The remains of 21-year-old Tove were found over two weeks after her disappearance in a wooded area southeast of Vetlanda. A trial against two young women, accused of her murder, began on Monday. The women are suspected of murdering Tove after an old conflict resurfaced during a night out. The 18 and 20-year-old women have different accounts of what happened on the night of October 15-16. Chair of the Crime Victims’ Centre and former chief prosecutor, Sven-Erik Alhem, states that the criminal classification is not binding on the court. Alhem cites the example of the ‘Snipe goal’ case where the court could have sentenced the man for another crime if they thought it was necessary. Prosecution in the Vetlanda case is largely based on data from mobile phones and interrogation of the 20-year-old.
It takes over two weeks after the disappearance before the remains of 21-year-old Tove are found, in a wooded area southeast of Vetlanda.
On Monday, the trial begins against the two young women who are suspected of having murdered her. According to the indictment, the women are suspected of “jointly and in agreement” to have murdered Tove, after a night out where an old conflict flared up again.
The women, 18 and 20 years old respectively, have different stories about what actually happened in the 20-year-old’s apartment on the night between October 15 and 16. However, the prosecutor has chosen to charge both of them with murder, without alternative criminal classifications.
“Absolutely decisive”
But that is not the central point, points out Sven-Erik Alhem, who is chairman of the Crime Victims’ Center and former chief prosecutor.
Instead, what is important is how the charge is worded.
– In this case, where two people have told about the incident in different ways, the evidence that exists will have enormous importance, he says.
– But the criminal classification itself is not binding on the court. What is absolutely decisive is the description of the deed.
Sven-Erik Alhem takes the attention-grabbing so-called snipe goal as an example.
In that case, the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden did not think that the accused man was guilty of child rape and acquitted him completely. However, Alhem believes that the court could very well have chosen to sentence the man for another crime.
– The Snippa case was horribly handled by the Court of Appeal. There were so many amazing mistakes that were made. Just looking in a dictionary after the main hearing is completely absurd, he says.
– But in the allegation of the crime itself, there is much to suggest that it covered something other than rape, if one were to come to the absurd idea that it would not be considered rape.
“Pressing”
Prosecutor Adam Rullman’s choice to prosecute both women for Tove’s murder is largely based on what the 20-year-old told in the interrogation.
At the same time, data from the mobile phones of those involved is an important part of the evidence.
According to the 20-year-old, the 18-year-old friend, among other things, held Tove’s hands during the fight that occurred in the apartment.
“…and then I put my hands around Tove’s neck and push,” says the 20-year-old in one of the interviews.
However, she denies murder, while the 18-year-old woman denies even having been involved in the riot.
This means that the description of the offense in the indictment can become an important part in the Vetlanda case as well, believes Sven-Erik Alhem.
– The public has a lot of faith in the classification of crimes. But it is uninteresting from the court’s point of view, he says.
– They are only bound by the description of the offense itself, so if it covers alternative criminal classifications, that is quite enough.
Sven-Erik Alhem is chairman of the Crime Victims’ Center and former chief prosecutor. Archive image. Photo: Frida Winter/TT
Saturday 15 October: 21-year-old Tove is at a restaurant in central Vetlanda and leaves it at midnight.
Sunday 16 October: At 02 in the morning she calls her boyfriend and at 04 her phone is connected to a cell tower north of Vetlanda. Neighbors say they heard bangs from the apartment of one of the now-suspect women.
Monday 17 October: Two women, 18 and 20 years old, are taken in for questioning and then arrested on suspicion of kidnapping.
Thursday 20 October: Suspicions have been strengthened against the women, who are detained on probable grounds suspected of kidnapping.
Wednesday November 2: The police find Tove dead in a wooded area southeast of Vetlanda. Earlier the same day, the suspected women were re-arrested.
Monday 7 November: The classification of crimes is expanded to also include murder and breach of privacy. Later, the suspicions of kidnapping are removed.
Friday March 17: Charges are filed against the two women. who are suspected of murder and grave breach of peace.
Monday 27 March: The trial starts in Eksjö district court.