Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
there is no body
she´s missing
no one knows where she is,
no one knows what has happened.
there was blood in their shared bed, and the police did not discover it
the search party saw that something was hidden there
it was difficult , all possibilities were open. what happened.?
by late july 2010, a 31. year old woman vanishes without a trace,from her home in spekeröd in bohuslän.
the case become part of mant policer officer´s lives.
marina johansonföwnt missing from her home last wednesday.no one has seen her since. the police need help finding her. marina is a quality assurance manager at a builderwholesaler. she describes as good at her job and she´s appreciated.
her manger leaves his vacation whn he hears that she´s missing,her family see her as a problem -solver. the one to go to whenever something happens.
marina´s hobbies are photography and figure skating.
she writes for the swedish figure skating association´s website. she published a book of photos from the WC of figure skating in 2008
parents kept calling , but there were no answer. there was only her voicemail. it wasn´t normal.
at first , the police had no clue whatsoever as to what might have happened.whethershe left voluntarlyor not.
whether she left alive or not.
she spent time with her family , especialt with her one of her sisters . they were in touch frequently, but then it fades out .
she had a lodger called fredrik, they had previously been a couple, but he stayed on in the house.
even though they stopped being together in 2009. he stayed on and he didn´t make any effort to find something else.
she and fredrik had an argument on the evening of tuesday 27.
it was marina´s grandmother´s birthday. that saturday, she never missed her grandmother´s birthday,that wasn´t like marina at all,
and that’s when the parents really start to wonder what has happened.
five days after the last contact , the family calls the police and report marina missing.
on the 2nd august, ,the police visit while fredrik is there
one of the officers states that fredrik is very calm. he doesn´t seem the least bit worried.
they find nothing in the house, they notice that its unusually tidy and clean.but they dont secure any leads at that time .
they suspect that she was murdered, but they had no crime scen and didn´t know where.
4th august 2010 ,police decide to go through the house more thoroughly
Enar gustavsson is responsible for the forensic investigations.
the work consists of documenting the place. there are photos and sketches to show.
they also took aerial views to show the site. it was summer and hot and the ground is broken.
the police suspected that she would be buried near the house.
the policebrought in search dogs and canine unites to search the house.
before the police entered any building .the police had dogs on site.
who searched the entire area and inside the house, we did not get any indication from the dogs that there was anyone dead.
weapons that the police knew marina had in the house are missing.including a gun.
but nothing was found in the house .this gun has never been found.
fredrik :under here there was a shotgun and a pistol. it was just stuffed here. the pistol was in a bag, and the rifle was also in a bag. the rifle was in a sack.
The house was quite small, but there was an incredible amount of things in the house.so it took a long time for the technicians to go through the house, but they didn’t have a crime scene.the police did not know where it had happened.
then there were several small houses on the property
then this miserable terrain all around. so there were many police officers involved in searching
the police’s investigation gives no answers, but pretty soon one begins to suspect a serious crime.after a discovery at stora Höga’s commuter car park
a tip came in about a Hyundai in the commuter car park in Stora Höga and it turned out to be Marina’s car in the commuter car park in Stora Höga
The car has been there for quite some time.on the 5th, the police get the tip.
it was another piece of the puzzle that could match the disappearance.
but it didnt make sense that she´d taken a commuter train. her family and friends were certain of that.
she always drove m so it wasn´t normal for her to take a train.
the police found out that money hd been taken out in stora Höga. with her card,
when fredrik is arrestedm we pat hin down . he carries some cash.
about SEK 4,000, roughly $360
Police suspected that this was the cash from the ATM withdrawals
ex -boyfriend is at the top of the list of suspects. and fredik svensson is eventually held in h jail.
from the TV program “wanted” TV host Hasse Aro
31-year-old Marina Johansson has now been missing for two months. The police do not believe that she is alive, but the investigation is at a standstill. but there´s a lack of evidence.
allthough no body ,murder weapon or crime scene have been found,
the police are certain that they´ve caught a suspect murderer.
fredrik svensson never showed any sign that he might miss marina.
or wonder about her whereabouts . he never looked for her.
-as far as i can tell, he seems very unsympathetic. arrogant , donfident, and slightly aggressive.
the prosecutor remanded him in custody. the little evidence we had then wouldn´t be enough to charge him with murder. thats why h was released.
after the release of fredrik svensson,the police assemble, the largest search party ever to find marina.
the police search extensively around marina´s house and the path to the house in the woods.
they divided rge area into patches to be searched with police from different departement.
it was hard .the terrain was tricky. you cant walk very far.the police though about that as well.
if she is to be hidden in the woods , he need tobe taken there.
the police used large resources from the start. they wanted to find marina and they thought she might be close.but in spite of all those resources ,they didn´t finfd anything.
there are hills in some places that are difficult to scale.thers thickbrush on the ground, since this is an old forest.it´s not easy to dig into the ground.
the police had the forensic team and canine units.
horses have been there . many departments help out.
a helicopter has benn there. many are involved in this.
but police still had no crime scene.
it´s one of the largest police search parties in the nordic countries.one conclusion could be drawn from this.marina wasn´t close to her house.
fredrik : the shotgun was in that corner there.
detective:and when was the last time you saw that?
fredrik:good question.
detective :what were you doing here?
fredrik:met a person
detective:what did you do?
freedrik:I bought cannabis.
detective:ok, how did you guys agree to meet here?
fredrik :it is uninteresting.
detective: I’m just wondering.
fredrik : non-traceable communication.
time passes, fredrik svensson moves out of marina’s house.four months later a former boyfriend moves to marina later a former boyfriend to marina moves with his wife into the house.
marinas mother suggested that him and his wife would move into the house.during the fall of 2010 marinas mother hadbeen taking care of the house.
so , thisex-boyfriend moves in with his partner.
2011
one evening when the woman was going to make her bed, she discovered that it was a spring mattress that was stuck.
on top of layers of the mattress and so on, there was a sheet that was tightly stretched.it was so tightly stretched that you can get the impression that it was the mattress.which it wasn’t.
and she pulled it free. it’s January 2011. the commander Anders Sandholm gathers calls a meeting for those on the marina carse. and he says a large pool of blood has been found in marinas bed in Övre Röra.
Marina Johansson has been missing for more than five months. When the bloody mattress is discovered by chance.
the police’s first reaction: it can’t be true, because the police knew that the house was investigated, among many other places.
Forensic technician, the police officer, Enar had tugged on the cover of the bed, and it was stuck.he couldn’t imagine that there would be anything under it.there was no logic in behaving that way.
there was blood in their shared bed.And the forensic technician, the police officer Enar, did not discover it when he did the investigation.
this mattress cover was stuck, And the forensic technician, the policeman Enar never looked under it.removed all the bedding and looked in the bed but found nothing.
you think: “who found it? and how is that person?”
at the same time, it was felt that the police have the crime scene with all probability
that this had not been discovered from the beginning ….there was a huge amount of blood that was there.there was a huge amount of blood that was there .there was also blood that had dripped onto the floor that you could see.had this discovery been made much earlier, it would have been easier to obtain more technical evidence in turn.
what’s strange is how you miss such a thing from the very beginning.I have never been involved in that
-it is clear that it was a miss.it was not so good for them themselves.so to speak
-I wasn’t happy with myself.that’s how I can put it.this was not fun.but I got to keep responsibility for the crime scene, and that surprised me.I thought they should have replaced me, but I had to finish the case.yes, it was very unpleasant to have missed this.
-in this situation, that is an understatement, I must say.you don’t know what would have happened if they had found the tracks from the beginning. it is possible that there would have been a more intensive search.
-it is a strange interrogation with Fredrik when he is told that there is a bloodstain on the bed.he shields himself completely.
when the picture is shown, he says he doesn’t see what it is.he doesn’t know what it is at all.not even when ma says it’s blood, then he says: “I don’t think so, it looks like that.”
but the blood on the mattress was not the only thing he had missed in the house.
-at the first technical inspection, the hole is not detected….
-there was also a damage to a wall in there that … well, I judged it as a non-specific damage to the wall.
but when you look at the pictures, because the technicians take a lot of pictures … in them you can see the hole in the panel wall at the first examination.at the technical examination that was carried out at the time.
then new investigations were made of the hole in the wall.then it was noted that there were remains of lead in the hole.
it may originate from a bullet.
what you come up with is that it looks like the back of a cartridge that has gone in. then the theory is that it has gone through something before hitting the wall.so that it “wobbles” in, so to speak, with low energy.
secondly, the police need to establish that it is the crime scene that the police suspect. is this the crime scene where she dies?the police suspected that it was the crime scene and that she had been rolled into the missing mattresses.
“bang” there the shot went.
this is at the state testing facility where the police will pour ox blood on a similar spring mattres
s and bed mattress that had been in marina’s bed.
two liters of ox blood are poured out, the police have spoken to the coroner to see how much blood is life-threatening for a human the size of Marina
this stain was not as big as the one the police discovered in Marina’s bed. and the stain fell right through.so the stain was just as big, as you can see when lifting away the bed mattress. what was poured on from above sinks right through
a person can lose about three liters of blood, then you no longer live.
-there was still no body .thereby leaving question marks.but on the other hand there was now a crime scene.there was a hole and things that could explain the disappearance.
so the prosecutors had the task of considering whether to prosecute on what was available, alternatively to continue the preliminary investigation.and it is a difficult trade-off of course.absolutely it is.
the find reinforces the suspicions that already exist about the ex-boyfriend.
and with the facts the police and prosecutor received, charges were brought against Fredrik Svensson
the police believed they had a crime scene even though they did not have the body.it is difficult to decide, but the police thought there was enough and the prosecutor also deemed it sufficient for prosecution
–there will be a lot of assumptions. the prosecutor uses words like “may” and “likely”.it is the defense’s position that it is based on assumptions and nothing else. there is no direct evidence
Enar gustafsson is a key witness with his technical expertise.
-I was very hard on the trial, they thought it was a bad investigation. The defense attorney said it was a substandard investigation.
when the police couldn’t determine that the bloodstain corresponding to her being dead…that there was so much blood that she was dead, then the police didn’t have a murder either
it’s very rare to get a judgment when you don’t have a body
–the entire sentence is colored by the fact that there is no body, as the district court describes it.all evidence is judged on the basis of not really knowing what has happened.
Fredrik Svensson is acquitted in the district court, but the verdict is appealed.new technical evidence is presented to prove that the amount of blood in the mattress was fatal.
– there is no other perpetrator than this man who is now before the Court of Appeal.there is no other possibility, I say that because of all the concealment measures taken by the perpetrator after the murder.
but neither in the Court of Appeal will there be a conviction.Fredrik Svensson is also acquitted there.
the police were convinced that there were so many things that pointed to her not staying away voluntarily.
-a murderer can be convicted with 95% evidence.but a murder cannot be established without 100% proof.and you couldn’t really establish that it was a murder.
-what we knew in some theoretical sense was that he was not the perpetrator. the court has determined that. that is what we had to deal with
that is what makes the courts cautious, namely that there may be alternative courses of events.it’s up to the prosecutor to shut them up.
–law is law, and emotions are something else.so this came back to the police as a murder with an unknown assailant.there was a hope that this is what we’re going to find, we have to find the body.
it was when the ex-partner was acquitted by the court of appeal that peder schillerström, founder of missing people, realized that a new organization could be created that could, with the help of voluntary forces, help find missing people.
– I got the idea of founding missing people at that time. and a few people who helped made it possible for us to direct hundreds of volunteers out on a search effort with simple methods.
we knew that many people were needed to search areas to maybe reach a result.
then missing people was new, so Pernilla didn’t know much about this. More than she talked about where the police had been.
one of the people who got in touch belonged to a hunting team in the area where marina disappeared.that person was helpful in selecting on the catan routes they had set as priority routes.which needed to be searched by
they would walk fingertip to fingertip 50 m into the forest.in this case the priority roads were tractor roads.where a perpetrator easily turns away without being discovered by residents.
there were a total of around 130 people who helped with the search effort.we formed two patrols with 50 people in each.then the third patrol had to wait until more arrived.
it was here on the right side that the patrol went 25 people in width.they covered 50 m into the terrain.they started 500 m away at the intersection and would follow the wave path to the end.
there they would turn around and go back on the other side of the road.
when you came to the dead end, you took a break at the place. when you take this break, you realize that you need to take a look at a spruce grove.
it was barely ten meters from the gravel pitch.
when you examine the dense spruce you see something vitt som ligger under.
the patrol got a little curious and decided to look closer. they took away the spruce rice and discovered the package.you could see bedding and bone remains in it.
they had found a body in Spekeröd,
then I understood that it must be the body, which it turned out to be.
-everything that happened then turned the whole process around
on April 14th, Marina’s remains are found by a chain of missing people organized
–I was very surprised.I’ve pondered a lot about it, I couldn’t help it so to speak…so relatively clever to find this find.
–I thought it was nice that she was found.now you get an end to the case. and for relatives, that there is a body.they thought it was annoying that it had not been found with the help of the police, but that it was volunteers.but the body was found anyway
– The first thought I had was that we may have solved this murder case. We cannot deny the relatives an opportunity to bury their daughter and sister, but also convict a perpetrator.
they begin to examine the package in which she was foundthen the police got many pieces of the puzzle in place, how it had all happened
the packaging consisted of mattresses and some tarpaulin.
tarpaulin was in the house, the mattresses were in the bedroom.
the pillow and quilt that didn’t match the one next to it….
was around the marina, so basically they took what was in the bed and removed everything and transported it in a package. which explained why the search dogs did not pick up a scent.
you need to know what´savailable in the house to do this.
and she was found inaccessible place you need to be familiar with the woods.and know how to get there.
– only someone who lives at a site wants to clean up a crime scene.if the crime scene is unknown,
there´sno need to clean it up .
-this was a conpletely different situation ,we couldstart workingagain. the investigation gained momentum
Fredrik svensson had been cleared of murder in the lower courts. the only way to change the verdict was to let the supreme court decide about trying the case again.with fredrik svensson at a disadvantage, which is unusual
-its only natural that those who are found guilty come back and want their case tried again. but its not very common with a case at a person´s disadvantage.
the prosecutors need to hurry , if their appeal isto be granted.
-there can only be a certain amount of time from when evidence is found to when it needs to be presented.
2013
– in this case, the corones raport was delayed there was only a week left when an appeal was filed.
the five justices of the supreme court that handled the case. didn´t agree and thedecision was very close.
two justices documented thei disapproval. they didnt see reasons to take up the case , but three did. it was a three to two decision, but an appeal was granted.
-it felt good that the supreme coufrt listened to our arguments.
THIS CASE RESTS ON A MUCH MORE STABLE FOUNDATION BUT IT´S UNCOMMON FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO HAPPEN.
A new trial date is set. just like many times before since marina diappeared
“i´m innocent”
just like many times before since marina disappeared, fredrik svensson is interrogated by berry nejding and and pwenilla wetterskog at the station.and still denying that he killedmarina.
-but whenwe receive word that there will be another trial , fredik is taken into custody.
pernilla: this interrogation is held due to new information. technical advances.
-a few daysbefore christmas in 2013 ,an IT forensic specialist cmes running to me with a CD.
pernilla : it has to do with text messages .
fredrik: so?
– we weren´t able to access the mible phone back then.but now ,they´ve used a new software, that could access deleted text messages.
pernilla: we cansee that text messages in your phone were deleted.
fredrik.:okay.
pernilla: there were no incomingmessages before. but now we can tell that text messages were deleted.
fredrik. ok.
pernilla: and text messages weredeleted on july 29.
fredrik:ok?
pernilla:on july 29 , around 10, 0´clock, a text message is sent. berry talketd about that with you before. a text message is sent from marins phone to yours.
-our idea was to pressure him dirung the interrogation. to make him confess…..
pernilla: on six occasions you denied receiving a text message from her.
-he didn´t want to acknowledge that he received this message.
pernilla : did you deleete a text message?
fredrik: apparently.
pernilla :aftger she went missing?
when fredrik felt trapped ina corner he lost his temper. or else he turned the tables on the investigators. and said that they were lying or couldn´t be sure.
fredrik: i refuse to sit here with a fcking cop who´s lying.it´s simple as that.
Berry : ok.
fredrik.: you´ve lied in every interrogation since you became part of this. and you´ve done it purpose. you ´ve threatened me, and so on .
thas just the way he was . he swattedd at thecamera ,too.
fredrik: lets take a break .
berry : dont touch anything.
fredrik: we´re taking a break now.
pernilla : nej.
fredrik: you´re supposed to be ovjective, but you´re …
pernilla: fredrik.
fredrik:stop!
pernilla:nej.nej.
the prosecutor demanded life in prison for the ex-boyfriend.but the defense said that the neew evidence wasn´t enough
-when we arrived , there wa s media everywhere,everyone is there ,including family and friends. when the trial starts and fredrik svensson comes in you get the sense that he´s screwed this time.
-the family were in agony when the body hadn´t been found.it´s ovious that fredrik svensson is guilty.all the circumstantial evidence points in one direction. i cant see anything that points to the opposite.
