Stureby murder

The Stureby murder occurred on the night of June 6–7, 2009, when 15-year-old Therese Johansson Rojo (born June 17, 1993) was murdered in Stureby, located outside of Stockholm, Sweden by two schoolmates. The two 16-year-olds, who eventually admitted to murdering Johansson Rojo, were arrested the following day.[1]

A memorial for Therese Johansson Rojo at the place of her murder.

The girl had managed to get the boy to carry out the murder by SMS text messages, telephone calls and chatroom contact during a period of time leading up to the murder.[2]

Events of June 6, 2009

On the evening of June 6, the boy took Therese out into the woods during a party to celebrate that school was almost over and that prom was coming up. He hit her in the back with a tree branch and then strangled her to death. The boy and the girl who were charged with the murder were a couple and Therese Johansson Rojo had kissed the boy during a party in May 2009. The murderer was encouraged by his girlfriend through texting and chatroom contact to commit the murder to prove his love and get his girlfriend.[3]

Sentencing

Because of their young age, the two teenagers received twenty months imprisonment apiece in a special care home. The girl has appealed her sentence, delaying the implementation of her sentence until the appeal was condered by the court.[4]

Both of the teenagers will be released during the summer of 2011 under the current sentence, and both of their sentences has been appealed by the prosecution.[5]

The sentences have received a great deal of criticism from both the Swedish media and from the population at large, and calls have been made to change the law as it is applied to young offenders in Sweden, because the maximum sentence for a young offender is four years in custody. Sentencing guidelines were at the time under review, but had generally favored life imprisonment (possible only for offenders over 21 years) for premeditated murder, barring mitigating circumstances. While Sweden technically lacks the availability of release through parole, it is possible to have the sentence converted to a timed sentence, followed by release upon completion. The timed sentence can extend to any length, but is typically set to ensure release after about 14 to 16 years.[6] For adults over 21, the effective penalty would thus likely have been seven to nine times the time served by the young couple.

Aftermath

The newspaper Aftonbladet initiated a campaign called "Glöm inte Therese" on June 12, 2009, which gives money to the help organisation BRIS.[7] Murder victim Riccardo Campogiani's parents also supported the campaign.[8] The Therese Johansson Rojo murder became the most noted murder in Sweden during 2009.

References
  1. Andrén, Simon (2009-08-07). "Mordet planerat under flera veckor" [Murder was planned over several weeks]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on September 11, 2009. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
  2. By, Ulrika (2009-08-07). "Svartsjuka, hat och längtan i de åtalades sms" [Jealousy, hatred and desire in accused's text messages]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on April 24, 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
  3. Hjertén, Linda (2009-10-27). "Familjen: Straffet är ett hån" [Family: Sentence is a joke]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2012-11-13.
  4. Nilsson, Kerstin (2009-10-27). "Känslan av skuld får 16-åringarna alltid bära" [16-year-olds will always have feeling of guilt]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2012-11-13.
  5. By, Ulrika (2009-10-27). "Åklagare överklagar Stureby-domen" [Prosecutors appeal Stureby ruling]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on November 30, 2009. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
  6. "Livstids fängelse innebär livstid". 12 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. Edblom, Kristina (2009-06-12). "Glöm inte Therese" [Do not forget Therese]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2012-11-13.
  8. Petersson, Claes (2009-06-13). "Riccardos föräldrar går med i kampanjen" [Riccardo's parents join campaign]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2012-11-13.

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