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| Lawyers blame groupthink in Sweden's worst miscarriage of justice | Lawyers blame groupthink in Sweden's worst miscarriage of justice |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| “Groupthink” and a cascade of errors that condemned a drugged mental health patient to be declared a depraved mass murderer were laid bare on Friday as Sweden’s top legal minds offered their verdict on a case considered the country’s worst miscarriage of justice. | “Groupthink” and a cascade of errors that condemned a drugged mental health patient to be declared a depraved mass murderer were laid bare on Friday as Sweden’s top legal minds offered their verdict on a case considered the country’s worst miscarriage of justice. |
| Sture Bergwall, who then called himself Thomas Quick, confessed to 30 killings in the 1970s and 80s and to dismembering and eating some of his victims. In trials beginning two decades ago he was convicted and locked up in an institution for the criminally insane. | Sture Bergwall, who then called himself Thomas Quick, confessed to 30 killings in the 1970s and 80s and to dismembering and eating some of his victims. In trials beginning two decades ago he was convicted and locked up in an institution for the criminally insane. |
| But, in a story redolent of the darkest Nordic crime fiction, doubts continued to swirl around the case until an investigative journalist, the late Hannes Råstam, demonstrated that the confessions had no basis in fact. | But, in a story redolent of the darkest Nordic crime fiction, doubts continued to swirl around the case until an investigative journalist, the late Hannes Råstam, demonstrated that the confessions had no basis in fact. |
| Craving attention, Bergwall had relied on press reports of the murders to concoct fantasies about his guilt, which were eagerly accepted by investigators in thrall to a theory that offenders repressed their memories of horrific crimes. In return they fed Bergwall’s addiction to tranquillisers. | Craving attention, Bergwall had relied on press reports of the murders to concoct fantasies about his guilt, which were eagerly accepted by investigators in thrall to a theory that offenders repressed their memories of horrific crimes. In return they fed Bergwall’s addiction to tranquillisers. |
| Bergwall was acquitted of the last of the murders in 2013, and an official commission was appointed to draw lessons from the case, seen in Sweden as the scandal of the century. “In hindsight, it is easy to see mistakes in the Bergwall affair,” the commission in Stockholm said on Friday. | |
| Related: Sweden's 'Hannibal Lecter' cleared of all charges | Related: Sweden's 'Hannibal Lecter' cleared of all charges |
| “When the same people participated in all or most of it, a groupthink developed … Strong trust between people is often described as one of Sweden’s great assets [but] it can not replace a critical approach to serious allegations, even when they are self-accusations,” it said in a newspaper article accompanying its report. | “When the same people participated in all or most of it, a groupthink developed … Strong trust between people is often described as one of Sweden’s great assets [but] it can not replace a critical approach to serious allegations, even when they are self-accusations,” it said in a newspaper article accompanying its report. |
| However, the commission said it had found no evidence of systemic failures in the justice system. | However, the commission said it had found no evidence of systemic failures in the justice system. |
| Bergwall’s violent behaviour had been attributed to alleged sexual abuse in early childhood, although there was no evidence of this, and mistakes in his testimony were blamed on “deliberate deviations” as he fought to repress the gruesome memories of the murders, the commission said. | Bergwall’s violent behaviour had been attributed to alleged sexual abuse in early childhood, although there was no evidence of this, and mistakes in his testimony were blamed on “deliberate deviations” as he fought to repress the gruesome memories of the murders, the commission said. |
| “The investigators’ faith in this explanatory model meant that scant or incorrect responses did not necessarily have any significance other than that he had difficulty talking about them,” the report (pdf) said. | “The investigators’ faith in this explanatory model meant that scant or incorrect responses did not necessarily have any significance other than that he had difficulty talking about them,” the report (pdf) said. |
| “The psychotherapists do not appear to have sufficiently considered the risk of false memories being created, or of Sture Bergwall being encouraged to make up stories.” | “The psychotherapists do not appear to have sufficiently considered the risk of false memories being created, or of Sture Bergwall being encouraged to make up stories.” |
| Related: Thomas Quick: the Swedish serial killer who never was | Related: Thomas Quick: the Swedish serial killer who never was |
| Meanwhile, his lawyers had “declined to critically examine” the prosecution case, said Daniel Tarschys, a professor at Stockholm University, who led the review. | Meanwhile, his lawyers had “declined to critically examine” the prosecution case, said Daniel Tarschys, a professor at Stockholm University, who led the review. |
| “The fact that Sture Bergwall’s lawyers did not specifically draw attention to the shortcomings in the prosecutor’s presentation or other flaws in the investigative process may be explained by a lawyer’s duty of loyalty to the client,” the report said. | “The fact that Sture Bergwall’s lawyers did not specifically draw attention to the shortcomings in the prosecutor’s presentation or other flaws in the investigative process may be explained by a lawyer’s duty of loyalty to the client,” the report said. |
| Claes Borgström, one of Bergwall’s lawyers during his murder convictions and a prominent figure among Stockholm’s legal elite, said he was disappointed by the report. “I am a professional and was careful not to be blinded,” he told Swedish media. | Claes Borgström, one of Bergwall’s lawyers during his murder convictions and a prominent figure among Stockholm’s legal elite, said he was disappointed by the report. “I am a professional and was careful not to be blinded,” he told Swedish media. |
| Bitter insults have been traded between the small group of investigators who upheld Bergwall’s convictions and their detractors. The supreme court judge Göran Lambertz, who as chancellor of justice in 2006 reviewed Bergwall’s convictions and found them sound, faced a storm of ridicule when he published a book in April that declared he was right and that Bergwall was guilty. | Bitter insults have been traded between the small group of investigators who upheld Bergwall’s convictions and their detractors. The supreme court judge Göran Lambertz, who as chancellor of justice in 2006 reviewed Bergwall’s convictions and found them sound, faced a storm of ridicule when he published a book in April that declared he was right and that Bergwall was guilty. |
| Lambertz faces widespread calls from within the legal profession to resign for undermining trust in the Swedish legal system. He has yet to comment on the report but has said he will do so on Sunday. | |
| Jenny Küttim, a journalist who worked with Råstam to expose the miscarriage of justice, said she thought the report would begin to put an end to the scandal. | Jenny Küttim, a journalist who worked with Råstam to expose the miscarriage of justice, said she thought the report would begin to put an end to the scandal. |
| However, nobody had yet been held accountable, she said, and the “sect mentality” that had kept Bergwall incarcerated for so long was also a feature of other cases in recent Swedish legal history in which theories of “repressed memories” were involved. | However, nobody had yet been held accountable, she said, and the “sect mentality” that had kept Bergwall incarcerated for so long was also a feature of other cases in recent Swedish legal history in which theories of “repressed memories” were involved. |
| “This case shows what happens when we start believing rather than looking at the facts,” Küttim said. | “This case shows what happens when we start believing rather than looking at the facts,” Küttim said. |
| Sweden’s interior minister, Anders Ygeman, said the report was a starting point to make the necessary changes “to ensure that this never happens again”. | Sweden’s interior minister, Anders Ygeman, said the report was a starting point to make the necessary changes “to ensure that this never happens again”. |
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