Daniel Nyqvist, 37, met his older brother in court – looked down

Police: “It had become very, very difficult”

Of: Kerstin nilsson

Published: September 21, 2020 kl. 18.00

LINKÖPING. The end can only be one:

Daniel Nyqvist, 37, is convicted of murder (the defense wants murder) and receives forensic psychiatric care.

But it could have been different.

If he hadn’t thrown the knife and hat, he might have taken his dark secret to the grave.

– The idea has hit me too. It had become very, very difficult, says Jan Staaf, the crime commissioner who led the search for the invisible killer for nearly 16 years.

When his older brother walks into Chamber 3 of the Linköping District Court, it is as if Daniel Nyqvist is hardened for a moment.

But it doesn’t feel like he’s looking at his brother. Nor on him.

Throughout the trial, Daniel Nyqvist has stood still, showing no feeling to the outside world, not looking at anyone. He has alternately looked at the table, alternately empty in front of him.

This is also the advice you have received from your lawyer, Johan Ritzer, before the trial: look at the table if it gets tough.

Little contact

The two brothers, the only ones left in the family today, the mother and father died in recent years, have not been seen since Daniel Nyqvist was arrested on June 9 this year.

It hadn’t been seen much before either.

For his older brother, who was also taken into custody by the police the day before DNA testing showed it to be Daniel, the arrest came as a shock.

The brother himself lives a very ordinary life, outside, with jobs, family and children, and hobbies.

A moment before, he had been waiting outside the courtroom, calm, sad, and obviously burdened by the situation.

When the prosecutor asks him how their relationship has been, the brother responds:

– It’s always been good.

But they haven’t had much contact over the years.

– No, I can’t say that.

The brother has never been home to the apartment where Daniel Nyqvist lived for more than ten years and when the murders took place on October 19, 2004, he had already moved house.

“Daniel changed”

Earlier, two of Daniel Nyqvist’s childhood friends described how their childhood friend suddenly changed during high school.

– The Daniel I grew up with was a happy guy. In the early 2000s, Daniel began to change dramatically, says one of the friends.

– First dropped out of high school to start over. Then came other changes. The Daniel we grew up with never touched tobacco or alcohol, it was unthinkable.

– His personality changed, we no longer recognized him.

It describes how Daniel Nyqvist became more and more isolated, how he sat alone in the room and drank beer. Several times his friends tried to “speak to him with common sense.”

– But it was like talking to a wall. We did not arrive, says the friend.

Finally, they broke up contact, sometime in 2004, 2005.

Diagnosed with Asperger

Daniel Nyqvist’s friends description of the change does not acknowledge his older brother, who noted that he became more isolated when he switched high school, but not that he drank beer.

– Not to that extent, says the brother.

In 2011, after his mother reacted to the fact that he did not cook or take care of his hygiene, Daniel Nyqvist had to undergo an investigation and received a psychiatric diagnosis, Asperger syndrome, something that his older brother also knew then.

People with Asperger syndrome, who belong to the autism group, have difficulties with social interaction and the disability involves limited behaviors, activities and interests. In Daniel Nyqvist’s case, it is a serious disability.

– You have always had difficulties with social interactions. He became more withdrawn and when he was diagnosed, all the pieces fell into place. That was fine with him, says the brother.

– Before, it could be perceived as a bit strange. had difficulty showing emotions and reading other people’s emotions.

He has never realized that his little brother would have had far-right or xenophobic thoughts.

“I can not lie”

He tenderly describes his brother from the time when they both lived at home:

– He was very kind and loving, and at the same time very withdrawn. He enjoyed being home more. Instead, he was playing games.

– I don’t think the brother said a bad word about anyone.

He sees no motive behind why Daniel Nyqvist would kill Mohamed Ammouri, 8, and Anna-Lena Svenson, 56, that day.

Nor could he lie, due to his psychiatric diagnosis, according to both his older brother and his defense attorney, Johan Ritzer.

– Daniel Nyqvist is incapable of lying, says Johan Ritzer in his closing speech a moment later.

His older brother is convinced that Daniel Nyqvist had told the truth and admitted before, just as he did in the first police questioning when he was arrested, if he had been asked the question before.

When asked what Daniel had said if he had asked him directly if he had killed Mohamed Ammouri and Anna-Lena Svenson, the brother answers without hesitation:

– He said he did. If you want to understand Daniel, you have to understand the diagnosis, he says.

But nobody asked.

Not until he was arrested.

Murder accusations

District Attorney Britt-Louise Viklund and assistants to the families’ plaintiffs demand that Daniel Nyqvist be convicted of two murder cases and see no mitigating circumstances.

His defense attorney admits that there is much to be said about the murder, but still demands that he be convicted of involuntary manslaughter, because his serious mental disorder, then, and now, must be counted as an extenuating circumstance.

The well-known lawyer Elisabeth Massi Fritz, who is assistant to the plaintiff of Mohamed Ammouri’s family, believes on the contrary that there are many aggravating circumstances, among them that Daniel Nyqvist after the death disposed of so much of the knife, that he threw at the scene of the crime, as from his hat, that he caught in a kiosk on his way from there.

– He changes his appearance, because he does not want to be stopped. He doesn’t want to be recognized, says Elisabeth Massi Fritz.

It can be seen as an act of calculation, to get away from the police.

In fact, this was the dumbest thing he could do from his point of view.

Could have gone free

If Daniel Nyqvist had not left the knife, with its blood and DNA, and the hat, with its blood, hair and DNA, he could have gone free.

Then there would have been no DNA to search the genealogical records, there would have been no knife or hat that the childhood friend would have recognized.

So Daniel Nyqvist could have taken his secret to the grave.

If no one had asked.

It is an impressive thought.

By then, the double murder in Linköping in 2004 may have gone unsolved.

– I came up with the idea myself, a colleague and I talked about it just a few weeks ago, says Crime Commissioner Jan Staaf, who from start to finish led the investigation and search for the killer.

The invisible killer who went unnoticed for so many years, even though the police knew a lot about him, especially through the DNA traces he left behind.

– He has lived a very, very withdrawn life and it would have been very difficult to find such a person if we had not had this evidence, says Jan Staaf.

– If no one had asked the question.

Immediately recognized

When Daniel Nyqvist finally received the question, on June 9 of this year, when police arrested him at his home, he immediately admitted.

Later, when he had admitted, his lawyer, Johan Ritzer, said that Daniel Nyqvist was relieved.

It says the same now, when the trial ends:

– “It’s nice that it’s over,” says the lawyer.

According to the lawyer, Daniel Nyqvist hopes to receive forensic psychiatric care, which both the forensic psychiatric examination and all parties in the court have concluded that he needs.

The verdict will arrive on October 1 at 11 am.

Published: September 21, 2020 kl. 18.00

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