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Would be interesting to hear how "interesting" this article is for an international audience. As a Swede I am sick and tired about all speculation over the year

by mongol 7y ago

Would be interesting to hear how "interesting" this article is for an international audience. As a Swede I am sick and tired about all speculation over the years. It is like a wound that never heals. We will never know for sure. Probably like the JFK assasination.

jlangenauer 7y ago
I read this yesterday, and found it fascinating - I’d like to think I have a reasonably good knowledge of world history, but I’d never even heard or it.
cafard 7y ago
In the US, one hears of this every now and then, perhaps on decade anniversaries.
diggan 7y ago
I hear you, I'm Swedish as well and been hearing people talking about this since my birth (if not earlier). However, seems they are getting closer at finding out. The article contains: > In February of this year, the latest lead investigator appeared on Swedish television and, with astonishing confidence, promised to give the public a solution within the next few years. Caution is advisable; this possibility has been teased many times before. But as mentioned, not the first time someone says that. Also, have not been living in Sweden for the last couple of years, so don't know more about the situation then outlined in the submission article. Edit: my vote goes to Christer Pettersson being who he said he was, would not surprise me. Pretty fun to read about the different theories as well, some are listed here (for the english readers) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Olof_Palme#Murder_theories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Olof_Palme#Mu...
- retSava 7y ago
  > seems they are getting closer at finding out As they say every time. You wouldn't read about it otherwise (ie buy).
- mongol 7y ago
  Yes, this possibility has been teased many times before. On top of my head - Arrest of "33-åringen" days after the murder - Gert Fylking's article about Christer Petterssons admission to him - Pelle Svensson about "bombmannens testamente"
prolix 7y ago
A couple of things seem obvious. Given the relative safety of the society the crime occurred within, the police were caught with their pants down, and were completely unprepared to deal with a major crime carried out according to a premeditated plan. After that, everything else is a natural mess. But, given version of the story as presented here Christer Pettersson seems like an idiot, just useful enough to have done it. Nonetheless, the crime was assuredly well planned, and used the absolute minimum violence at the right moment that permitted escape, so whoever did it planned to get away with it, planned it to kill, and planned the least amount of dramatic flair possible. Seems professional to me. Doesn't seem like the kind of thing to be done by a sloppy drunk with nothing to gain from it. Someone had something to gain, but we don't know what that was. Without the clear motive, an obvious goal, the thing that made it worth the effort, it's hard to see why anyone wanted him dead. Unfortunately, that's what makes the drunk such a good suspect, and such a lackluster reality. It feels like there should be more to it.
IfOnlyYouKnew 7y ago
I always enjoy these articles (to the extend that one can take joy in them), because they rarely fail to highlight how different politics can be. For an American audience, it's unthinkable that a leader of a government would go anywhere without their own private army. When I used to work in central Berlin, I regularly saw members of parliament and ministers have coffee or just walk around completely unprotected. Even Merkel could be seen with only modest security (usually two people), usually walking to/from her flat about a kilometre away from her office. It's a world where a stranger is not primarily a threat, possibly-armed, and where civility hasn't completely broken down. And it's not even that rare. Of course, the story itself kinda speaks against this view of the world.
- rurban 7y ago
  I remember when I sat just behind José Manuel Barroso, that time the leader of the European Commission in a commercial airline, tourist class. I loved that guy, like the former Uruguayan president.
  - PTcartelsLOL 7y ago
    Good thing you like him. People in Portugal don't like him that much.
- Sharlin 7y ago
  > Of course, the story itself kinda speaks against this view of the world. Yet these crimes are so rare as to be huge deals when they do occur, and politicians here generally rather take their chances than lead a life protected from their very constituents. In a high-trust society it is also expected from politicians.
  - dmix 7y ago
    It's much easier to have trust in a small unimposing culturally homogeneous country of 10 million like Sweden vs a 300+ million economic and geopolitical juggernaut.
usr1106 7y ago
> As a Swede I am sick and tired about all speculation over the years. I'm not a Swede, but I happened to be in Sweden as a trainee in Sweden just a year after it happened. For a couple of years I read every article I saw. But now that so much time has gone, I don't read any article any more. Not even this one, I was just curious what people comment. It is not unlikely that the murderer has died in the meantime. The same holds for anybody who might have (had) knowledge what exactly happened. The credibility of any new witnesses after so many years cannot be very high. If someone confesses and can offer unique proof/insider knowledge I will hear about whithout reading such articles. Or if credible documents are found in some secret service's archives that they were involved. But it's not anything likely enough to happen that I could still be interested.
- mongol 7y ago
  You are right. It is actually more likely the murderer is dead than not. This is a simple observation because lots of people associated with the investigation are dead too. Simply beacause time has passed. Christer Pettersson is dead. Hans Holmér is dead. Lisbeth Palme is dead. 33-åringen is dead. Claes Zeime is dead. Axel Morath is dead. Lars Tingström is dead. Skandiamannen is dead. Ebbe Carlsson is dead. And so on, and so on..
  - usr1106 7y ago
    Oh, I had already completely forgotten about Ebbe Carlsson. The Swedish Wikipedia article was I nice refresh of my memory and now I understand again why I had read every article back in the days. Better than any fiction... (The English Wikipedia does not mention anythig of the dozens of scandals and weird affairs he was involved in.)
professionalhit 7y ago
It was assuredly not an angry drunk lashing out in a simple, poorly conceived, malign demonstration, for one simple reason: 2 shots, from a revolver. One serious wound, only killing the political leader. No one else was seriously injured. These details speak volumes. An ordinary idiot crossing the line, to commit murder, would have unloaded the entire gun, and probably would have scored a head shot, and probably would have killed the wife. A crime this big will only get bigger in the hands of a regular civilian that has no experience in killing people. Instead, we see a quick, quiet, deadly single shot to the torso. Two pulls to the trigger, and only a minor wound to the woman, probably accidental. The person that did it had help. The choice of a powerful revolver is significant. That they pounced in a quiet area with an escape route, and kept a few bullets to fend off any possible witness that might think about giving chase shows a depth of planning. The person that did it probably had an alibi and multiple conspirators.
ggg2 7y ago
for a foreigner, it shows how, if you can get the sympathy of the law enforcement grunts, you can get away with anything. investigator feels he have to pay too much tax while arresting people they deem unworthy of government benefits? go ahead and shoot your prime minister as the investigation will be sabotaged anyway.

by mongol 7y ago

jlangenauer 7y ago

I read this yesterday, and found it fascinating - I’d like to think I have a reasonably good knowledge of world history, but I’d never even heard or it.

cafard 7y ago

In the US, one hears of this every now and then, perhaps on decade anniversaries.

diggan 7y ago

I hear you, I'm Swedish as well and been hearing people talking about this since my birth (if not earlier). However, seems they are getting closer at finding out. The article contains: > In February of this year, the latest lead investigator appeared on Swedish television and, with astonishing confidence, promised to give the public a solution within the next few years. Caution is advisable; this possibility has been teased many times before. But as mentioned, not the first time someone says that. Also, have not been living in Sweden for the last couple of years, so don't know more about the situation then outlined in the submission article. Edit: my vote goes to Christer Pettersson being who he said he was, would not surprise me. Pretty fun to read about the different theories as well, some are listed here (for the english readers) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Olof_Palme#Murder_theories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Olof_Palme#Mu...

retSava 7y ago
> seems they are getting closer at finding out As they say every time. You wouldn't read about it otherwise (ie buy).
mongol 7y ago
Yes, this possibility has been teased many times before. On top of my head - Arrest of "33-åringen" days after the murder - Gert Fylking's article about Christer Petterssons admission to him - Pelle Svensson about "bombmannens testamente"

prolix 7y ago

A couple of things seem obvious. Given the relative safety of the society the crime occurred within, the police were caught with their pants down, and were completely unprepared to deal with a major crime carried out according to a premeditated plan. After that, everything else is a natural mess. But, given version of the story as presented here Christer Pettersson seems like an idiot, just useful enough to have done it. Nonetheless, the crime was assuredly well planned, and used the absolute minimum violence at the right moment that permitted escape, so whoever did it planned to get away with it, planned it to kill, and planned the least amount of dramatic flair possible. Seems professional to me. Doesn't seem like the kind of thing to be done by a sloppy drunk with nothing to gain from it. Someone had something to gain, but we don't know what that was. Without the clear motive, an obvious goal, the thing that made it worth the effort, it's hard to see why anyone wanted him dead. Unfortunately, that's what makes the drunk such a good suspect, and such a lackluster reality. It feels like there should be more to it.

IfOnlyYouKnew 7y ago

I always enjoy these articles (to the extend that one can take joy in them), because they rarely fail to highlight how different politics can be. For an American audience, it's unthinkable that a leader of a government would go anywhere without their own private army. When I used to work in central Berlin, I regularly saw members of parliament and ministers have coffee or just walk around completely unprotected. Even Merkel could be seen with only modest security (usually two people), usually walking to/from her flat about a kilometre away from her office. It's a world where a stranger is not primarily a threat, possibly-armed, and where civility hasn't completely broken down. And it's not even that rare. Of course, the story itself kinda speaks against this view of the world.

rurban 7y ago
I remember when I sat just behind José Manuel Barroso, that time the leader of the European Commission in a commercial airline, tourist class. I loved that guy, like the former Uruguayan president.
- PTcartelsLOL 7y ago
  Good thing you like him. People in Portugal don't like him that much.
Sharlin 7y ago
> Of course, the story itself kinda speaks against this view of the world. Yet these crimes are so rare as to be huge deals when they do occur, and politicians here generally rather take their chances than lead a life protected from their very constituents. In a high-trust society it is also expected from politicians.
- dmix 7y ago
  It's much easier to have trust in a small unimposing culturally homogeneous country of 10 million like Sweden vs a 300+ million economic and geopolitical juggernaut.

usr1106 7y ago

> As a Swede I am sick and tired about all speculation over the years. I'm not a Swede, but I happened to be in Sweden as a trainee in Sweden just a year after it happened. For a couple of years I read every article I saw. But now that so much time has gone, I don't read any article any more. Not even this one, I was just curious what people comment. It is not unlikely that the murderer has died in the meantime. The same holds for anybody who might have (had) knowledge what exactly happened. The credibility of any new witnesses after so many years cannot be very high. If someone confesses and can offer unique proof/insider knowledge I will hear about whithout reading such articles. Or if credible documents are found in some secret service's archives that they were involved. But it's not anything likely enough to happen that I could still be interested.

mongol 7y ago
You are right. It is actually more likely the murderer is dead than not. This is a simple observation because lots of people associated with the investigation are dead too. Simply beacause time has passed. Christer Pettersson is dead. Hans Holmér is dead. Lisbeth Palme is dead. 33-åringen is dead. Claes Zeime is dead. Axel Morath is dead. Lars Tingström is dead. Skandiamannen is dead. Ebbe Carlsson is dead. And so on, and so on..
- usr1106 7y ago
  Oh, I had already completely forgotten about Ebbe Carlsson. The Swedish Wikipedia article was I nice refresh of my memory and now I understand again why I had read every article back in the days. Better than any fiction... (The English Wikipedia does not mention anythig of the dozens of scandals and weird affairs he was involved in.)

professionalhit 7y ago

It was assuredly not an angry drunk lashing out in a simple, poorly conceived, malign demonstration, for one simple reason: 2 shots, from a revolver. One serious wound, only killing the political leader. No one else was seriously injured. These details speak volumes. An ordinary idiot crossing the line, to commit murder, would have unloaded the entire gun, and probably would have scored a head shot, and probably would have killed the wife. A crime this big will only get bigger in the hands of a regular civilian that has no experience in killing people. Instead, we see a quick, quiet, deadly single shot to the torso. Two pulls to the trigger, and only a minor wound to the woman, probably accidental. The person that did it had help. The choice of a powerful revolver is significant. That they pounced in a quiet area with an escape route, and kept a few bullets to fend off any possible witness that might think about giving chase shows a depth of planning. The person that did it probably had an alibi and multiple conspirators.

ggg2 7y ago

for a foreigner, it shows how, if you can get the sympathy of the law enforcement grunts, you can get away with anything. investigator feels he have to pay too much tax while arresting people they deem unworthy of government benefits? go ahead and shoot your prime minister as the investigation will be sabotaged anyway.