Malexander murders

Of the three criminals, Andreas Axelsson was a computer instructor with only fines and social service on his record,[5] whereas Tony Olsson was already serving a prison sentence at the time of the crime, but had received furlough from incarceration at Österåker Prison to participate in Lars Norén's play 7:3.[6]

Using this opportunity, at 14:50 Arklöv and Axelsson entered Östgöta Enskilda Bank in Kisa, Östergötland. They waved pistols and grenades and wore ski masks on their faces. They shouted to people in the bank to lie down and not touch the alarms. They manipulated the cameras except one black-and-white camera. They opened the bank vault, which had a time-limited lock; during the lock-time they went around the bank collecting the cash. Outside of the bank, Olsson stood guard holding an Uzi and wearing a ski mask on his face. The loot was approximately 2.6 million Swedish kronor.[6]

Kennet Eklund, the only police officer on duty at the local police station in Kisa, was dispatched to the scene after an alarm was set off. At 15:10, the robbers left the bank with the money and fled in a stolen Saab 9000.[7]

Eklund followed them until they pulled over and the three suspect exited the car and began to fire on him.[7] Eklund left the vehicle and escaped, trying to hide himself when the robbers threw grenades. He said that he heard a foreign male voice who shouted "Snutjäveln ligger gömd här nere i kärret!" ("The fucking cop lies hidden here down the fen!").

At 15:18 (CET) Olsson, Axelsson and Arklöv left the Saab and changed to a Toyota Avensis. While trying to stop the robbers, Swedish policemen Olov Borén (42) and Robert Karlström (30) were killed on a country road, with their own service pistols by shots to their heads.[8] According to the Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science, Borén was shot five times, including once in the back of the head, and Karlström was shot three times, including once in the forehead. Both worked in Mjölby.

Axelsson, who was injured in the shooting, was captured at a local medical centre in Boxholm shortly after the murders.[1] Arklöv was arrested in Tyresö three days after the robbery.[9][10]

While evading the arrest, Arklöv was shot in the lung. However, the injuries were not life-threatening.[11] Olsson managed to escape the country (probably with help from his fiancée). He was arrested in Costa Rica about a week later on 6 June, and along with him about one million Swedish kronor from the loot was found.[12][10] He was sent to Sweden a couple of weeks after his arrest.[13]

The Linköping primary court indicted the three men on 26 October.[1] All three were sentenced to life imprisonment, Axelsson and Olsson on 18 January and Arklöv on 2 February 2000.[10]

Olsson and Axelsson confessed to the bank robbery and admitted that they were present at Malexander, but denied the murders.[14] Olsson claimed Arklöv alone killed the policemen, which Arklöv confessed in June 2001. According to Arklöv, he took the policemen's weapons and shot them.[15] Arklöv was also sentenced for war-crimes, including torture of Muslim prisoners, which he had committed during the civil war in the ex-Yugoslavia as part of a Croatian paramilitary group.[16]

Olsson was confined to the Hall Prison. During the night between 27 and 28 July 2004, he escaped from his jail, but was captured 2 days later.[17] On 27 November 2019, Tony Olsson (now changed to Byström) got his life-sentence commuted to 35 years in prison, and since he has been imprisoned since 1999 and Sweden uses the two thirds-type of a sentence it means he could be released on a strict parole in 2022.

• Documentary by Sveriges Radio P3 (in Swedish)