Investigation closed concerning suspected murder on ferry in the Baltic Sea
Published: 12/19/2023 8:45:07 AM
On June 29, an alarm was received that a mother and a child, a six-year-old, had fallen overboard from the ferry between Gdynia in Poland and Karlskrona in Sweden. Both the mother and the child were found in the sea and taken to hospital in Karlskrona where they were pronounced dead. Suspicion arose that the mother had been guilty of murdering the child. The Swedish prosecutor has today closed the investigation because the suspect is deceased. The prosecutor is available to the media today.– We have taken a large number of investigative measures to map out what happened. There were no witnesses to the incident, but we have interviewed the captain, reviewed surveillance footage from the ferry and have carried out forensic examinations. The death report shows that the cause of death was drowning. The investigation concludes that the child was killed. The surveillance video displays that the mother had the child in her arms when they fell overboard, says deputy chief prosecutor Marie Lindström, who has been the investigation leader.
Both the mother and the child were Polish citizens. An investigation was also opened in Poland and is still ongoing. The Swedish prosecutor's decision to discontinue the investigation does not affect the Polish investigation.
– We have not undertaken any investigative measures in Poland, but on request of Polish prosecutors, we have provided them with investigative material. We have investigated the matter here as well because the child and mother were declared deceased in Karlskrona. It is important to point out that no court review has been carried out, so the conclusions we now draw are based on the investigation measures we have taken, says Marie Lindström.
The Prosecution Authority’s case number: AM 93747-23.
Since the investigation has been closed, confidentiality remains. The prosecutor is therefore not in a position to answer detailed questions about the investigation
Contact
Public prosecutor, Marie Lindström, is available to the media today between 10 am and 11 am, +46 10 562 61 24.