| Assassination of Olof Palme | |
|---|---|
 Flowers left at the site of the assassination on the following day | |
  Assassination of Olof Palme (Stockholm Municipality) | |
| Location | Sveavägen–Tunnelgatan, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Coordinates | 59°20′12″N 18°03′46″E / 59.3366°N 18.0628°E |
| Date | 28 February 1986 23.21 (Central European Time) |
| Target | Olof Palme |
Attack type | Assassination |
| Weapons | .357 Magnum revolver (suspected) |
| Deaths | 1 killed (Olof Palme) |
| Injured | 1 wounded (Lisbeth Palme) |
| Perpetrators | Stig Engström (posthumously declared a suspect in 2020; died in 2000) Unknown agents from the South African Civil Cooperation Bureau (suspected) |
On 28 February 1986, at 23:21 CET (22:21 UTC), Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, was fatally wounded by a single gunshot while walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street Sveavägen. Lisbeth Palme was slightly wounded by a second shot. The couple did not have bodyguards with them.
Christer Pettersson, who had previously been convicted of manslaughter, was convicted of the murder in 1988 after having been identified as the killer by Mrs. Palme. However, on appeal to Svea Court of Appeal, he was acquitted. A petition for a new trial, filed by the prosecutor, was denied by the Supreme Court of Sweden. Pettersson died on 29 September 2004, legally declared not guilty of the Palme assassination.
On 10 June 2020, chief prosecutor Krister Petersson, in charge of the investigation, announced his conclusion that Stig Engström, also known as the "Skandia Man", was the most likely suspect. No direct evidence was presented but the prosecutor mentioned Engström's past knowledge of weapons, friendship with anti-Palme circles and similar clothes as described by certain witnesses. However, as Engström died on 26 June 2000, and no further investigative or judicial measures were possible, the investigation was officially closed.[1][2] The decision to name Engström as a suspect was widely criticised.
Various other theories about the murder have also been proposed. In 2018, the former businessman Jan Stocklassa conducted an investigation, which itself was based on the writer Stieg Larsson's own investigation. In 2023, this investigation was presented in the HBO Max documentary The Man Who Played With Fire.[3]
- ^ Thomsen, Dante (10 June 2020). "Åklagaren pekar ut Skandiamannen som Olof Palmes mördare". SVT Nyheter.
- ^ "Sweden closes 30-year murder mystery over killing of PM Olof Palme". CNN. 10 June 2020.
- ^ "Hot Picks: The Man Who Played With Fire". Media Business Insight Limited. 13 April 2023.