she’s back in Germany. she was driven by her obsession with torgny.
but there’s no forensic evidence to tie schürrer to the crime.
the police are under pressure, the only one who saw the killer was emma.
who can’t recall the event after 15 hammer blows to the head.
emma jangestig is moved from Upsala to västerås hospital .where she struggles to recall the traumatic event when qeustioned.
she receives no information about what happened,she only knows that her two children are dead.
the murder investigation might hinge on emma’s testimony.and it’s important that her memory isn’t affected by other people.
” every little frame of reference she might give us, to help us solve the puzzle was of significance to us.”
but we the police also wantedsomething substantial to go on.
” i was questioned every other day or every third day.i tried to give the police as much detail as i could.i didn’t know how to make sense of memories , thoughts and emotions ,it was very chaotic.”
emma is completely cut off from TV ,radio and newspapers.her family has been told not to give her any informmation.
” it mostly has to do with complicated relationship”
“i kept thinking that a women had done it ,but looks and things like that …i tried to search my memory for wh oshe might be .and why is she outside my door?”
emma is unaware that the main suspect is her partner’s old vacation fling,
a German , chirstine schürrer.
after searching her rented room in skarpnäck, stockholm the police have made an important breakthrough.
schürrer’s landlady notices that a hammer is missing from her toolbox.
that gives the police more to go on. she also says that her hammer has gone missing before.she tells us that it was missing in late january, christine then produced the hammer and said that she borrowed it , but forgot to return it.
chtistine schürrer ischarged and arrested by German police on march 20th in Hanover.
” German police are questioning a 31 year old woman suspected of ….”
Swedish prosecutors try to get schürrer extradited to sweden.it’s not an easy process.
the police needed her to explaine what she was doing in Arboga the motive was essential. whu would she carry out such a heinous crime?
since the police can’t question schürrer in germany, thay call emma’s partner torgny ,in for question.
he’s told that his pld vacation fling,chirstine schürrer was in arboga on the night of the murder. and she might be the killer.
” i didn’t think they were right. i couldn’t imagine that it might be true.”
(torgny has chosen to participate in the program without a picture)
the police report says that torgny goes numb and can’t understand how she could be a part of this.
torgny says he gave them the information they asked for , but he also told them that they were barking up the wrong three.
the police wanted torgny to help describe schürrer’s motive for attacking torgny’s new partner and her children on march 17 ,2008.
Torgny gives details following his breakup with schürrer in january 2007. torgny says that she wouldn’t accept his decision.
letter from christine to torgny
” torgny hellberg, you’re an idiot . ony immature teenagers break up via text message”
she was diappointed when torgny said that he didn’t want to see her.and that he wanted to break it off.
of course you canbe disappointed after a breakup, but she had a very strong reaction.
she wanted to keep in touch with hellberg.
She says she’ll come to sweden in early 2007 and she goes to see him.
she wanted to come to sweden and hear torgny out in person .
she said she was traveling around sweden with friends . but when she arrived ,there were no friends with her .she came to sweden on her own , rented a car.
and went straight to arboga .
she goes to see torgny.but he’s not interested in a relationship with her.then christine takes her rental car and drive to Gripsholm castle.
she sendsa text message to torgny saying she can’t find her way. torgny goes there. and finds christine groggy in her car.she claims to have taken valium.
she also tells him that she wants to kill herself.
christine looks at torgny and says :” why do you think i took that many?”
torgny said: ” you didn’t want to wake up. “
christine said : ” no.”
eventually , torgny makes contact with her firends. he wants to get her to fly home to Germany again.
shortly thereafter ,she gets a plane ticket to go home. torgny was relieved when she left and felt that he could move on with his life and his future.
It turns out that she didn’t go back to Germany right away. at a the arlanda airport ,schürrer tries to kill herself again.
she’s found by security guards and once she’s conscious, they send her to germany on the next flight.
after schürrer goes back to germany in late march 2007, her german friends notice that she’s still obsessed with her swedish ex-boyfriend , torgny.
In august , schürrer choose to move to sweden permanently to study and get her life on track. a life that friends say she envisioned with torgny.
he rejects christine and she has difficulty accepting that.she clings to him. christine sends torgny a letter to say she’s in skarpnäck, stockholm.
” i write to her that i have a family that i want to take care of and i don’t want anything to do with her .”
that christine schürrer might have killed the children felt unexpected. but after the information that torgny gave, regarding schürrer , it seems this might be true.
it turns out that there wasn’t enough evidence to have her extradited to sweden . the police needed stronger evicence.
at the same time ,chirstine schürrer is released for lack of evidence.
” it’s frustrating for a detective, we needed to hurry.
we needed all the evidence we could get.”
christine schürrer is released in german y for lack of evidence. to hold her again and get her extradited to sweden ,the police need stronger evidence.
they go back to the crime scene, hoping to find new evidence to tie christine schürrer to the crime.
an investigator wants as many leads as possible.in this case, they had no DNA.
the only thingthe police found in the residence was a shoe print.the shoe print , made in blood
turns out tobe a shoe from the brand Vans
a friend of schürrer says that they met on march 16th
the day beore the crime took place. he describes the clothes and shoes that christine was wearinghe says that she’s wearing a pair of navy -blue canvas shoes.with a white border.
the police never found the shoe that made the print, thay haven’t found it to this day.
new evidence means that schürrer can be arrested again in germany . there¨s now strong evidence against her.
Swedish police go to Hanover to assist the German police and get schürrer extradited to sweden.at first ,,christine woudn’t talk to the swedish police.that ws her initial position. it made the swedish police worry a bit. maybe she won’t say anything at all .
with a silent chistine schürrer in germany.and a fruitless hunt for forensic evidence, police are ressured.
emma’s witness statement becomes increasingly important.
” at first , i felt like i’d been in the car.and that it happened there.but yesterday , i felt like something happened at home , in the hallway”
“when they’d finished treating me at the hospital ,the police said that i wasn’t done with them.they needed to keep me isolated for longer.
when i was being discharged , i was put in protective custody
.it was a bed and breakfast where i was staying with police, away from TV , newspaper , radio, my home environment and anything that couldtrigger fals memories.”
detective pommer:” it was an extensive opertion with two officers.
who took turns staying with her and her family in the annex.it was the first time we did anything like that “
emma is discharged from hospital . on the way to the B&B, the police want them to visist the morgue ,so emma can say goodbye to her dead children.
emma said ” no” .she hadn’t really accepted that they were dead. but she was expected to lool at their bodies.but she didn¨t have a choice.
the police held out hope,but in a situation like this ,they just glad if something happens.
emma:” i went in to see them. at that time , they didn ‘t tell me how they died. they wore hats and bandages aroundtheir heads. and i couldn’t understand why.”
emma:” i started wondering i fthey had been hurt the same way i was “
emma:“we’ll tell you more later .but we want your own memories to emerge here”
The police knew that there would be doubts, since this wasn’t clear memories
that just hit her.
emma: ” during one interview , i said that torgny once hada fling or a relationship with a german girls who might be involved.”
Torgny got a letter from christine, she didn’t like that he had a new girlfriend
the police did a number of interviews in protective custody.
and were finally nearing the end.
detective pommer had the idea that they shouldbring emma to the house where thecrime was committed to see whther she’d start to remember.
they discussed whether they could do it . whether it was humane.
it looked like a slaughterhouse . there was so much blood.
the police decided to do it ,but they covered the walls up.
detective pommer: “does something emerge?
emma:“after i entered , i felt…i said i ddin’t feel any fear , but i do now. that … i don’t know. i feel uncomfortable. i almost feel fear.
it’s a known fact that re-establishing,bringing a person to the place where it happened brings stimuli from all directions.such as light , smells , etc.
those jog the memory to bring out more.
pommer: how do you feel, emma?
emma: i’m ok.i’m thinikng about he photo of togge and me.
pommer: yeas?
emma: ” it wasn’t broken like that before.
someone has craped the face of her partner.someone might do that,who feels hatred when seeing the photo.
swedish police can’t question chirstine schürrer in germany,but they assist German officers in search
of the house of a friend of christine’s in Hanover.where she’s been living since leaving sweden.another computer is found. with contents that shows that she hasn’t forgotten torgny.
she had a photo of the house where torgny lived. it was likely downladed from his blog.
the police could see that she accessed that site 230 times.
she’d searched emma jangestig’s name a number of times.( 39 hits in 25 files) as well arboga.
jealousy is a common motive when it comes to murder.but as a product of something so insignificant a short vacation fling has grown into something really big and she’s become so obsessed anddetermined.that’s exeptional .
with the new findings from the apartment in hanover .germany . the police detail the life of schürrer in the fall of 2007
up until the final days before the murders.
swedish police found a numbe of notes when they searched the home.they could see that christine was getting worse and worse.
in the fall she tries to takee her own life again.it happeens at söder hospital.she locks herself into a restroom and cuts herself.
she´s lost so much blood she can hardly say ” help” to a friend upon lifting her phone.
this was on torgny’s birthday. afterwards, she writes:” i’m lying here ,getting a transfusion of cold ,swedish blood wile your hooker gives you a birthday blowjob.”
it’s a sign that shewas unwell and lsot control of her life.she couldn¨t have the life with torgny that she wanted.in his blog she could see him living the life she wanted but with another woman .
” we live in our wonderful house.i love being a bonus father.max and saga are wonderful”
christine fell even worse as she read his blog and the things he wrote in there.
and how much she was ready to sacrifice. you can see that this took up all her energy and just spun her out of control in the wrong direction.
after being treated for depression and anxiety in the fall, christine tries once again in early 2008 to reach out to torgny .
she sends him a new letter.
that letter tells torgny that he’s a father.she’s had his child. she named the child jonas, but gave him up for adoption.but torgny feel a need to find out whether there is a child. “where did you give birth?”
torgny received a reply within days. but not from her , from a guy who was called thomas emmerich. it turns out that the e-mail from thomas emmerich.was written in skarpnäck from christine’s computer.
“this is the corner of verktygsgatan and redskapsgatan. in that direction is torgny’s and emma’s former house.
on march 8th , a witness meets a women here. it was further away from the houses towards the edge of the woods.
he says that he met a women with dark , loose hair about 175 cm tall , speaking swedish with a german accent.
when you plan an attack like that ,you need to make preparations. in her notes ,found in germany , there was a quote written by hand:
” the fuckers took my beloved. from the top of the hill . i can see the world that i lost .”
torgny started feeling that something wasn’t quite right.one of the days when the kids weren’t home .emma was upstairs with torgny . he came down and found the door open.
they have two cats that can open doors .but they were there with emma and torgny.
on anotherday , they were watching TVV in the evening and hear a sound like someone’s walking outside. it turns out that christine schürrer was in arboga on boths day.
on the day that our door was open, she was seen down the street.
she might have planned to do this sooner. the hammer went missing in january when christine was in arboga.
police don’t know why she doesn’t do it . maybe she’s disturbed. they know that max and saga weren’t there at the time.
she seemed to think that when they ere gone.she would have her boyfriend back. it was unrequited love.
and she just lost control
on april 29th ,christine schürrer is extradited to sweden. so, far , se’s refused to answer questions from the police. and hsn’t given an explanation for the times when she was in Arboga. the best swedish police could hope for was for her to admit hercrimes.
the next best thing would bee for her to talk to the swedish police.
even if she lied to the swedish police , they have something to work with.
thomas backman and a colleague from the police in västerås.are responsible for questioning her.
before they start, they assign each other roles . the idea is that thomas should act aggressive.while hiscolleague is more accommodating towards schürrer.
He tried to build trust wit her. by exercising with her and giving her access to magazines.
the only purpose was to try to make her talk.
the only purpose was to try to make her talk.
at first , they let her tal freely about what sge did on those days. and she kept talking.
police think she considered them to be extremely ddumb police officers. they just accepted and nodded to anything she said. and she kept talking.
police think she considered them to be extremely ddumb police officers. they just accepted and nodded to anything she said. and she kept talking.
shesaid she was there tosee historic sites.not because she was interested in emma or her partner.
once they ‘ve gotheard her story about what happened. and confimred it with her , they start calling her into questions.
during Questioning christine admits that she was in arboga on several occassion in 2008. she says she was there to look at historic sites.
but as questioning continues ,the police notice that christine’s storie don’t make sense.
but as questioning continues ,the police notice that christine’s storie don’t make sense.
they decide to take her tothe sites in question to make her show where she has been
they take her on a train to arboga,they let her get off the train to show the routes she’s taken.
she can’t show us which way she walked.
she seems quite lost .
ifyou were to walk from arboga train station, it would take seven hours at the speed she’s walking.
ifyou were to walk from arboga train station, it would take seven hours at the speed she’s walking.
she ‘a in arboga for less than four hours. they stop at junctions and time it all.” which way did you walk” how did you find your way?”
this is the first time that she notice that it’s not going well.
this is the first time that she notice that it’s not going well.
detective: the sign say s” säter 3″ on the right.
christine: i have no idea.
detective: should we keep going?
detective #2: i don’t think so. lets turn.
christine: i have no idea.
detective: should we keep going?
detective #2: i don’t think so. lets turn.
detective pommer is totally convinced that she was uninterested in historic sites for her visit. emma and emma’s partner were her sole interest.
theproblems forthe police remain. themotive is clear and christine is lying about her visit in arboga.
but there’s still nothing to tie her to the scene of the crime.
theproblems forthe police remain. themotive is clear and christine is lying about her visit in arboga.
but there’s still nothing to tie her to the scene of the crime.
swedish police have circumstantial evidence that points to one person.but they need to look at thewhole picture.lookingat each individual detail, it’s not very strong.
” well… it shouldn’t be enough. to convict someone of murder when they deny the charges. but experience says that it usually is anyway.”
charges are brought against christine schürrer.there’s no forensic evicence,only circumstantial evidence.
that points to schürrer being the killer.
but shortly before the trial , emma gets in touch with police. memories from march 17th start coming back
she might be able to help identify the killer.
she says that the woman is taller than her.slim , dark -haired , large nose , and distint cheek bones. and the person outside says something.
“ i know who it is , but i just can’t remember.i know that’s what i thought just before the blow came.i remember that she introduced herself ” “hi ,i’m Tine.”
police were worried . wass there enough evidence to hold up in court?there was a lot pointing to her as perpetrator. but you never know how it ‘ll end up in court.
the trial begins . emma’s testimony makes it more hopefull in spite of the lack of forensic evidence.the tria lwas held at the courthouse in köping.
the call from torgny is played . how he call 119 (911) reporters are crying in the courtrooom.
” it was horrible to read the charges,two small children were beaten to death with a hammer. and the mother survived and had to facethe perpetrator in court, the atmosphere was tense…many reporters were more affected than usual . i t was so horrible”
(Emma, crying )
christine schürrer.
” that reaction tells me that she recognizes her ,she simply panics.we needed to take a break and bring emma to another room , so that she can collect herself.
“i have a clear memory of how i poen the door and hear a pthase: ” hi i’m tine, after that , the women pushes into the hallway.there’s a bang on the right side of my head”
man : is there any doubt that the perosn on trial here is that same person?
emma: no doubt.
” when facts are presented ofh er planning and stalking us and the witnesses told their story ,it was horrible, but also a relief.everything that had been hidden from me since i woke up was revealed during the trial . it was presented and nothing was secret.”
the prosecutor: i’ve asked you questions and i expect you to reply or tell me that you refuse to answer.
christine: i answer you all the time.
the prosecutor: you can say what you want in here .
christine: i am.
prosecutor :i don’t find this very funny , but you’re smiling.
prosecutor : would you answer my question?
christine: no.
” her behavior made me pleased.she kept bing the person that i thought she was. a very sick and strange individual.
An impotant basis for the case was that emma could identify schürrer as the perpetrator.
but during the trial ,something unexpected happens. when a memory scientist hired by police takes the stand.
“i’ve never seeen a case like this where a person with loss of soncsciousness or memory loss regains information close to the moment of injury.”
reporter: how does that affect her trustworthiness as a witness?
sven Å christianson/memory scientist : i can only point to the complicating factors.
” the memory expert said that emma can’t remember the exact moment, accordng to all literature and research about brain trauma. and she can¨t remember as much as she claims to remember.”
emma’s witness statement is removed from evidence.
but the court still fins christine Schürrer guilty of the murders of max and saga and the attempted murder of emma.
the verdict i sappealed .the jangestig family has to wait for a final decision from the higher court.
” we were very worried that she’d be set free.we know that she’s guilty.
everyone knows that.but there’s only circumstantial evidence.”
it all comes down to whether they believe emma’s testimony.
“life in prison , deportation “
” when it’s such an important case…we lived with this case 24/7. it has obviously affected us in different ways.it has affected many people.”
Emma :” to me , she’s pnly a reason that max and saga aren’t here.she could just as well be a disease, a tsunami or a natural disaster. that means i don’t need to forgive. because i never will .”
today , more than ten years after the horrible event torgny and emma live together under assumed names. at a secret address.
emma:” i can’t say that i am the same person i was then.we’ve learned to love one another as we are now. i ‘m happy about who i am today and that i’m still alive
they have two children together. caspian , three , and julia ,eight.
Christine Schürrer has consistently denied the murders and attempted murder. under German law, she cannot be paroled until 2024 at the earliest
