“Stieg Larsson thought that it was South Africa that instigated the murder, and for reasons connected to the weapons trade all over the world that was going on at the time, connected to the Iran-Contra affair.  That was the motive behind it. There was a war going on, the end of the Cold War, and one of the places where they were carrying out the war was South Africa.”

Jan Stocklassa — Author : “The Man Who Played with Fire.”

Gaining access to Larsson’s archival material — maintained by the anti-racist magazine Expo he founded in 1995 — Stocklassa closely examines the work Larsson did on the Palme case and picks up the thread where it was left off, delving even deeper into the mystery.

June 16 2020 — At 9:30 a.m. on June 10 2020, Krister Petersson [the case’s chief prosecutor], announced that the murder case is now closed because the ‘main suspect’ Stig Engström had died in 2000. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

RELATED POST: 2020 Olof Palme Prize Ceremony — John Le Carré : “And how would I like to be remembered?” (30 January 2020)

RELATED POST: Remembering Olof Palme (January 30 1927 – February 28 1986) [UPDATE : Swedish prosecutors close Olof Palme murder inquiry]

Stieg Larsson, author of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” became one of the world’s most famous crime novelists with a trilogy that has sold more than 80 million copies.

But before that success, Larsson spent years researching the assassination of Sweden’s prime minister, the left-wing social Democrat Olof Palme, who was gunned down on the streets of Stockholm on February 28 1986.

Jan Stocklassa

More than 30 years later, journalist Jan Stocklassa has used Larsson’s archives to crack open the cold case.

Interview with Top Expert Jan Stocklassa

Intel Today —  What was your general impression of the Press conference? It seems to me that both the Chief Prosecutor and the Head of Investigation were very uncomfortable.

Jan Stocklassa  — The press conference would have been a farce if it wasn’t so tragic. After the initial revelation of the so called Skandia Man as being suspected of killing our prime minister, there was absolutely no new evidence or even supporting evidence.

That leaves is with with the prosecutor’s speculations on a level comparable to some of the most far-fetched theories. It’s true that both the Chief Prosecutor and the Head of Investigation were uncomfortable but for different reasons.

The Prosecutor most likely because he thought he would have had a stronger case with at least some technical evidence or new witnesses. The Head of Investigation since he seemed not to believe what they presented. In fact, when mentioning the South African theory, he said that he personally finds it interesting, which made everybody take a deep breath of surprise.

Intel Today — How did you react when you heard that they regard ‘Skandiaman’ as the top suspect?

Jan Stocklassa — At first I was preparing to hear all the new evidence and how to deal with the fact that I was wrong all the time.

When nothing new was revealed, I was first surprised, later angry that they exposed a dead person as a possible killer and finally I felt a bit sad for the Chief Prosecutor who won’t be remembered for his 30 good years but for this debacle of the century. And of course I realized that we missed maybe the last chance to solve the murder.

Intel Today — Actually, did they present any evidence against Stig Engstrom?

Jan Stocklassa — They presented nothing that was even close to evidence. One of the main arguments is that we know he was at the sight (since he was a witness), but nobody saw him and then he must be the killer.

It’s a unique case in that the absence of witnesses proves he’s guilty. The scenario also focused only on two minutes before the murder until a few minutes after. No analysis how he could commit the crime without any criminal record, any weapon or how he kept it a secret to his wife.

Intel Today — Do you believe that the Swedes will accept this story?

Jan Stocklassa — Not for the time being. A survey shows that only 19% of Swedes believe it was the Skandia Man, but time unfortunately speaks for the authorities.

In a few years time, not many will even care and an innocent person will be remembered for killing our Prime Minister.

Intel Today — Various media (BBC, New York Times) have quickly accepted the story, even though it is nonsense. Do you understand why?

Jan Stocklassa — I would still say that a majority of the media doesn’t accept it, but for the ones that do I think they are influenced by our public service SVT, which has proven extremely biased towards the Skandia Man as guilty since long before the press conference.

Intel Today — What do you intend to do next?

Jan Stocklassa — I’m focusing on my next book, which will not focus on the murder of Olof Palme but other events. Hopefully it will still shed some light on the motive, mechanisms and individuals behind the murder.

Intel Today — As you know, I have argued that the theory of South Africa is the most likely scenario. So, I am puzzled by a comment made by the Head of Investigation Hans Melander. “South Africa, that I personally find very interesting, still has my attention. But we haven’t been able to tie SA to the murder.” How do you understand this comment in the middle of that press conference?

Jan Stocklassa — I believe it’s the result of me and a couple of other persons who have kept delivering more and more tangible information pointing towards South Africa and describing who, why and how.

I know Melander pretty well though our dialogue over the last two years and this is not his happiest moment. I think he wanted to continue investigating South Africa.

Intel Today — What was the mood after the press conference? Did journalists ask hard questions? What did you ask?

Jan Stocklassa — There were quite hard questions, but the Chief Prosecutor chose quite an efficient tactic by focusing on such a tiny part of the evening and the murder and selecting only two important witnesses some distance from the murder scene. Some of the harder questions came after the press conference.

The Chief Prosecutor said himself that when he named the suspected murderer, it was obviously “defamation of a deceased”, which is a criminal offense in Sweden.

Then the Head of Investigation said that he doesn’t consider the murder solved and that he sees three weaknesses in their own scenario: the lack of motive, the lack of weapon and the lack of explanation how the Skandia Man knew that Olof Palme and his wife would pass the murder site at that time.

Intel Today — Anything else you want to add?

In the foreword to my book I wrote that in one or two years the murder will be solve, but I didn’t count on the enormous incompetence of the responsible authorities.

Now it’s up to journalists and others with a deep interest for justice.

I have to say: it will be another one or two years before we know the truth about who murdered our Prime Minister.

Intel Today — Thank you very much!

Swedish prosecutor’s conclusion Olof Palme’s mystery murder | 10-06-20

REFERENCES

Jan Stocklassa — Wikipedia

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Olof Palme — Interview with Top Expert Jan Stocklassa