Hagamannen
Encyclopedia
Kurt Niklas Lindgren known in the media prior to his arrest as Hagamannen ("The Haga Man"), is a convicted Swedish serial rapist. Lindgren was convicted of nine counts of sexual assault in 2006, two of which were labeled attempted murder
, in relation to attacks in the city of Umeå
from 1998 to 2005. The attacks were all made outdoors, involved physical violence and in some cases attempts to kill his victims. The nickname "Hagamannen" refers to the area in Umeå named Haga
where Lindgren made his first assault.
Lindgren was identified and arrested by the Swedish police after they received a tip from the public on March 29, 2006. His DNA
matched the DNA previously secured from the victims. On April 22 Lindgren confessed to six of the assaults. On July 19 he was convicted of eight assaults by the Umeå District Court and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Lindgren appealed to the Upper Norrland Court of Appeal, which on October 2 upheld the district court's sentence plus one case of rape in 2000. Lindgren's appeal to the Supreme Court
was not granted.
)
On 29 March 2006, police learned that the DNA sample matched those taken from the crime scenes. Two plainclothes officers were sent to the Lindgren’s place of employment. They arrived during his lunch break; Lindgren he failed to return to work after lunch. Later that afternoon police released a media report indicating that they had arrested a suspect in relation to the attacks.
car sales and repair shop as a sheet-metal worker, and was described as a normal family father with a common-law marriage
and two children. He lived in Nyland, a small tight-knit community outside of Umeå
.
. On 31 March 2006 at 3 p.m. the suspect was arraigned before the Umeå Court. For security reasons the hearing took place in a closed session at the Umeå Prison. A suspect can be held for an indefinite period of time prior to a trial, but the police and prosecutor have to show cause for this at arraignment hearings which have to be held at regular intervals. The suspect is allowed to choose a defense attorney, and the suspect in this case chose Leif Silbersky
.
Niklas Lingren was charged with four counts of assault, four counts of rape and two counts of attempted murder. At first he pleaded innocent to all charges against him.
On April 22 he confessed that he attacked six women.
.
, were afraid to walk alone at night.
published the name of the suspect together with his photograph shortly after his arrest by the police. A photograph of Lindgren was featured side-by-side with a composite sketch released by the police on the cover of the newspaper the day after his arrest.
The publication of the name and photograph of the suspect has been criticized by some since it can hamper the police investigation, reduce the evidentiary value of a police lineup for the cases where there is no other physical evidence and since it causes emotional suffering for the victims, the suspects family and friends and the suspect himself if he is later acquitted.
The editor of the newspaper defended the publication, stating that it could prompt other victims to report assaults, that the suspect was in custody, that there was a strong interest from the public who have a right to know (the purpose of the journalist
) and that the evidence against the suspect in this case is especially damning.
When he became aware of the publication through his lawyer Leif Silbersky
, Lindgren reported the publication to the Press Ombudsman
, who can decide to bring the matter before the Swedish Press Council
. The Swedish Press Countil will then offer an opinion on whether the publication was in line with good journalistic practice.
The publication of the name and photograph of the suspect in this case can be compared to the murder of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh
in 2003 where the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter
choose to publish the name of the suspect (who was later convicted) while he was still at large. The publication at that time was justified by the newspaper since the killer was at large and that the police had already released a photograph to aid in his capture, a practice which was also done with the Malexander
police killers Tony Olsson, Andreas Axelsson and Jackie Arklöv
.
It is also interesting to note the difference in tradition between Sweden and other countries when it comes to the publication of a name and footage or photograph of a suspect. For instance, in the U.S.
it is customary for the media to use the real name of a suspect, while in Sweden a suspect is usually referred to by their age (i.e. the 33-year old in the present case) until a conviction has been secured.
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, in relation to attacks in the city of Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
from 1998 to 2005. The attacks were all made outdoors, involved physical violence and in some cases attempts to kill his victims. The nickname "Hagamannen" refers to the area in Umeå named Haga
Haga, Umeå
-External links:* at Umeå Municipality...
where Lindgren made his first assault.
Lindgren was identified and arrested by the Swedish police after they received a tip from the public on March 29, 2006. His DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
matched the DNA previously secured from the victims. On April 22 Lindgren confessed to six of the assaults. On July 19 he was convicted of eight assaults by the Umeå District Court and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Lindgren appealed to the Upper Norrland Court of Appeal, which on October 2 upheld the district court's sentence plus one case of rape in 2000. Lindgren's appeal to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Sweden
The Supreme Court of Sweden is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and with few exceptions, leave to appeal can be granted only when the case is of...
was not granted.
The attacks
(Incomplete list. Sources:)
- August 1998: a 14-year old girl is assaulted.
- 1:20 a.m, 9 May 1999: a 26-year old woman is assaulted and raped in the Haga park.
- 6 November 1999: three women are assaulted in three different locations in Haga. One of the women is raped.
- 19 March 2000: a 22-year old woman is assaulted on Brandmannagatan.
- 19 March 2000: a 22-year old woman is assaulted and raped in the university area. The woman almost died due to her injuries and hypothermia.
- Between 1 and 2 a.m, 10 December 2005: A 51-year old woman is brutally assaulted and raped at the Teg bridge (Tegsbron). The woman was seriously injured and fought for her life while her assailant attempted to drag her to the edge of the ice covering the banks of the Ume river and throw her into the icy waters. The perpetrator bit her ear off during the assault, but police were able to locate it using police dogs and it was re-attached at the university hospital.
- 13–15 December 2005: Two more women are assaulted, one at the Teg bridge and another at the Mimer school (Mimerskolan). It is still not certain that the perpetrator in these cases was Hagamannen.
Police investigation
The investigation to find Hagamannen was one of the largest ever in Sweden. More than 30 policemen worked full time to catch the serial rapist, but the investigation met some setbacks. For example:- The police received a tip from a woman at the university hospital in the year 2000 that a father of a newborn child bore a striking resemblance to the facial composite, but the police dismissed this tip. According to the woman she was told that it was unlikely that the father of a newborn child would be the perpetrator of such crimes. The suspect now in custody was at the university hospital at the time with a newborn child, and several assaults took place within the vicinity of the hospital at the time. The police are holding an internal investigation into why the tip was not taken more seriously.
- With the knowledge that the perpetrator had unusually small feet, the Swedish police attempted to access armed forces records. All Swedish men are required to register with the armed forces, who in turn determine their suitability for military service. During this selection a physical examination is performed and records are kept in case the need arises for further conscripts. The armed forces refused to hand over their records or allow access.
- DNA samples are taken from all children in Sweden in order to be used for medical research into hereditary illnesses at the PKU lab (the lab gets its name from PhenylketonuriaPhenylketonuriaPhenylketonuria is an autosomal recessive metabolic genetic disorder characterized by a mutation in the gene for the hepatic enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase , rendering it nonfunctional. This enzyme is necessary to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine to the amino acid tyrosine...
). The police wanted to access this database in order to yield a suspect, but the lab refused. Some individuals have requested that their samples be destroyed; the police requested records of destroyed samples, but the lab refused. - The suspect was found by forcefully mass DNA testing males in the area. A matching profile was found after 777 tests.
- The police then considered using a plainclothes female policeman in order to draw the perpetrator out, but this idea was discarded since such behaviour on the part of the police would constitute entrapmentEntrapmentIn criminal law, entrapment is conduct by a law enforcement agent inducing a person to commit an offense that the person would otherwise have been unlikely to commit. In many jurisdictions, entrapment is a possible defense against criminal liability...
("brottsprovokation") which is not allowed under Swedish law, according to JO (Ombudsmen of Justice, elected by the Swedish Government to ensure that the Swedish Government and its employees are following Swedish law.) - Before taking him into custody the police spent some time observing the suspect's daily routine. The suspect apparently liked to spend a lot of time alone in the garage that he built adjacent to his house. The locations that the police mapped out served as a basis for the police interrogation and are therefore likely to be thoroughly examined by police forensic technicians.
- The facial compositeFacial compositeA facial composite is a graphical representation of an eyewitness's memory of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of crimes.-PhotoFIT generation:...
has been a central point of the investigation, and its release to the media and general public ultimately proved to be what would yield the first suspect in the case. The police are also examining one unsolved murder and one death which took place under mysterious circumstances during the time that the Hagamannen was active. The DNA match will likely be the key evidence in tying the suspect to the crimes at trial.
Evidence
According to media reports, there are several facts in the case which indicate that the man which the police had in custody was the perpetrator:- DNA: The Swedish Police and Swedish State Criminalistics LabStatens kriminaltekniska laboratoriumThe Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science or or is a Swedish government agency of the Department of Justice, tasked with assisting the Swedish police in investigating crimes. The Laboratory performs laboratory analyses of samples which have been taken from various types of crime scenes...
secured DNADNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
samples from at least three of the crime scenes. The DNA from the crime scene near the Ume River (where the 51 year old victim was assaulted) matched the suspect's DNA. According to the criminalistics lab the probability of error is one in one million samples, which they characterize as a nine on a scale from one to nine. - Facial composite: The suspect bears a striking resemblance to the facial compositeFacial compositeA facial composite is a graphical representation of an eyewitness's memory of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of crimes.-PhotoFIT generation:...
- indeed he even jokingly referred to himself as Hagamannen when talking to his co-workers . - Height: The perpetrator is unusually short for a man. The suspect is also unusually short for a man.
- Shoe size: The perpetrator has unusually small feet for a man, which the police have been able to determine by analyzing footprints left by the perpetrator. The suspect also has small feet, his co-workers even joked that he could be the perpetrator because of his unusually small feet.
- Proximity: The suspect works in a car-repair shop in the Haga part of UmeåUmeå- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
, which is within the vicinity of many of the attacks. He had 24-hour access to his place of employment. The police theorize that the suspect may have used his place of employment as a base to look for potential victims. - "Trophies": The police state that the perpetrator took "trophies" from at least three of his victims, such as identification documents. The police are searching premises that the perpetrator had access to in order to secure such trophies if they are in the possession of the perpetrator or in a location to which he had access. On 9 April 2006 the Police discovered a property located far from the suspect's residence and place of employment to which the suspect also had 24-hour access. The newly discovered property lies close to where some of the attacks took place.
- Line-up: In cases where the perpetrator did not leave any DNA evidence, or where the victim was able to escape, a police lineup can be used to identify the perpetrator.
- Knife: The police are also looking for a knife or knives used by the perpetrator in the property of the suspect, or in places to which he had access.
- Alibi and other circumstantial evidence.
Arrest
In response to a tip from the public regarding Lindgren’s resemblance to the facial composite, the police approached him for a voluntary DNA sample. Lindgren refused, but was compelled to provide the sample in accordance with a new law after being interviewed by police.On 29 March 2006, police learned that the DNA sample matched those taken from the crime scenes. Two plainclothes officers were sent to the Lindgren’s place of employment. They arrived during his lunch break; Lindgren he failed to return to work after lunch. Later that afternoon police released a media report indicating that they had arrested a suspect in relation to the attacks.
Suspect in custody
Lingren was described in media reports as a 33 year old man living just outside Umeå, a Swedish citizen with no criminal record who was now suspected by the police as the alleged perpetrator until January 2006. He worked at a VAGVolkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....
car sales and repair shop as a sheet-metal worker, and was described as a normal family father with a common-law marriage
Common-law marriage
Common-law marriage, sometimes called sui juris marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute, is a form of interpersonal status that is legally recognized in limited jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil marriage...
and two children. He lived in Nyland, a small tight-knit community outside of Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
.
Court proceedings
Under Swedish law a suspect can only be held for a short period of time by the police before they have to be arraignedArraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
. On 31 March 2006 at 3 p.m. the suspect was arraigned before the Umeå Court. For security reasons the hearing took place in a closed session at the Umeå Prison. A suspect can be held for an indefinite period of time prior to a trial, but the police and prosecutor have to show cause for this at arraignment hearings which have to be held at regular intervals. The suspect is allowed to choose a defense attorney, and the suspect in this case chose Leif Silbersky
Leif Silbersky
Leif Silbersky is a well-known Swedish lawyer and author, living in Stockholm.He is notable for taking many high-profile cases which have enjoyed large media attention, making him one of the most noted lawyers in Sweden....
.
Niklas Lingren was charged with four counts of assault, four counts of rape and two counts of attempted murder. At first he pleaded innocent to all charges against him.
On April 22 he confessed that he attacked six women.
Prison
A person suspected of a serious offence and who is awaiting trial is normally held by the Swedish Prison and Probation Service. The suspect is normally not allowed any visitors or to communicate with the outside world, with the exception of his attorney, until the trial is concluded. The suspect is allowed to read books and magazines with the exception of material covering the case against the suspect. The reasoning for incarceration and isolation is that the suspect might resort to further crime, try to influence witnesses, alter his or her own statements or glean information useful for when he or she goes through a psychiatric evaluationCauses of psychiatric disorder
The causes of mental disorders are complex, and interact and vary according to the particular disorder and individual. Genetics, early development, drugs, a loss of a family member, disease or injury, neurocognitive and psychological mechanisms, and life experiences, society and culture, can all...
.
Media coverage
The case received extensive coverage in Swedish newspapers and on Swedish television. During the years 1998-2006 many people, mainly women in the city of UmeåUmeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
, were afraid to walk alone at night.
Publication of name and picture
The Swedish newspaper ExpressenExpressen
Expressen is one of two nationwide evening tabloid newspapers in Sweden, the other being Aftonbladet. Expressen was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and slogans "it stings" or "Expressen to your rescue", always on the reader's side....
published the name of the suspect together with his photograph shortly after his arrest by the police. A photograph of Lindgren was featured side-by-side with a composite sketch released by the police on the cover of the newspaper the day after his arrest.
The publication of the name and photograph of the suspect has been criticized by some since it can hamper the police investigation, reduce the evidentiary value of a police lineup for the cases where there is no other physical evidence and since it causes emotional suffering for the victims, the suspects family and friends and the suspect himself if he is later acquitted.
The editor of the newspaper defended the publication, stating that it could prompt other victims to report assaults, that the suspect was in custody, that there was a strong interest from the public who have a right to know (the purpose of the journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
) and that the evidence against the suspect in this case is especially damning.
When he became aware of the publication through his lawyer Leif Silbersky
Leif Silbersky
Leif Silbersky is a well-known Swedish lawyer and author, living in Stockholm.He is notable for taking many high-profile cases which have enjoyed large media attention, making him one of the most noted lawyers in Sweden....
, Lindgren reported the publication to the Press Ombudsman
Pressombudsmannen
Pressombudsmannen is a person whose role in the Swedish print media is to determine whether the actions of a newspaper is in line with good journalistic practice. Complaints regarding the practices of print media can be reported by the general public to the Pressombudsmannen who determines whether...
, who can decide to bring the matter before the Swedish Press Council
Pressens Opinionsnämnd
The Swedish Press Council is a body governed by the Swedish print media tasked with determining whether the actions of a newspaper is in line with good journalistic practice...
. The Swedish Press Countil will then offer an opinion on whether the publication was in line with good journalistic practice.
The publication of the name and photograph of the suspect in this case can be compared to the murder of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh
Anna Lindh
Ylva Anna Maria Lindh was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League 1984-1990, Member of Parliament 1982-1985 and 1998-2003...
in 2003 where the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
choose to publish the name of the suspect (who was later convicted) while he was still at large. The publication at that time was justified by the newspaper since the killer was at large and that the police had already released a photograph to aid in his capture, a practice which was also done with the Malexander
Malexander
Malexander is a minor village in Boxholm Municipality, Sweden. The village is known for the "Malexander murders" which occurred in 1999, when two Swedish police officers were killed by bank robbers.- Malexander murders :...
police killers Tony Olsson, Andreas Axelsson and Jackie Arklöv
Jackie Arklöv
Jackie Banny Arklöv is a Swedish convicted criminal. Arklöv is an ex-neo-Nazi and former mercenary in the Yugoslav wars, who murdered two police officers during a botched robbery in 1999.-Early life:...
.
It is also interesting to note the difference in tradition between Sweden and other countries when it comes to the publication of a name and footage or photograph of a suspect. For instance, in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
it is customary for the media to use the real name of a suspect, while in Sweden a suspect is usually referred to by their age (i.e. the 33-year old in the present case) until a conviction has been secured.