Niklas Lindgren
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Kurt Niklas Lindgren (born July 26, 1972, in Hörnefors, Umeå Municipality), known in the media prior to his arrest as Hagamannen ("The Haga Man"), is a convicted Swedish serial rapist. Lindgren was convicted in 2006 for nine cases of sexual assaults, out of which two were labeled as attempted murder, in the city of Umeå from 1998 to 2005. The attacks were all made outdoors, combined with physical violence and in some cases clear attempts to kill his victims. The nickname "Hagamannen" refers to the area in Umeå named Haga where Lindgren made his first assault.
After receiving a tip from the public Lindgren was identified and arrested by the Swedish police on March 29, 2006. His DNA matched the DNA previously secured from the victims. On April 22 Lindgren confessed to six of the assaults. On July 19 he was sentenced by the Umeå District Court for eight assaults to 14 years in prison. Lindgren appealed to the Upper Norrland Court of Appeal, which on October 2 laid down the district court's sentence plus one case of rape in 2000. Lindgren's appeal to the Supreme Court was not granted.
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[edit] The attacks
(Incomplete list. Sources:[1][2] )
- August 1998: a 14-year old girl is assaulted.
- 9 May 1999: 1:20 a.m., a 26-year old woman is assaulted and raped in the Haga park.
- 6 November 1999: three women are assaulted in three different locations in Haga.
- 19 March 2000: a 22-year old woman is assaulted on Brandmannagatan.
- 19 March 2000: a 22-year old woman is assaulted and raped in the university area. The woman almost died due to her injuries and hypothermia.
- 10 December 2005 between 1 and 2 a.m.: A brutal assault and rape of a 51-year old woman at the Teg bridge (Tegsbron). The woman was seriously injured and fought for her life while her assailant attempted to drag her to the edge of the ice covering the banks of the Ume river and throw her into the icy waters. The perpetrator bit her ear off during the assault, but police were able to locate using police dogs and it was re-attached at the university hospital.
- 13-15 December 2005: Two more women are assaulted, one at the Teg bridge and another at the Mimer school (Mimerskolan). It is still not certain that the perpetrator in these case is Hagamannen.
[edit] Police investigation
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The investigation to find Hagamannen was one of the largest ever in Sweden. More than 30 policemen have been working full time to catch the serial rapist, but the investigation has met some setbacks. For instance:
- The police received a tip from a woman at the university hospital in the year 2000 that a father to a newborn child bore a striking resemblance to the facial composite, but the police dismissed this tip. According to the woman she was told that it was unlikely that the father to a newborn child would be the perpetrator of such crimes. The suspect now in custody was at the university hospital at the time with a newborn child, and several assaults took place within the vicinity of the hospital at the time. The police are holding an internal investigation into why the tip was not taken more seriously.[3]
- With the knowledge that the perpetrator has unusually small feet, the Swedish police attempted to access the record of the armed forces. All Swedish men are required to register with the armed forces who in turn determines suitability for military service. During this selection a physical examination is performed and records are kept in case the need arises for further conscripts. The armed forces refused to hand over their records or allow access.[citation needed]
- DNA samples are taken from all children in Sweden in order to be used for medical research into hereditary illnesses at the PKU lab (the lab gets its name from Phenylketonuria). The police wanted to access this database in order to yield a suspect, but the lab refused. Since some individuals have requested to have the lab destroy their samples the police then wanted this transcript made available, which the lab also refused.[citation needed]
- The police then considered using a plainclothes female policeman in order to draw the perpetrator out, but this idea was discarded since such behaviour on the part of the police would constitute entrapment ("brottsprovokation") which is not allowed under Swedish law, according to JO (Ombudsmen of Justice, elected by the Swedish Government to control that the Swedish Government and its employees are following Swedish law.)
- Before taking him into custody the police spent some time observing the suspects daily routine. The suspect apparently liked to spend a lot of time alone in the garage that he built adjacent to his house. The locations that the police mapped out serve as a basis for the police interrogation and are therefore likely to be thoroughly examined by police forensic technicians.[4]
- The facial composite has been a central point of the investigation, and its release to the media and general public ultimately proved to be what would yield the first suspect in the case. The police are also examining one unsolved murder and one death which took place under mysterious circumstances during the time that the Hagamannen has been active. The DNA match will likely be the key evidence in tying the suspect to the crimes at trial.[citation needed]
[edit] Evidence
According to media reports, there are several facts in the case which indicate that the man which the police have in custody is the perpetrator:
- DNA: The Swedish Police and Swedish State Criminalistics Lab have secured DNA samples from at least three of the crime scenes, including the one in December 2005 where the perpetrator attempted to drag the victim to the edge of the ice cover on the Ume river in an apparent attempt to drown his victim after raping her and biting her ear off (the ear was subsequently attached after police dogs located it). The DNA matches the suspects DNA, according to the criminalistics lab the probability of error is one in one million samples, which they characterize as a nine on a scale from one to nine.[5][6]
- Facial composite: The suspect bears a striking resemblance to the facial composite, indeed he even jokingly referred himself to his co-workers as Hagamannen.[7]
- Height: The perpetrator is unusually short for a man. The suspect is also unusually short for a man.[7]
- Shoe size: The perpetrator has unusually small feet for a man, which the police have been able to determine by analyzing footprints left by the perpetrator. The suspect also has small feet, his co-workers even joked that he could be the perpetrator because of his unusually small feet.[7]
- Proximity: The suspect works in a car-repair shop in the Haga part of Umeå, which is within the vicinity of where many of the attacks took place. He has had access to his place of employment around the clock. The police theorize that the suspect may have used his place of employment as a base to look for potential victims.[7]
- "Trophies": The police state that the perpetrator has taken "trophies" from at least three of his victims, such as identification documents. The police are searching property that the perpetrator had access to in order to secure such trophies if they are in the possession of the perpretrator or in a location to which he had access.[8] On 9 April 2006 the Police discovered a property located far from the suspects residence and place of employment to which the suspect also had access around the clock. The newly discovered property lies close to where some of the attacks took place.[9]
- Line-up: In cases where the perpetrator did not leave any DNA evidence or where the victim was able to escape a police lineup can be used to identify the perpetrator.
- Knife: The police are also looking for a knife or knives used by the perpetrator in the property of the suspect or in places to which he had access.[10]
- Alibi and other circumstantial evidence.
[edit] Arrest
The police, after having been given a tip by the general public on 29 January 2006 of the suspects resemblance to the facial composite released by the police, approached the suspect for a voluntary DNA sample so as to exclude him from the investigation. The suspect refused, but under a new law which a suspect can be compelled to surrender a sample of their DNA. After interrogating the suspect on 24 March 2006 the police compelled a sample from the suspect. On 29 March 2006 the police learned that the sample matched the perpetrators DNA and two plainclothes officers were sent to the suspects place of employment. The police effected the arrest during the suspects lunch break (12:00) and he simply failed to turn up for work after lunch. During the afternoon the police released information to the media that they had an unnamed suspect in custody.[11]
[edit] Suspect in custody
The 33-year old man who was arrested is according to media reports and police sources a normal family father living just outside Umeå, he is a Swedish citizen who has no criminal record and has not been suspected by the police as the alleged perpetrator until January 2006. He works at a VAG car sales and repair shop as a sheet-metal worker, and has been described as a normal family father with a common-law marriage and two children. He lives in Nyland, a small tight-knit community outside of Umeå.[11]
[edit] Court proceedings
Under Swedish law a suspect can only be held for a short period of time by the police before the suspect has to be arraigned. On 31 March 2006 at 3 p.m. the suspect was arraigned before the Umeå Court (for security reasons the hearing took place in a closed session at the Umeå Prison.[2] A suspect can be held for an indefinite period of time prior to a trial, but the police and prosecutor have to show cause for this at arraignment hearings which have to be held at regular intervals. The suspect is allowed to choose a defense attorney, and the suspect in this case choose Leif Silbersky.[12]
The 33-year old man in police custody is being charged with four counts of assault, four counts of rape and two counts of attempted murder.[11][2] At first he pleaded innocent to all charges against him.[12] On April 22 he confessed that he attacked six women.[13]
[edit] Prison
A person suspected of a serious offence and who is awaiting trial is normally held by the Swedish Prison and Probation Service. The suspect is normally not allowed any visitors or to communicate with the outside world with the exception of his attorney until the trial is concluded. The suspect is allowed to read books and magazines with the exception of material covering the case against the suspect. The reasoning for incarceration and isolation is that the suspect might resort to further crime, the suspect might try to inluence witnesses or alter his or her own statements or glean information useful for when he or she goes through a psychiatric evaluation.[2]
[edit] Media coverage
The case has received extensive coverage in Swedish newspapers and on Swedish television. During the years 1998-2006 many people, mainly women in the city of Umeå were afraid to walk alone at night.
[edit] Publication of name and picture
The Swedish newspaper Expressen published the name of the suspect together with his photograph shortly after his arrest by the police. A photograph of the suspect was featured side-by-side with a composite sketch released by the police on the cover of the newspaper the day after the suspects arrest.[14]
The publication of the name and photograph of the suspect has been criticized by some since it can hamper the police investigation, reduce the evidentiary value of a police lineup for the cases where there is no other physical evidence and since it causes emotional suffering for the victims, the suspects family and friends and the suspect himself if he is later acquitted.[15]
The editor of the newspaper defended the publication with that it can have a positive effect in bringing other victims who have not reported the man to come forward with the knowledge, that the suspect is in custody, that there is a strong interest from the public who have a right to know (the purpose of the journalist) and that the evidence against the suspect in this case is especially damning.[16]
The suspect himself after being made aware of the publication through his court-appointed lawyer Leif Silbersky has reported the publication to the Press Ombudsman who can choose to bring the matter before the Swedish Press Council which will offer an opinion on whether the publication was in line with good journalistic practice.[17][18]
The publication of the name and photograph of the suspect in this case can be compared to the murder of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in 2003 where the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter choose to publish the name of the suspect (who was later convicted) while he was still at large. The publication at that time was justified by the newspaper since the killer was at large and that the police had already released a photograph to aid in his capture, a practice which was also done with the Malexander police killers Tony Olsson, Andreas Axelsson and Jackie Arklöv.
It is also interesting to note the difference in tradition between Sweden and other countries when it comes to the publication of a name and footage or photograph of a suspect. For instance, in the U.S. it is customary for the media to use the real name of a suspect, while in Sweden a suspect is usually referred to by their age (i.e. the 33-year old in the present case) until a conviction has been secured.
[edit] References
Note: this article is largely based on a translation of the same article on Swedish Wikipedia, and most of the sources cited in both language versions are in Swedish.
- ^ ""Hagamannen" kan ha begått flera brott", TV4, January 18, 2006.
- ^ a b c d "Press releases from the Västerbotten County Police (Polismyndigheten i Västerbottens län)", Västerbotten County Police, April 9, 2006.
- ^ "Polisen fick tipset för sex år sedan", Expressen, April 4, 2006.
- ^ "Hans hemliga liv avslöjas", Expressen, April 4, 2006.
- ^ "Dna-bevisen starka mot Hagamannen", Dagens Nyheter, April 5, 2006.
- ^ "Polisen: "Provet har den bästa matchning som går att få"", Expressen, April 5, 2006.
- ^ a b c d "Han brukade kallas Hagamannen", Expressen, April 2, 2006.
- ^ "Hagamannen tog troféer från offren", Expressen, April 5, 2006.
- ^ "Han hade en hemlig lokal", Expressen, April 9, 2006.
- ^ "Polisens nya bevis: knivar", Aftonbladet, April 2, 2006.
- ^ a b c "Press release 2006-03-29 (Word file)", Polismyndigheten i Västerbottens län, March 29, 2006.
- ^ a b "Niklas: Jag är oskyldig", Expressen, March 31, 2006.
- ^ "Hagamannen erkände sex kvinnoöverfall", Göteborgsposten, April 22, 2006.
- ^ "Niklas, 33, misstänks vara Hagamannen", Expressen, March 30, 2006.
- ^ "Publicerad bild på Hagamannen försvårar utredningen", Tidningen Svensk Polis, March 31, 2006.
- ^ "Därför publicerar vi namn och bild", Expressen, March 31, 2006.
- ^ "Hagamannen PO-anmäler Expressen", Dagens Nyheter, April 4, 2006.
- ^ "Hagamannen anmäler Expressen för publicering", Expressen, April 5, 2006.
