Transcript: 100. The Atlas Vampire Murder | Sweden

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It was a crisp spring evening in Stockholm 1932. A sparsely furnished apartment in the inner-city neighbourhood of Atlas was engulfed in silence. Light from the bathroom illuminated most of the home in a dusky glow. The phone rang and rang, relentless, through the ominous silence. No one answered.

A couple of nights before, Lilly had invited some neighbours around to listen to a special radio broadcast for Walpurgis Night – an annual spring celebration. The Jonssons arrived at 9:30, but Lilly wasn’t home. They thought she had changed her plans and gone out for the night. Somewhat confused, they returned to their apartment.

Another neighbour, Lilly’s friend Mimmi was running late and only arrived around 9:45. She capered upstairs to Lilly’s first-floor apartment and tried to open the door, as she assumed everyone was already inside, listening to the radio. But the door was locked, and everything seemed quiet inside. Mimmi thought she had misunderstood the invitation, and decided to go out, to join in the city’s Walpurgis Night celebrations. Mimmi hoped she might run into Lilly at the bonfire, but she didn’t see her anywhere that night.

Over the next couple of days, Lilly was nowhere to be seen. Her phone kept ringing and ringing, cutting through the haunting silence of her apartment. On the living room floor was a dried-up pool of blood. And Lilly’s lifeless body lay face-down on the daybed of her living room. What happened to Lilly Lindeström on Walpurgis Night of 1932, inside her Atlas apartment?

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Lilly Elisabeth Larsson was born on August 29th, 1900, in Malmö. Sweden. Her parents were Frans, and Tilda Larsson and Lilly was the eldest of ten children. Lilly was the eldest by four years, then her nine brothers and sisters followed with her youngest sibling being born when Lilly was 22.

Lilly was always a happy and peaceful person. She married a merchant called Lindeström when she was in her late teens, but the marriage didn’t last. The couple didn’t have any children, and Lilly decided to start over in the larger city of Stockholm. She was only 22 years old, and she hoped that the post-World War I optimism of the time would mean she’d have a bright future. Because Sweden was neutral during the war, the historic charm of their cities was preserved.

At the time, many people left the Swedish countryside for cities, as industries were booming. Stockholm was a busy, city with cars, trams and horse-drawn carts bustling through the streets. It was the roaring twenties, and bars and restaurants were thriving. People loved going out and socialising.

But a decade later, things changed, due to the collapse of Wall Street and the Great Depression. Unemployment rose to 25 percent and those who still had jobs, struggled to make ends meet.

One of those was the upbeat girl from Malmö, Lilly Lindeström. At the beginning of April 1931, she set herself up in an apartment on Sankt Eriksplan in the neighbourhood of Atlas. Atlas was not the safest neighbourhood and became known for the seedy activities of its residents and petty crimes. Like most of the inner-city districts, Atlas was cold and unforgiving during the long winter months.

It was through her friend, Emma that Lilly got to know the building at 11 Sankt Eriksplan, as she lived there with her husband. In 1932, Lilly was 32-years old and single and lived in a sparsely furnished apartment. She watched how she spent her money, but occasionally splurged on something extravagant, like a telephone. At the time, it was not common for people to have personal phones in their homes, but Lilly had one. She also purchased a radio, and it became the entertainment of all her neighbours.

Lilly bought new clothes on account at big clothing retailers and paid off her debts. It was important for Lilly to mind her appearance, as it was better for business. You see, to pay the bills, she resorted to the oldest profession in the world: that of a sex worker.

Because this line of work was illegal, she popped onto police’s radar from time to time. They knew who she was and what she did for a living. She may have committed petty crimes too, as police had her fingerprints on file.

Atlas, where Lilly lived is known as Vasastaden today. It is a 1.2-mile radius district in central Stockholm. At the centre of the neighbourhood is Sankt Eriksplan, named for Stockholm’s patron saint. In 1932, it was also a subtle spot where sex workers met clients. Lilly did not wait outside in the cold to meet clients, because she had a telephone in her apartment, clients would call her. She was the only one in the entire building with a phone, something that gave her the multi-layered nickname of ‘Call Girl’.

For the most part, men called Lilly to make appointments, and she was careful about whom she let into her apartment. On occasion, when she did meet someone on the street or in a restaurant for the first time, she made sure to enter her apartment ahead of them. She made a habit of removing the phone number, written on a piece of paper in the centre of the dial on the phone if she was with an unknown client. This was a precaution. She didn’t want them to see it and take her number. Lilly only gave her phone number to regular clients, people whom she trusted.

Well, mostly. In the apartment block at 11 Sankt Eriksplan, there lived two other women who were sex workers, and their clients used Lilly’s phone too. One of them was a 21-year-old woman, born and bred in Stockholm. Then, downstairs from Lilly was a 35-year-old woman from the north, Mimmi Jansson. Between the three of them, the phone number ‘Vasa 10422’, was used often.

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On Saturday, 30 April 1932, it was Valborgsmässoafton [Vull-borghs-messo-afton], Walpurgis Night. This is an annual holiday celebrated in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, honouring Saint Walpurga. This saint was always said to protect people against ‘pest, rabies, whooping cough and witchcraft’. But in later times, the festival’s focus moved towards a celebration of light, ushering in spring, celebrating the end of Sweden’s unforgiving winter.

On Walpurgis Night in Stockholm in the 1930s, bonfires in Djugarden lit up the early spring night sky, with dead branches people dragged out from the woods. Everyone sang traditional songs, while alcohol flowed freely. The highlight of the evening was to be a fireworks display.

On the afternoon of Walpurgis Night, Lilly Lindeström dropped by the apartment of her landlady, Ruth Jonsson, to pay her rent, in advance, for the month of May. Ruth invited the cheerful-as-usual Lilly in for a cup of coffee. Then they left together to buy some flowers. Lilly asked Ruth and her husband to come over that evening at 9:30 to listen to a special radio broadcast for Walpurgis Night. Lilly had recently bought a new radio, and she was looking forward to listening to the variety show that was planned. Ruth said she’d see her later and the friends parted ways.

Lilly called at another neighbour, her friend, Emma Lundgren. Emma and Lilly had known each other for six years before Lilly moved into Sankt Eriksplan in April 1931. Living in the same building, they saw each other almost every day. On the afternoon of Walpurgis Night 1932, Emma was on her way out to go shopping when Lilly showed up. She asked her to go along, and Lilly happily agreed. When they returned, Emma went to Lilly’s apartment for a cup of coffee and left shortly after 6pm.

Lilly was still clearing up the coffee cups when Mimmi Jansson from downstairs knocked on the door. The two of them hung out and talked about their plans for later that night. After the Walpurgis Night’s radio broadcast, they planned to go to the bonfire in Djurgarden. The ladies uhmed-and-ahed about what they were going to wear, what they’d do with their hair; who they hoped to bump into at the fair. Then Lilly’s phone rang, it was about 6:30pm.

On the other end of the line was a man. Mimmi sat closeby and Lilly held the receiver so she could hear the conversation. Lilly was slightly confused as to how the man knew her number and said: ‘But I don’t know you.’ He did not explain and asked Lilly if she was free. Lilly knew the drill: she confirmed her address and hung up. The man was nearby, so Lilly was expecting him soon.

Mimmi later recalled the entire conversation, it went something like this:

The man asked: Is this Miss Lindeström?

Lilly said: Yes, it is.

Then he said: Are you home for a visit?

Lilly laughed: Of course I am, as you can hear.

Are you able to see me if I come for a while? The man asked.

Lilly: Yes, are you far away?

The man: No, I’m really close. I’ll be right over.

Lilly did not have to explain to Mimmi, who took the cue and left her friend to her business. When she left, Mimmi went to a shop in St Eriksplan to collect milk she had ordered. Then she went straight home, to her own apartment downstairs from Lilly’s. It wasn’t long before she heard a knock on her door. It was Lilly, asking if she could borrow a condom. This was not unusual between the two sex workers, it was a way of checking in. Mimmi gave her one condom and Lilly went back upstairs, but within minutes she returned. This time she was wearing nothing but an overcoat and boots, again asking Mimmi for a condom. Mimmi thought it was strange, but seeing as though this was how they signaled each other, everything was okay, she complied and gave her a couple of condoms. Mimmi saw Lilly going up the stairs, humming cheerfully to herself. She seemed happy and upbeat about to earn some money before spending the evening with friends. This was about 7:15pm, and Mimmi closed the door and started tittivating for the night out.

At 9:45pm, Mimmi made her way up the stairs to Lilly’s place. She was running a bit late for the radio broadcast, but then again, she wasn’t really interested in that. Mimmi quietly hoped the show was almost finished, so they could go to the bonfire at Djurgården. Lilly’s door was locked, and when Mimmi knocked, there was no answer. It was quiet inside, so Mimmi assumed Lilly had gone ahead to Djurgården with her client.

When Mimmi arrived at the bonfire, she could not find her friend anywhere. She didn’t know what Lilly’s client looked like, she never saw him when he arrived, but she kept an eye out for Lilly. When Mimmi returned home, she went to check on Lilly, but again, no one was there. There was also no sign of Lilly the next day, and most of her neighbours assumed that she had perhaps taken off with the client. It had happened in the past, but typically Lilly would mention something before she left.

A couple of days passed, with the ringing phone in Lilly’s apartment going unanswered. A male friend of Lilly’s failed to get a hold of her on the phone all week. On Wednesday, the 4th of May, he went to her apartment to check on her. He spoke to Mimmi and asked if she knew where Lilly was. By this time Mimmi was deeply concerned, and together, they went to Ruth Jonsson and her husband, the landlords of the building.

Ruth said that they went to Lilly’s place on Walpurgis Night, but she wasn’t there. In fact, they called her from another location, to tell her that they were on their way, but she didn’t answer her phone. When they arrived at 9:30, as was arranged a couple of hours before, there was no sign of Lilly. They assumed she had forgotten about their planned visit and left it at that. It bothered Ruth, though. She found it unusual, seeing as Lilly never forgot things like that. And if her plans changed, she would always let them know. From the street, on Walpurgis Night, Ruth and her husband saw that Lilly’s windows were closed. The blinds were rolled up, and the lights were off. Something wasn’t right.

Together, Ruth, Mimmi and Lilly’s friend went to another neighbour, Lilly’s friend of six years, Emma Lundgren who said the last time she saw Lilly, like the others, was early in the afternoon on Walpurgis Night when they went shopping and had coffee. Lilly did not mention that she was going to see anyone that night. After that, she never saw her and only heard her phone ringing, but no one ever answered. They made plans to meet up again on Monday, May 2nd, but Lilly never showed up.

The group decided it was time to inform the police. Ruth Jonsson went to the nearest police station at Hälsinggatan and reported her their concerns. An hour later, a constable showed up at 11 Sankt Eriksplan. Officer Nordström was shown upstairs by Lilly’s concerned friends. He knocked on her front door and waited, there was no answer. Then he peeped through the mailbox opening in the door and noticed that the bathroom light was on, but no one answered when he called out.

Nordström left to go and call for a firefighter to help him break down the door. Together, they forced their way into Lilly’s apartment, where they found her body, face down, on the daybed in her lounge. Lilly’s head was covered in dried blood. Three cushions had been stacked on top of her back, and the bed beneath her was made.

The constable realised that this was not merely a missing person’s case and called the station to send homicide detectives. Legendary police Chief, Alvar Zetterquist, himself arrived at the scene. He had one look at the scene and knew there was vital evidence that could help them solve the crime. It was a time before forensic investigators as such, but Zettequist understood the value of having a medical examiner at the scene. He summoned Dr Ternell, the police district physician, to Sankt Eriksplan. The doctor concluded that Lilly had been dead for a couple of days, his first opinion was that she was most likely killed on the Saturday before, on Walpurgis Night.

The scene in Lilly’s apartment was a strange one. It was a small, sparsely furnished, but cosy space with a kitchenette, a small living room, a separate bedroom and a bathroom. There were no signs of a struggle anywhere in the apartment, on the contrary, the entire place was spotless. Only one thing seemed out of place: a blood-soaked tea towel in the kitchenette.

Lilly was lying face-down on the daybed in the living room. She was naked but wore socks and long black boots. Her clothes were neatly folded on a chair next to the bed. She lay on her left side with her head resting on her left arm and the entire right side of her head was crushed from the temple down to her neck. A used condom was found between her legs, protruding from her buttocks.

Some blood had flowed from the daybed onto the floor. By the time police discovered Lilly’s body, the pool of blood had dried. Lilly was attacked from behind, and the blows to her head were so severe, it would have killed her instantly.

Lilly’s friends were able to account for all of Lilly’s belongings in her apartment – nothing was missing, so she was not killed with something she owned. Police concluded that the killer brought the murder weapon and took it with him when he left. Mimmi told police about Lilly borrowing condoms on Walpurgis Night. The one between Lilly’s legs was the only one found in the apartment. However, there were three wrappers in the bin. The killer must have taken the rest with him.

Mimmi noticed something strange. Lilly’s number was removed from the phone dial like she usually did when she had a new customer. However, if she was with the man who had called at 6:30pm, why would she hide her number? He already had it. Unless, perhaps, a second man paid her a visit.

From the start, it was evident that robbery was not the motive. In the apartment, police found Lilly’s handbag with 22 kronor inside. It also contained her savings book with another ten kronor and proof that she had close to 1000 kronor in the bank. In a chest of drawers in Lilly’s bedroom, there was a small amount of cash, about six kronor. All of the money was untouched. The average wage for women working in Stockholm’s industrial workforce at the time was about 2,000 kronor a year. Lilly had already paid her rent for May, so her financial position was quite good. However, the killer was not interested in her money.

Officers processed the scene till late into the night. Just after midnight, her body was carried out of her home and taken to the morgue. Lilly’s body was returned to her hometown of Malmö where she was buried on the 16th of May at Malmö Östra cemetery, Rosengård.

An autopsy revealed that Lilly had been dead for two to three days, which meant Mimmi was probably the last one, before her killer to have seen Lilly alive. She had three blows to her head, caused by a blunt object, like a crowbar or a pipe, which caused her death. Her body had been mostly drained from blood. Saliva was found on Lilly’s neck and body. In today’s time, forensic experts would have had a field-day with DNA left at the scene, but this was 1932, so other than collecting samples and taking fingerprints and investigating witness statements, there were not much more investigators could do. Police had hoped that the perpetrator would have an attack of conscience and come forward to confess. But nothing happened.

Investigators questioned Lilly’s friends about her movements on her last day alive. They learnt that Lilly paid a visit to the landlady, Ruth Jonsson, to pay her rent for May. Ruth said that Lilly was her usual self and they had a short conversation about everyday things, like the weather. Lilly did not seem concerned or stressed in the least, she was her cheerful self. This was the last time Ruth saw Lilly. She knew Lilly slept most of the day and often had company at night, and was used to turning a blind eye, as prostitution was illegal in Sweden. So when she didn’t see Lilly during the days that followed, she wasn’t overly concerned.

Mimmi said that when she was with Lilly, the phone call came in at 6:30pm. She had leaned into the receiver to listen when Lilly spoke to the man who called, and he seemed polite. Mimmi described him as a ‘nice, sober gentleman’. Nothing was foreboding about the call. Mimmi also mentioned that Lilly was never afraid of anyone or anything. There was no one in her life that she feared would harm her.

A waitress at the café, Norma’s, located on the ground floor of the apartment block at 11 Sankt Eriksplan, said that a man came into the restaurant at 9pm on Walpurgis Night. He ordered two steak dinners. She remembered this because she recognised the porcelain container he brought, it was the same as Lilly always used.

It was interesting that around 9:30pm when Ruth and her husband showed up at Lilly’s place, Ruth went outside to the street and noticed that the blinds in Lilly’s apartment were up and the lights were off. Yet, when officer Nordstrom entered the apartment on Wednesday night, the bathroom light was on. Was it possible that the killer was still in the apartment with Lilly when her neighbours knocked on her door? It is not impossible.

A local newspaper reported on a mysterious burglary, which occurred early in the morning after the murder in the apartment next door to Lilly’s. At 5am, a woman who lived alone heard movement in her room. She saw a young man leaning over her desk and fiddling with the lock of a storage closet. The woman was startled, she jumped up and screamed. The burglar grabbed her and tried to muffle her screams by placing his hand over her mouth. The woman managed to tear herself loose and ran down the stairs. She then opened the window to Sankt Eriksplan and called out. A patrolling police officer heard her cries for help and ran to her. By the time they made their way back to her apartment, the thief was nowhere to be found.

Lilly’s neighbour described the intruder as a very young man, possibly in his late teens. He was wearing a suit, but without a hat or coat, which meant he probably came from somewhere inside the building. Police could not find any signs of forced entry and had no idea where the man came from or how he escaped. Could it be possible that this man was Lilly’s killer? When the woman ran out, did he slip back into Lilly’s apartment where she was lying murdered on the daybed?

Because the man was robbing the neighbour, apparently looking for money, police felt there was no connection to Lilly’s killer, who did not take any of her cash or belongings.

Police had absolutely no idea who Lilly’s elusive killer could be. They went through her address book and were able to cross people off their suspect list, one after the other. Fingerprints were taken at the scene, but with so many prints NOT accounted for, it was impossible to find the killer this way.

Lilly was not the first sex worker to be killed in Sankt Eriksplan, nor was the last. But her murder was different from the others. She was killed inside her home, and she had records of her clients. This wasn’t a random street killing. From the onset, there was a lengthy list of suspects. Lilly was organised when it came to admin. She had some bills and receipts in a box, nothing seemed strange or raised any questions. In a bowl in her apartment, police found business cards of 80 men, all considered to be clients of Lilly’s. Among her documents was a letter from a man that sparked investigators’ interest. They felt it would be a good idea to talk to him, as details in the letter alluded to the fact that he was in a romantic relationship with Lilly. However, the sender’s address on the letter did not exist, and they could not track him down. They thought that he had used an alias and a false address, perhaps because he was married, or held a respectable job and didn’t want to be caught out having an affair with a sex worker.

Eventually, investigators honed in on nine men, as they were said to be Lilly’s most frequent clients. Because of the sensitive nature of Lilly’s profession, only a few of the men’s names were ever made public. The first arrest was made on Thursday 5 May, the day after her body was found.

A man called Ragnar Nilsson was a person of interest, seeing as he had an on-again-off-again relationship with her – even lived with her at times. Zetterquist said to the press that he was not a suspect:

“The man has been that of Mrs Lindeström’s acquaintance, with whom she was most in contact, and we are only there to get from him the most reliable information about the victim’s other acquaintances and her habits, and other information, which may be of importance to the investigation.”

A witness, only named as ‘a drunken woman with the same profession as Lilly’ came forward and told police that she suspected her husband had something to do with the Atlas murder. Her husband, a pimp and a hustler called Petterson came home on the night of Lilly’s murder with blood on his clothes. It looked like he had tried to clean himself up, but didn’t manage to get the bloodstains off. Petterson was not a stranger to police, so they took him in for questioning. A shady business partner offered a weak alibi, and it looked like he could possibly have been involved. Petterson denied any involvement, and with no evidence, other than his wife’s statement, they let him go after ten days in custody.

A couple of days after Lilly’s body was discovered, Ruth Jonsson received a telegram, sent from Copenhagen, from another one of Lilly’s male acquaintances. The man came from Stockholm and worked as a waiter. He had sent the telegram to enquire about Lilly’s murder. Police managed to find the man’s brothers who both worked as waiters at a local restaurant and took them in for questioning.

It seemed that Lilly and this man had an interesting relationship. She was quite vocal about being ‘madly in love’ with him whenever she had something to drink. When Lilly sobered up, she often expressed her disgust of him. Then she’d drink again, romantic sparks began to fly, and she made every effort to go out and look for him.

Police wanted to know if the man was in Stockholm on Walpurgis Night and asked his brothers what he was up to. His brothers both said that they were all together, playing card games with two female friends. Mimmi said that she knew the waiter and Lilly often spoke about him. She knew it wasn’t the waiter who had called Lilly on Walpurgis Night, as she had listened to the conversation. Also, Lilly was so infatuated with the waiter, if he had wanted to see her that night, Lilly would have cancelled plans with Mimmi and the neighbours so she could spend the whole night with him.

Police brought the waiter in and questioned him too. After his alibi was verified by his brothers and the two female friends, he was ruled out as a suspect.

Six weeks after Lilly’s murder, on the street outside her apartment building, police found a discarded ladle with dried blood on it. It was a puzzling piece of evidence: it was definitely too light to have caused the fatal wounds on Lilly’s head. For some unexplained reason, a theory was formed that the killer had watched Lilly bleed out, then scooped up her blood with the ladle and drank it. Also, there was saliva on her neck, could the murderer actually have been a real-life vampire?

The vampire theory was leaked to an Aftonbladet reporter, who made the information public, using the headline: VAMPIRE MURDER IN THE ATLAS AREA.

Bear in mind, Germany’s infamous serial killer Peter Kurten, also known as The Vampire of Düsseldorf, was executed in July 1931, months before Lilly’s murder. The same year Tod Browning’s film Dracula was released. The original trailer proclaims that the undead fiend Dracula, is:

“A maniac, a man who lived after death; lived on human blood, took the form of a vampire bat and lured innocent girls to a fate truly worse than death.”

Lilly’s killer made his escape like Dracula… Perhaps he, too, flew off into the night in the form of a vampire bat without anyone taking notice.

In later years, this theory has been brought into question by many armchair detectives and experts. Renowned Swedish criminologist and author, Leif GW Persson said in a 2012 documentary that he felt is unlikely the ladle had anything to do with the murder. Firstly, as a murder weapon, it was too light. Secondly, how did they know it was blood on the ladle and not simply sauce? Remember, on the ground floor of Lilly’s apartment building was a restaurant, chances are the gravy ladle came from their kitchen.

Lilly Lindeström was immortalised by the name on her police file, ‘Skånska Lilly’. Her murder was forever sensationalised as The Atlas Vampire Murder.

A popular theory is that the killer could have been a police officer who knew how police investigated crime scenes. He staged the bizarre scene, hoping to throw his colleagues off his trail. The blunt instrument that was used to kill her could possibly have been a police baton.

Lilly’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Ragnar Nilsson was ruled out by investigators, but the fact that he worked as a servant made some speculators wonder if this is why the murder scene was tidy. Also, if he lived with Lilly from time to time, he would know the movements in the building and would have been able to make an inconspicuous escape.

The question is: who was the man in Lilly’s apartment on Walpurgis night? If investigators could only answer that…

Murdering sex workers is not uncommon, it wasn’t then, and it isn’t now. If a client has some psychological issues, a sex worker is at the most vulnerable to fall victim to a moment of rage or a psychotic break.

The condom found between Lilly’s legs protruded from her anus, and she was found face down. It was likely that Lilly was struck on the head while her killer was having sex with her. There is a sexual myth called a ‘donkey punch’. This is when a man hits his partner on the head or on the back just before he climaxes, hoping that the anus or vagina will contract, and cause an enhanced orgasm. No such reflex exists, so don’t try this at home. Also, back in the day, there would not have been a term for it, but perhaps Lilly’s death was the result of a rough sexual act gone-wrong? With someone, a ‘nice and sober gentleman’ as Mimmi called him, who was battling some severe internal demons?

The fact that Lilly returned for a second condom is significant. Why did she need a second one? Was there a second client? Lilly’s landlady, Ruth, said that she had witnessed, on one night, no less than five separate men enter Lilly’s apartment, one after the other in a matter of two hours. Is it possible that the last man with Lilly on the night of her murder was NOT the same man who had called on the phone? Someone waiting outside the door, causing her to dart down to Mimmi and ask for another condom? It could well have been a second man.

Or did something go wrong with the ‘nice and sober gentleman’ – did the condom break? Perhaps he suffered from premature ejaculation. Maybe Lilly laughed or told him to come back another time, causing him to attack her, killing her. Ashamed of his actions, he cleaned up the scene to avoid detection.

Of course, all of this is speculation. With a historic case like this, it’s best to leave it to the professionals. In the 2012 documentary about Lilly’s case, Leif GW Persson agreed that looking at the crime scene alone, if the murder had been committed in modern times, DNA would have solved it. Sadly, in 1932, investigators had no idea how to preserve evidence for future DNA testing. Persson also believed that the red spots on the soup ladle were probably not bloodstains after all and that this element of the investigation had become more and more sensationalised over the years. Many sources embellish the truth by stating that the ladle was found inside the apartment, but that is factually incorrect. It was only discovered six weeks later in the street outside of her apartment building.

Persson reckons Lilly’s death is not the big mystery that everyone wants it to be. It is still a tragedy, yes, but it is still a case of a sex worker who was killed, while she was working. However, Persson feels that the ferocity of the attack indicates that there was something more between Lilly and her killer. Something caused him to snap. But was he fighting his own issues, or did he have a motive to kill Lilly specifically? Jealousy perhaps? Or anger?

Actual evidence from the scene and a floorplan of Lilly’s apartment are on display at Stockholm’s Police Museum. There is a sample of Lilly’s brown hair, the saliva sample from her neck as well as the three 1932 condom wrappers. Who knows, perhaps in future, they would be able to get a useable DNA sample from the evidence and finally be able to answer one of Stockholm’s most haunting mysteries: who killed Lilly Lindeström?

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