I have just watched the two hours and eighteen minutes of a YouTube press conference held at Stockholm Police Headquarters by the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Krister Petersson, and the head of the police investigation unit, Hans Melander, on the case of the murder of Olof Palme on 28 February 1986.
Stig Engström, aka The Skandia man" (the company he worked at)
I still cannot believe what I have heard. According to these gentlemen, the investigation is definitely closed. Have they found the murderer or murderers? Er...maybe they have, maybe they haven't. There is a strong probability that Olof Palme was killed by Stig Engström, but investigators don't have to say if a suspect is guilty, that's for a court to decide. And since Stig Engström died in 2000 (he committed suicide at the age of 66), we can no longer prosecute him.
The case is therefore closed for good.
Has the murder weapon been found? No, only the two bullets fired from a 357 Magnum pistol have been found.
Do the investigators have any idea of the alleged killer's motives? No, none whatsoever.
Could he have acted alone or as part of a conspiracy? The investigators have no idea.
What about the South African trail? "Interesting, but unsupported by any evidence." And what about the meeting between representatives of the South African and Swedish governments, which, according to The Guardian, took place on 18 March? Neither the investigators nor the journalists who interviewed them made the slightest reference to it.
So, after 34 years, the biggest criminal investigation in Swedish history is giving birth to a dead mouse. All that remains is to await a thorough investigation into this investigation, which has shed a disturbing light on the dark sides of Swedish police and justice. For those who have been following the Swedish side of the Julian Assange case, there is no reason to be surprised. Isn't accusing a dead man the best way to bury a case with very worrying ramifications? Mr Petersson and Mr Melander have just put a still hot potato in the freezer. And they threw the key to the freezer into the black waters of the Baltic.
For those interested, here is the English version of the press conference, boring as a Swedish winter's day.