Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Swedish student given life for killing 2 teachers with ax

A Swedish court has sentenced an 18-year-old man to life in prison for killing two teachers with an ax at a southern Swedish high school in March

Via AP news wire
Thursday 08 September 2022 11:21 BST
Sweden School Killings
Sweden School Killings (TT)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

An 18-year-old man who attacked and killed two teachers with an ax at a southern Swedish high school was found guilty of two counts of murder on Thursday and sentenced to life in prison.

In Sweden, that generally means a minimum of 20 to 25 years in prison, but it could be extended.

Fabian Vidar Cederholm, who was a student at the school in Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city, was arrested shortly after the incident on March 21. The defendant wasn’t previously known to authorities and had no criminal record. Both victims — Victoria Edström and Sara Böök — were found on the third floor of the downtown Malmo Latin School 10 minutes after police were alerted.

The Malmo District Court followed the line of prosecutor Johanna Liljeblad who had asked that Cederholm who has confessed to the crime, be sentenced to life. The court said Cederholm killed them “by hacking them to death with an ax." Judge Johan Kvart said Cederholm also used a knife.

The court said he was sentenced to life in prison because “the acts were particularly reckless,” and added that the motive for the violent acts has not been fully clarified.

“These are two very brutal murders where the victims suffered severely," Kvart said in a statement.

A lawyer for the defendant earlier had told Swedish media that the actions of the defendants were “completely inexplicable.".

Students at the school, which has about 1,100 students, had gathered to work on a musical, and students locked themselves inside classrooms when the attack began.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in