A chilling murder in a quiet Swedish town | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website today's episode involves crimes against
children and won't be suitable for all listeners four-year-old kevin yelmerson loved his
bicycle more than anything the little boy was a familiar face around doctor vic the small swedish suburb he lived in
with his mother teres and half-sister isabella he was often seen riding happily around
the neighborhood waving to those he knew as he cycled by the residential area was located on the
shores of the shia keviken bay just three kilometers outside central la vica it was a close-knit community and
residents mostly trusted one another therefore it was common practice for the local children to play around town
without supervision provided they steer clear of the main roads and lake they never veered too far and a familiar
adult was never too far away sunday august 16 1998 was the last day of holidays before school returned for
the year and the sun made a much welcome appearance it was the perfect opportunity for kevin
yelmerson to play outside on his bike after breakfast he rode over to meet his friend robin and the two played all
morning before kevin went to his grandparents house for lunch afterwards he ducked home where his
mother therese was busy preparing for isabella's return to school the following day
she agreed to let kevin go out again as long as he didn't stay out too late by 6 30 pm kevin hadn't returned home
and torias was starting to worry hoping he just lost track of time and was busy playing somewhere she enlisted
kevin's grandparents to help her look around town they searched kevin's usual haunts
including the playground's local school and football field but there was no sign
of him anywhere the football field backed on to sheik vegan bay a large lake dotted with trees
and walking paths they followed the path towards the lake where his grandmother noticed something
propped up against the grassy mound behind a small wooden shed it was kevin's bicycle his prized
possession which he took with him everywhere dread washed over kevin's family they called kevin's name but there was
no response something must be horribly wrong there was no way kevin would stray too
far from his beloved bike like the other children in the neighborhood kevin was strictly
forbidden from playing near the lake a rule he happily obeyed as he couldn't swim and was afraid of the water
however a sailboat was bobbing in the water and his family wondered if kevin might have been interested enough to get
a closer look they trepidatiously headed towards the lake calling kevin's name repeatedly as
they walked at the shore kevin's grandfather glanced over towards an area of reeds and
slumped over in shock there lying face down on a wooden pallet amongst the raids
was kevin [Music] [Music] [Music] kevin's grandfather carried kevin's lifeless body to shore and his
grandmother administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while waiting for the paramedics
kevin was rushed to hospital but all attempts to revive him were fruitless at 11 pm he was officially pronounced
deceased with the cause of death determined to be drowning it was standard protocol for local law
enforcement to look into drowning incidents and as soon as investigators saw kevin's body they knew this wasn't a
typical drowning case for starters kevin's shoes and one of his socks were missing
there were also visible injuries to the front of his neck and abdomen while it was possible that these
injuries were caused by his body rubbing against the wooden pallet as it moved in
the water this was unlikely the pallet kevin had been found lying on was in water approximately 20
centimeters deep when his grandparents found him only his left hand had been trailing in the water
while the rest of his body was afloat on the palate even though kevin couldn't swim it
didn't make sense that he could have drowned in such shallow water an official autopsy confirmed
investigators suspicions the whites of kevin's eyes showed clear signs of bleeding which is a telltale
indication of strangulation there were also bruises to his genitals and signs of sexual assault as well as
sand in his underwear this wasn't a tragic drowning accident at all but a cold-blooded murder
the area where kevin's body was found was cordoned off although authorities kept it under wraps that they were
investigating the boy's death as anything other than an accident the local school was right next door so
parents and children arrived to a dramatic scene when they returned for the school year on monday morning
as officers assessed the area two students approached and handed over a pair of black of velcro strapped sandals
and a single purple sock they belonged to kevin and the children had found them behind the small shed
where his bike had been abandoned the shed was approximately 30 meters from where kevin's body was found and
the path leading up to it contained similar sand to that which was found in kevin's underwear
this led investigators to theorize that he could have been killed near the shed before being moved to the pallet
fluorescent clothing fibres were found on the path although none were detected on the pallet or on kevin's body
a seven centimeter long bruise on kevin's neck indicated that he'd been killed by someone pressing a hard sharp
object against his throat investigators were particularly interested in a stick that was found
near the shed it was around one centimeter thick and broken in the middle testing revealed a child-sized handprint
in the bark as well as several hairs attached leading to the conclusion that this was the murder weapon
[Music] given the proximity of the crime scene to the school the rumor mill soon went
into overdrive police had been canvassing the neighborhood to question people about
what they'd seen on sunday afternoon making it obvious that this was no open and shut accidental drowning
on thursday august 20 local suspicions that something more sinister was at play were confirmed when a press conference
was held to announce that the police were now trading kevin's death as a sexual assault and murder
kevin's parents were grief-stricken they had separated before he was born but his
father portrait had recently moved closer to doktovic to focus on his relationship with his son
the two had been growing closer and to have kevin suddenly snatched away left portrix so overcome with sorrow that he
was unable to leave the house kevin's mother teresa shied away from the media to focus on her grief and take
care of her daughter while also trying to process unfounded accusations of neglect
though much of the community were supportive some parents were openly questioning how teres could have left
kevin unsupervised she was accused of partying instead of taking care of her children
others cruelly labeled kevin's grandparents as drunks and some went as far as to comment
it was no wonder that he died this cruel gossip exacerbated theresa's already overwhelming grief
as most child murders are committed by someone known to the victim protocol dictated that kevin's family were looked
into not only did they all have verified alibis but police found nothing to suggest that they were anything other
than loving and supportive and they were quickly ruled out of the investigation police had been trying to piece together
kevin's last known movements but this was no easy task dattovic was a relatively lower
socioeconomic area and many residents didn't trust the police as they felt they'd been overlooked when making
reports in the past eventually investigators found some who were willing to talk and a timeline was
established after kevin left his mother's house on sunday afternoon he met up with a friend
named robert just before 4 pm the pair rode their bikes to the home of kevin's best friend
robin and asked if he wanted to come out and play robin wasn't allowed to so kevin told
robin he'd come by the next day instead he and robert then ran into a 13 year old they knew named felix not his real
name the boys looked up to felix because he owned an impressive bmx bike with spider-man handlebars
when robert left to go home kevin was still with felix he then played in the schoolyard with a
group of other local teens and children none of whom recalled seeing any strangers or anything suspicious in the
area several local residents had heard screaming at around 6 pm but hadn't been able to figure out where the noise was
coming from one person had gotten into their car and driven around trying to locate the
source to no avail the injuries to kevin's genital area indicated the crime may have been
sexually motivated there were three known pedophiles who resided around adoptivic one of whom
lived just 100 meters from kevin's home according to witnesses this individual was seen at around midday on sunday
holding kevin's hand and helping him cross the street however he had a verified alibi for that
evening as did the other two known child sex offenders plus there was no evidence linking any
of them to the murder weapon daily press conferences were held to keep the public and media up to date
with the latest developments in what came to be known as the kevin case but the details of how kevin died were
withheld given the sensitive nature of the crime lead investigator rolf sunderberry
decided that a restrained approach was best to prevent hysteria and keep speculation to a minimum
police appealed for anyone with information to come forward but all they got was a series of false leads
one woman implicated her partner in the crime while another claimed a hitman had
been hired to kill kevin there was no evidence to support either of these claims
questions were soon raised as to whether kevin had been sexually assaulted at all
the pathologist who'd initially examined kevin's body had detected white liquid around the four-year-old's rectum and
had partly based the sexual assault diagnosis on this evidence upon closer inspection he realized the
liquid was actually from the thermometer that had been used to determine kevin's
approximate time of death police were under immense pressure to make an arrest not only was kevin's
death starting to make national headlines the community had become cloaked in fear
children were no longer allowed to play or walk to school unsupervised with their parents on edge that a child
killer was on the loose adding fuel to the fire were rumors and tip-offs that immigrants were
responsible several of the children last seen playing with kevin were refugees including 13 year old felix
theories arose that one of the foreign children had murdered kevin but were refusing to admit to it because their
parents had threatened to kill them if they owned up these children had fled from war-torn countries where they'd
witnessed all kinds of atrocities and some believed this could have influenced their behaviour
although police were eager to dispel these rumors to quell any growing xenophobia interviewing these children
proved difficult not only were their cultural differences but given the children's experiences
with war some of them had learned not to trust authorities it was clear to police that some of them
weren't telling the truth they just couldn't tell if this was because they genuinely had something to
hide or because they simply didn't want to get into trouble it soon came to light that the children
who'd handed in kevin's shoes to police only knew they were behind the shed because felix had told them so
his knowledge about the shoes along with the fact that he was one of the last people seen with kevin led to rumors
that felix had something to do with kevin's death however felix told police he didn't hang out
with kevin at all if witnesses claimed they saw the two of them together they were mistaken
he had indeed been riding his bmx bike around town but he had gone to the library at around p.m before heading
home having successfully eliminated kevin's family and to known sex offenders from
the investigation police focused on the children who had been seen playing with or near kevin on the night of his death
however questioning young children regarding criminal matters is challenging at the best of times
not only did the children's limited vocabulary make it difficult to have straightforward conversations but police
also had to avoid asking any leading questions complicating matters further was the
fact that many of the children weren't allowed to play near the lake so they lied and told police they weren't in the
area they changed their stories constantly sometimes implicating other children then later taking it back
with some parents flatly refusing to let their children speak to the police they
were urged to speak with their children themselves and report anything that could be of interest to the
investigation the police weren't used to questioning children regarding such serious matters
and they didn't know how to interpret their constantly changing answers unsure what to think or how best to
proceed they enlisted the help of professionals who were trained in dealing with children including those
with different cultural backgrounds they brought child and family psychologists on board as well as social
workers and representatives from charity organisation saved the children ingrid horison was a child psychologist
trained in dealing with victims of sexual assault and she was tasked to assist police with the interrogations
it was important that she built rapport with the children so they felt safe and comfortable enough to talk
harrison along with some of the others on the interrogation team spent time playing with the children and chatting
with them over barbecues fishing excursions and soccer games toys video games and sweet treats were
brought into the station to help put the children at ease once the children felt comfortable
hurrison and another detective would interview them in a private room while others in the team watched on via a
covert tv screen horizon wore an earpiece so that another child psychologist named bente yuran
juansen could guide her on how she should behave what questions she should focus on and how far she could push the
children for many of the children kevin's death was difficult to comprehend although
they understood that he would no longer be around kevin's murder was a hot topic around
the neighborhood and kevin's best friend five-year-old robin dalian had heard plenty of the stories that were floating
around his seven-year-old brother christian had just started school and came home every
day rehashing everything that he'd heard in the schoolyard police had stopped by to question robin
and christian several times as kevin visited their home on the afternoon he was killed
robin hadn't been allowed to go out and play as his family had guests over for dinner
robin and christian's father weiner dalian told police that after dinner the boys had played outside with the
children of their guests they then all left to go on a fishing trip while they couldn't provide any
information about the night in question weiner agreed to make note of anything his sons might mention that could be of
any interest to police unlike some of his neighbours he trusted law enforcement and wanted to help in
any way possible according to the book the story of the kevin case by andrea slatt on saturday
august 22 six days after kevin's death viner was driving the boys to buy some sweets when he overheard christian say
i saw kevin standing and talking to some big guys on the day that he died realising this was exactly the kind of
information that could be helpful to the police weiner immediately re-routed the
car towards the police station just before they arrived robin suddenly announced
i saw the murder kevin weiner was taken aback he didn't think his sons had been playing down by the lake on the night
kevin was killed but robin insisted he was telling the truth weiner didn't want to take any chances
perhaps the boys had ridden to the lake while they were playing in front of the house after dinner
he figured the boys could tell the police what they knew and the police could then figure out if any of the
information was useful at the station robin and christian were taken into separate rooms to tell police
what they knew robin was accompanied by his stepmother eva she and weiner had recently married and
they had main custody of the two boys who also split their time with their mother anika
the police probed robin to tell them everything he knew about who killed kevin but robin was reluctant
eva reassured him he wouldn't get in trouble if he admitted he had rode his bike down to the lake
robin denied doing so but then said they didn't listen who didn't listen the officer asked
robin responded the one who murdered kevin he said there were two boys one wore all black while the other wore
grey pants and a black jumper robin had watched as they stabbed kevin in the stomach
given that kevin had died by strangulation this was obviously incorrect but police weren't prepared to
rule robin's account out due to his age it was possible that he was simply getting the details of his
story mixed up meanwhile in the other room christian told police that on the night of sunday
august 16 robin had told him that he watched kevin's murder it became clear to police that the
brothers could be the key witnesses they'd been waiting for case file will be back shortly thank you
for supporting us by listening to this episode sponsors sometimes it's really hard to get
motivated to work out it might be too cold too rainy too early the list goes on whatever the reason peloton has a team
of world class instructors ready to motivate you 24 7 through every workout whether you're a regular at the gym or
just getting started peloton instructors don't just teach they motivate the team at peloton also knows what the
key to sticking with the fitness routine is to keep things fun and to mix things
up so you don't get bored they have thousands of live and on-demand workouts and you can find the
perfect soundtrack to accompany your class whether you're after some soul music or
a bit of edm you'll find it on peloton combine this with classes that feel like you're hanging out with friends and
working out will never feel like a chore right now is the perfect time to try out
peloton the peloton bike plus is now five hundred dollars less that's the best price yet including free delivery and
setup and there are more game changing prices available on the original peloton bike
and peloton trad visit onepeloton.com to learn more it's time for a break this is technically an ad break but our
partners at calm want you to focus on yourself for a moment take a deep breath and let it out
relax wherever you're holding your tension it's important to tune in and recenter
and calm can help we're partnering with calm the number one mental wellness app to give you the
tools that improve the way you feel reduce stress and anxiety through guided meditations improve focus with curated
music tracks and rest and recharge with calm's imaginative sleep stories for children and adults
there's new content added each week and there's even new daily movement sessions
designed to relax your body and uplift your mind over 100 million people around the world
use calm to take care of their minds and calm is ready to help you stress less sleep more and to live a happier
healthier life for listeners of the show calm is offering an exclusive offer of 40 off
for a calm premium subscription at calm.com case file uk go to calm dot com slash case file uk
for forty percent off unlimited access to calm's entire library that's calm dot com slash case file uk
the news that robin had witnessed kevin's murder came as such a shock to his stepmother eva that she had a panic
attack and had to be administered to a psychiatric ward she was overcome with fear that whoever
had killed kevin would target robin next to ensure his silence she was heavily sedated and held in the
hospital for nine days police visited eva in hospital and asked if she remembered the boys saying
anything about seeing kevin's murder on the night that he died she recalled that christian might have
said something about kevin's murder on the night had happened when pushed she also conceded that
christian's clothing might have been wet for the police this was a major breakthrough that proved the brothers
really had witnessed the murder police took robin to visit the scene of the crime hoping it would jog
his memory but his story changed constantly leaving more questions than answers they took him to kevin's neighborhood
and asked if he could identify the killer but robin simply knocked on doors at random
they showed robin the yearbook from the local school and asked if he could identify the person who had killed
kevin he first pointed to one boy but then changed his mind and pointed to another
none of the perpetrators he singled out shared any physical characteristics making it clear that robin was just
pointing to pictures at random robin then changed his mind completely and said the killer wasn't in the
yearbook at all with very little physical evidence to go on police knew their best chance of
solving the case was to find reliable witnesses robin began telling the police that his
brother christian had also seen kevin's murder christian initially denied seeing
anything but finally admitted that he had been with robin on the night kevin died
they had seen him get into a fight with a group of other local kids police narrowed their focus onto eight
young individuals who had been spotted playing in the area on the night of the crime
they picked the children up from school and took them to the station so they could interview them without parental
influence a decision that was harshly criticized the spotlight was soon placed on two
thirteen-year-old boys named marios and matthias who had been seen near the lake
around the time kevin went missing when questioned by police they gave evasive answers and constantly changed
their stories police became increasingly convinced that the two friends were lying to cover
something up but they had no evidence to prove it they searched the boys homes and
confiscated several items of clothing for forensic testing nothing of interest was found
the handprint on the stick that was believed to be the murder weapon was compared to several of the children last
seen with kevin but there were no matches instead it was theorised that kevin himself might have held onto the stick
while trying to fight off the attack as kevin's prints weren't ever taken this couldn't be determined with
certainty one month into the investigation police remained convinced that matthias and
marios knew more than they were letting on so they applied extra pressure during
their interrogations in a bid to extract the truth the pressure became so overwhelming that
at one point marios broke down in tears but at no point did either of the teenagers come any closer to making a
confession police then took an unorthodox approach although it was illegal to place a
wiretap on the home phones of miners they did so anyway covertly listening in on conversations
between the two friends in the hopes of finding the evidence they needed however if matthias and marios had any
information they were remaining tight-lipped with no evidence physical or otherwise
police reluctantly turned their focus away from the teens they were still convinced that robin and
christian knew something about kevin's murder they just couldn't figure out exactly what
as requested by police their father weiner had been taking note of anything the boy said about kevin's death at home
and reporting it back to the authorities [Music] the brothers gave various accounts about
how kevin died and who was responsible they switched between him being stabbed kicked and pushed into the water
sometimes the perpetrator was old other times he was just a kid their stories changed so constantly that
police started to suspect they hadn't witnessed the murder at all instead they believed the brothers had actually
been involved with it in all their changing stories one detail remained consistent
each telling centered around a floating jetty which was located just a couple of
hundred meters from the boys home this seemed significant however the jetty was roughly 30 meters from the
pallet where kevin's body was found the two locations were separated by rough terrain dense shrubbery and a
stone wall kevin's body had no injuries consistent with being dragged across such an area
so if he really had been killed on the jetty then how did he end up on the pallet
in mid-september the boy's mother anika reported that she'd been discussing the situation with robin when he suddenly
made an announcement my brother did it with this new information coming to light investigators asked robin if the
person he saw kill kevin was actually his big brother christian robin replied yes
two months into the investigation lead investigator rolf sunbury hired sven auker christensen a professor of
psychology at stockholm university who had specialized knowledge in interrogation techniques and had worked
with police on murder investigations in the past christensen had also conducted extensive
research on the subject of repressed memories he believed that certain memories can be
lost when an individual experiences a traumatic event but that they can be retrieved from the
subconscious later on this psychogenic amnesia as christensen called it was a defense mechanism aimed
to protect people from extreme emotions that surfaced during trauma as stated in one of his research papers
to the same extent that we need mechanisms to identify and recognize unpleasant events
we also need mechanisms to forget unpleasant experiences christianson reviewed the interrogation
reports from all of the children who had been questioned and immediately determined that robin and christian
either knew exactly what happened to kevin or had been involved in his death they had likely repressed the memory and
would eventually tell the truth but it could take some time possibly several months
the truth might not come out all at once but in dribs and drabs christianson believed that the most
important thing the investigative team could do was make the boys feel safe enough to open up
when weiner realized that his sons were now being treated as suspects he couldn't take it anymore
the past two months had taken such an enormous toll on his mental health that like his wife he too was admitted to a
psychiatric ward investigators visited weiner in hospital to question him once again about the
night that kevin was killed they wanted to know if he recalled his sons having wet clothing when they
returned from playing outside that evening weiner said he couldn't remember for sure but admitted it was possible
the clothing robin and christian had been wearing on the night kevin was killed was taken for analysis but the
garments had already been washed so they held no clues one night shortly after the police visit
weiner suddenly remembered that on the night kevin died christian had drawn a picture
it was of kevin's body floating in the water near the jetty by late october the interrogations had
been ongoing for six weeks during that time more than 1300 interviews had been held with 482
individuals after eliminating all other persons of interest investigators pieced together
the details provided by robin and christian and deduced the most likely scenario
the brothers had been playing a game with kevin when things spiraled out of control
an argument likely broke out on the jetty and christian had accidentally killed kevin
the brothers had simply been so traumatized by the event that they'd blocked it out of their memories hence
why they couldn't give investigators a straight answer about what happened or how kevin's body got from the jetty to
the pallet the fact that kevin died by a sharp object being pressed against his throat
was still classified information if the brothers revealed this detail police felt satisfied that they could
officially close the case according to professor sven orce christensen repressed memories could be
revived by leading the children back to the scene where the traumatic event took
place and recreating the same smells sound and light when investigators felt that the boys
were close to making a breakthrough ingrid hurrison took robin down to the jetty
she wore an earpiece so that professor christensen could guide her words with them was a child's size to doll
harison encouraged robin to use the doll to reenact what happened to kevin she asked if he or christian did
something to hurt kevin robin replied no hurry soon encouraged robin to play with
a stick but he ignored it instead asking if he should push the doll into the water
christian was then brought to the jetty hurricane encouraged him to use the doll
to show where kevin's injuries had occurred christians shut down completely saying
you can't know if you didn't see what happened he eventually said that robin pushed
kevin into the water after a fight on the jetty but he still didn't make any mention of a stick or strangulation
although the interrogation team were frustrated that they hadn't received the confession they were hoping for they
were certain that the boy's memories were now bubbling away just below the surface and would soon be revealed
on october 26 it all became too much for christian he broke down and finally admitted that
kevin wasn't killed on the floating jetty according to rolf sunderberry's official
report the interrogation team left sunderberry alone to interview christian with robin and eva
this time christian walked to the table where a map of the lake had been laid out
he picked up a pen and a circled the area of reeds where kevin's body was found he then indicated to robin that it was
okay to speak robin said that christian kevin and himself were playing in the soccer field
when an argument broke out amongst them the brothers began kicking and hitting kevin including in his groin area
they then chased kevin down to the shore of the lake where the fight continued and kevin somehow ended up on his back
christian then grabbed a stick and pushed it against kevin's throat when he let go robin knelt down and
pinched kevin in the throat but he was already dead the brothers lifted kevin up and dragged
him onto a rock where they rested for a while before carrying him onto the pallet in the water
it was at this point that christian's clothing got wet when sunbury pointed out to robin that
this account differed from his most recent story robin replied that was not true
everything else is true the following day a press conference was held to announce that two young brothers
had admitted to killing five-year-old kevin yelmerson it was the first time in modern swedish
history that a child had been blamed for killing another child and the authorities knew they had to choose
their words carefully instead of labeling it a murder they announced that kevin's death was the
result of a game that had gotten out of hand [Music] due to the age of those responsible
there would be no trial and their identities would not be revealed sunbury urged
this investigation only involves victims i therefore implore the media to show restraint and consideration towards
kevin's relatives as well as the children involved and to their relatives [Music]
despite their names being suppressed there was no hiding robin and christian's identities from their fellow
residents of arvika the community wanted nothing to do with the boys or their family and some people
wanted revenge it wasn't safe for the family to return home so robin christian weiner and eva
were moved to a treatment facility outside of town while authorities figured out the next steps
the boy's mother anika was relocated nearby but she was only allowed to see her sons for scheduled visits
a team of 11 staff were assigned to help the family process what had happened robin and christian couldn't grasp the
situation and kept asking when they'd be going home robin continuously asked when he'd be
able to see his bike again speaking about the case rolf sunbury later commented after all the conversations we had with
children i realised that children are fully aware of their actions in the kevin case the boys knew they
weren't playing a game they knew that if they did something in a certain way it could lead to death
robin and christian were both subject to various tests including mris and eegs to
check for any brain damage or abnormalities authorities were interested in figuring
out why the brothers had killed kevin and whether they presented a danger in the future
in april of 1999 a special program titled project staircase was developed to help christian and robin come to
terms with what they'd done and to help integrate them back into society as part of project staircase the boys
would move with ivana and eva into an apartment within a treatment facility while a team of assistants would live in
the apartment above the assistants would monitor the family's movements from 9am to 8pm
taking note of everything from their daily activities to their interactions to the boy's toilet breaks
robin and christian would undergo daily therapy sessions where they'd be asked how they felt about kevin's death
the aim was to help them process what had happened without fear of judgment or rejection
they'd soon be allowed to return to school on two conditions an assistant would accompany them in the
classroom every day and they weren't allowed to tell any of their classmates about kevin or their involvement in his
death five months into project staircase christian was in his daily therapy session when he suddenly made a
revelation the reason he had taken so long to confess was because his father had
instructed him and robin not to tell anyone how kevin had died the authorities were stunned
from early on they had suspected that weiner might have been covering something up and that he may have been
the one who carried kevin's body from the jetty to the palate christian's revelation only strengthened
their belief deeming viner unfit to be apparent robin and christian were taken out of the
clinic contemporarily put into their mother's custody weiner adamantly denied having any
involvement in kevin's death or telling the boys to lie about their involvement the authorities decided the brothers
would be best placed in foster care and set about finding suitable placements however when prospective families found
out who robin and christian were they wanted nothing to do with them nobody felt safe having a child killer
in their homes eventually the decision was made christian would live with his mother
while robin would remain with eva and weiner the brothers could see one another on
weekends in early 2000 project staircase officially disbanded and the families were free to live without daily
supervision for the first time in over a year however they still had to abide by
strict rules under no circumstances was anyone to reveal their involvement with the kevin
case if an outsider ever found out their secret a crisis plan was put in place the boys were also forbidden from
returning to arvika until they turned 18 but at this point it didn't matter anyway
none of their friends wanted anything to do with them although neither brother initially had
any recollection of the event they'd believed it was possible that they'd blocked the memories out as
investigators said as years began to pass the whole situation remained shrouded in mystery
christian and robin weren't allowed to talk about it with friends and their parents seemed eager to put it all
behind them and move forward but every now and then when life felt normal again an unexpected abusive
message would find its way into their letterbox or email accounts to remind them of their dark past
by the time robin was 10 his niggling concerns had developed into full-blown doubt that he was capable of hurting his
best friend it just didn't feel possible that he could have absolutely no memory of such
a significant event he wondered if he'd simply witnessed the crime and gotten his stories mixed up
at the same time he was plagued by the question what if it was me over the next few years robin started
doing his own research about the case using the internet to uncover any information he could get his hands on
the more he learned the more he felt he couldn't be responsible if he was capable of such horrific
behavior he didn't want to live robin's mental health began to suffer and he considered suicide
in contrast christian didn't want to dwell on the past he tried not to think about kevin's
death but there were some things he couldn't avoid ever since the police interrogations had
begun christian sleep had suffered hugely he became so riddled with anxiety that
he tossed and turned all night and could never fully relax he was afraid of the dark and would wake
up in a panic several times each night according to the book the story of the kevin case one night not long after his
confession a forlorn christian summoned his mother to the clinic where he was being housed because he had something he
wanted to tell her when she arrived he said i know nothing about kevin i wasn't there
when anika reasoned that that hadn't been what he told the police christian responded
but i just invented everything concerned anika reported this to the police but they assured her that her
sons had been telling the truth while the interrogation reports were confidential and they couldn't reveal
exactly what was said the police confirmed that christian and robin had provided descriptions of kevin's death
that only those responsible could know a couple of years later in 2001 the boy's parents asked to see the
transcripts of the interrogations after one senior investigator contacted them to raise questions about the way things
were handled lead investigator rolf sunderberry refused on the grounds that the investigation was classified and the
parents didn't push any further from the outset they'd felt completely out of depth when dealing with the
authorities they had fully trusted the process and accepted that the necessary steps had to
be taken to find kevin's killer even if it meant a few difficult months for robin and christian
robin eventually fell in love with a woman named mimi and when he was 20 years old the two welcomed a baby boy
however the secret about his past continued to haunt robin was under strict instructions not
to tell mimi about the kevin case and their relationship suffered as a result by the time their son was three months
old robin and mimi broke up with robin given full custody christian had done his best to push the
kevin case to the back of his mind but he found it impossible to live a normal life with such a huge secret in his past
by the time he was in his early twenties the thought occurred to him for the first time
what if he didn't do it christian was still in close contact with the child psychologist bent euron
johnson who had been seeing ever since the police interrogations he voiced his concerns to yuonsen but he
assured him he could put his mind at ease there was no doubt that christian and robin were responsible
professor rickard sherberry specialised in neuroscience at umeo university in northern sweden and he had a particular
fascination with forensic psychology in 2010 professor sherbery became involved with a high profile case that
shocked sweden to the core stura berivel formerly known as thomas quick was a swedish man who confessed to
committing more than 30 murders and cannibalizing several of his victims was ultimately convicted for aid of the
murders and sentenced to psychiatric confinement however the confessions were made while
berival was undergoing psychiatric treatment in a mental health facility and they only came about after a team of
psychiatrists used recovered memory therapy to extract vague information from a heavily medicated berryville that
could loosely tie him to the crimes in the absence of any concrete evidence the credibility of his confessions was
hotly disputed and when berryville retracted all of his confessions in 2008 there was no ground for the convictions
to stand on professor sherberry was part of the team that criticized the memory techniques
used in beriwal's case and all eight of his convictions were ultimately quashed it was deduced that the psychiatric team
had essentially used the leading questions to coerce beriwal into believing that he remembered certain
details about the crimes when in reality he had no involvement whatsoever beriwal ultimately admitted he had lied
about his involvement in the crimes because he enjoyed the attention and because the medication he was on enabled
him to confidently create the false stories in 2013 sherbery began looking through
the kevin case and noticed there were distinct similarities between it and the thomas quick case
not only did both cases rely strongly on repressed memories but both investigations had been guided by the
same memory specialist professor sven okay christensen while christensen's work on repressed
memories had seemed groundbreaking at the time this methodology had since come under fire
research had revealed that the so-called techniques used by therapists to recover
repressed memories also had the potential to create false memories of experiences that never happened
professor sherberry started reading about the techniques used to solve kevin yelmerson's murder and was immediately
suspicious there was simply no scientific evidence to support the interrogation techniques
used against robin and christian research had also taught him that having multiple long interrogations with
children can be dangerous the harder children oppressed the more likely they are to tell police what they
think they want to hear sherberry couldn't help but wonder what if the brothers hadn't had anything
to do with kevin's death after all case file will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening
to this episode sponsors it was a night like any other for case file team member jess she ate dinner
with her family talked to the kids about school and then suddenly she was gone off to play best fiends in her bedroom
if you have fun playing best fiends it's no secret why you sneak off to play best fiends is a free to download mobile
puzzle game with thousands of exciting levels for new adventures and challenges every time you play
there are dozens of unique fiends for you to collect so you can customize your own team to help you defeat the menacing
slugs no internet no problem best fiends has offline play so you'll never be stranded with nothing to do
jess is currently on level 431 she loves how easy it is to pick up and play best
fiends whether it's for a few minutes or longer the canopy construction in-game event is
offering a heap of extra rewards at the moment giving you all the more reason to
start playing download your new favorite getaway best fiends for free today on the app store
or google play you'll even get five dollars worth of in-game rewards when you reach level
five that's friends without dr best fiends thank you for listening to this episode's ads by supporting our sponsors
you support case file to continue to deliver quality content professor sherberry contacted don
yusufson a respected journalist whom he'd worked with on the thomas quick case and told him about his suspicions
yusufsan wasted no time in looking into the kevin case himself he immediately shared professor
sherberry's concerns that a severe miscarriage of justice might have taken place
christian and robin's family had a strict no media rule and they were near impossible to get in contact with
don yusefsen persisted for five months and eventually they agreed to speak with him
when the family learned of his intentions to make a documentary about the case they were hesitant
if yusufson's suspicions were wrong and investigators had acted entirely above board the family risked revealing their
true identities after 17 years of secrecy all their hard work would be undone and
christian and robin would be publicly outed as child killers yusefsen made them a promise
if he and his team couldn't find any evidence to support their theory of a botched investigation they'd forget
about the documentary entirely the family agreed on the condition that they didn't want updates until
yusufson's team had completed their research because the kevin case was classified
the documentary crew had to use various sources to get their hands on the preliminary investigation
they eventually gained access to interrogation transcripts as well as some video footage of the interrogations
the more they uncovered the more shocked they became it was immediately clear that the
interrogation team had acted unethically the european convention stipulates that
children should only be interrogated once and never for a long period of time robin and christian were interrogated a
total of 30 times with some interrogations lasting over four and a half hours their parents were rarely present even
when the boys became visibly distressed during the interrogations the brothers had singled out a total of nine
different perpetrators and mentioned at least seven different ways that kevin had died
they rarely repeated the same story twice [Music] up until the very last interrogations at
no point did either of the boys mention the palette where kevin was found or the
correct method of kevin's death it was only when the interrogation team fed them leading questions that they
were able to provide the details the investigators seemed so desperate to hear in fact the majority of the most damning
statements made by the brothers had been the result of leading questions one of the main reasons that robin and
christian had been considered suspects was that robin had responded yes when sundberry asked if his older brother was
the one who killed kevin after being shocked by this response sunbury had proceeded to ask robin 15
more times whether he saw christian kill kevin of those 15 times robin replied yes
eight times but seven times he said no it was clear from the interrogation reports and videos that investigators
became increasingly frustrated as time went by in the final stages of the investigation the boys had been taken to
the jetty with a life-sized doll in the hopes their so-called repressed memories
would resurface when a visibly upset christian had claimed that he didn't know how kevin's
injuries had occurred ingrid hurrison had pushed him saying but you did see because you were here
it's you who knows because you were here christian what did you do to kevin [Music]
in the subsequent final interrogations investigators not only intensified their use of leading questions but blatantly
fed the brothers information in order to extract a confession ingrid horizon was receiving directions
from the rest of the team in her earpiece she stopped beating around the bush and
straight out told robin where kevin's body was found and that he had a bruise on his neck
she even drew him pictures from there she proceeded to ask robin more than a hundred times how the
injuries occurred on kevin's neck robin repeatedly said he didn't know eventually with harrison continuously
pressuring him to speak about kevin's neck robin finally said that christian pinched kevin on the throat
at no point did he mention helping carry kevin's body to the palate despite harrison literally telling him
how and where kevin had died robin seemed incapable of providing this information
the same technique was then used on christian over four and a half hours of questioning he became increasingly
distressed he cried and repeatedly asked for his mother all up he asked 61 times for the
questioning to stop instead the interrogators told him he could only see his mother if he admitted
what happened to kevin at this point it was clear that he'd say anything if it meant he could leave but
he still couldn't provide the information they were so obviously hoping to hear instead detectives showed christian a
photo map of the lake and blatantly pointed out the area where kevin's body was found
one detective asked did you carry him there now realizing what they wanted him to
say christian said yes however he was still unable to explain how for the investigative team it didn't
seem to matter that evening lead investigator rolf sunderberry interviewed the brothers and
then wrote an official report declaring that they had made a full confession interestingly no other investigator was
present during this significant interview and it was the only time during the entire investigation that
sunbury filed an official report robin and christian were both interviewed again the following morning
but this time neither of them repeated the confession they'd supposedly given the previous day
the reality was there wasn't a single piece of evidence to tie robin and christian to the crime
their finger and handprints didn't match those found on the stick believed to be
the murder weapon in fact there was no evidence that the stick was the murder weapon at all
nobody had witnessed the brothers at the scene of the crime nor had they provided
any insider information until the interrogation team spoon-fed it to them forensic specialists also didn't think
it was possible that the brothers could have moved kevin from the jetty to the pallet
nor had they ever provided any explanation of how they managed to do so at the time of the investigation
the authorities didn't think that robin and christian needed illegal assistance because they weren't able to be
prosecuted due to their age no one ever told the boy's parents about their right to a lawyer and they had
never thought to ask had a defense lawyer been brought in they would never have allowed the
brothers to be interrogated for so long or so many times furthermore a crucial detail would have
never slipped through the cracks at the time of kevin's death the dalian family were close with another family
called the grands who had children similar in age to robin and christian the two families thought it would be
nice to spend the last day of summer vacation together on sunday august 16 1998 the grounds
arrived at the dalian's house mid-afternoon while the adults chatted inside the three grandchildren played outside with
robin and christian as the eldest of the group the grands 10 year old was put in charge and told to
keep an eye on the younger kids when police later questioned him he was unwaveringly adamant that robin or
christian never left his sight for any period of time likewise his mother had been keeping a
close eye on the children from the window and she confirmed that none of them ever strayed from view
after dinner the two families left to go fishing at around 6 pm christian rode in the car with the
grand family who stopped at a gas station just outside of doctorvic to put petrol in their car
this was corroborated by receipts as well as the gas station owner during the fishing trip all the children
remained within view of the parents at all times police had been aware of this alibi
since the early days of the investigation in fact they'd interviewed the grands a
total of 14 times and they always told the same story police never told weiner and eva that
their alibi had been verified and the grand family stopped speaking to them in the wake of kevin's death
this led to the boy's parents questioning their own recollection of that evening and wondering whether the
boys had indeed snuck off at some point without their knowledge the suspicion against the brothers had
been fueled by weiner and eva's admission that the boys may have had wet clothes on the night that kevin had died
and that they may have admitted to seeing kevin be killed on the night that had happened
however these admissions had been made while eva and weiner were heavily medicated and receiving treatment at a
psychiatric facility police had persisted in asking probing questions despite knowing full well that
they were taking sedatives and suffering immense stress not only had investigators acted
unethically and overlooked a crucial alibi they'd been quick to rule out a potential person of interest
on may 7 1999 just nine months after kevin's death a 50 fifty-year-old dotavic resident was walking through the
playground near the lake when they came upon a horrifying incident a three-year-old boy was being raped in
the sandpit the witness scared the perpetrator off but managed to catch a good glimpse of
him as he fled the scene it was felix the same 13 year old boy who had been spotted with kevin yalmerson on the
night that he was killed felix fled across the nearby border to norway but soon returned to doktovic and
turned himself in he admitted to the crime but given his age he was sent to a treatment facility
before returning to regular schooling three years later he was speaking to a classmate about the rape when he
allegedly confessed i have done worse things than that according to the book the story of the
kevin case felix's family lived in the same apartment complex as kevin's mother teres
just six days after kevin was killed felix's mother suffered a heart attack teres had rushed to help provide cpr and
paramedics were able to revive her but when teres heard that felix had sexually assaulted a young child she
immediately became suspicious was it possible that felix's mother knew more about kevin's death than she wanted
to admit and had that caused her heart attack there were several factors that made
felix appear suspect not only was he one of the last people seen with kevin but he'd also been the
one who told the other children where they could find kevin's shoes and socks behind the shed
felix had denied being with kevin on the night of his death despite multiple witnesses placing the two of them
together he told police that he'd rode around town for a while before visiting the
library then riding home however had the police bothered to double check this alibi they would have
discovered that the library was actually closed on sundays furthermore no witnesses had seen felix
riding around town as he described before felix arrived in doctorvic he spent time in a refugee camp after
fleeing war in his home country his childhood had been marred by traumatic events and he also had an
intellectual disability after being revealed as a child rapist many doctor vic residents began to
wonder if he could have been the real perpetrator of kevin's death the combined factors seemed way too
coincidental and it was possible that the police could have written felix off to avoid igniting xenophobia amongst
swedish citizens kevin's family voiced their concerns to the authorities but were advised that
kevin's case was closed and that was that robin and christian's mother also found
it curious that felix wasn't looked into further she contacted both the police and the
media to explore the possible connection but it seemed that nobody was interested
in what she had to say felix has never provided an explanation as to how he knew that kevin's shoes
were behind the shed near the lake one year after don josephson and his documentary team started digging around
they sat down with robin christian and their parents and presented them with the interrogation videos
the family was absolutely flawed although they'd always suspected that robin and christian were innocent they'd
been completely oblivious to how the interrogation team had behaved weiner didn't know whether to laugh or
cry after digesting what they'd seen christian remarked every question mark is erased for me
when the three-part documentary titled documents from within the kevin case aired on sweden's svt network in early
may of 2017 robin christian and their parents were extremely anxious they feared the exposure might lead to a
backlash however they received nothing but overwhelming support from the community
who were completely outraged at the way the authorities had handled the investigation
in a subsequent press conference robin and christian's full names were released to the public for the first time
the brothers spoke of the joy and relief they felt after the bungled investigation had been exposed
and thanked the media for helping bring the truth to light instead of living in fear of being
recognized they embraced the spotlight and welcomed people who approached to wish them well
robin told reporters this is a new start we'll just keep trying to lead an ordinary life
work house car not much planned beyond that ordinary life goals christian commented
they have taken years of my life that i will never ever get back now a new chapter begins
one can finally settle down i do not need to be afraid anymore the brothers voiced their concerns for
kevin's family who would no doubt have old wounds reopened christian told reporters
it is tragic both for us who were suspected and also for kevin's family who now have to go through all of this
once again with the story gaining huge attention in the media the case was formally reviewed
by chief prosecutor nicholas vagrian he dissected the interrogation records reviewed kevin's autopsy report and
interviewed over 80 people who had been involved in the initial investigation on march 17 10 months after the
documentary aired vagrant held a press conference to announce his verdict he concluded that there was absolutely
no forensic evidence to indicate that robin and christian were involved in kevin's death in any way
or that they were even present when he died not only did they have a verified alibi
from the very beginning but the interrogation methods used against them were entirely unethical and
unprofessional vagrant had no doubts about it both christian and robin were entirely innocent
the brothers were over the moon at finally being vindicated after the announcement christian told
reporters i haven't been able to digest it so i can only describe it as pure happiness
they subsequently applied for financial compensation for the hardships they faced but their application was rejected
on the grounds that too much time had passed with the botched murder investigation
exposed it raised a serious question if robin and christian didn't kill kevin then who did
chief prosecutor nicholas vagrion believed there were several possibilities while he wasn't prepared to completely
rule out drowning or that kevin might have been killed by someone other than the brothers it was more likely that he
had died by accident judging by the injuries to his body it was possible that kevin had been playing
by the lake either alone or with another child when a wooden pallet accidentally
fell on top of him while trying to lift it the other child might have panicked moved the pallet and then fled the scene
vowing never to speak a word about what had happened alternatively kevin might have been
playing with another child who could have sat on top of him pushing his neck into the edge of the pallet and
accidentally strangling him the prosecutor concluded that exactly what happened to kevin would likely
never be uncovered kevin's father patrick told the media that he would now have to learn to
accept a new truth he remarked for almost 20 years i thought it was murder now it looks like it was child's
play ending in an accident believing something for such a long time then everything changes it's going to be
a process to get through christian robin and their parents wanted to do something to ensure that kevin
yelmerson would be remembered not just as a name in a news headline but as the happy friendly and confident little boy
they remembered him to be they also wanted to heal the wounds that the case had created for the city of
arvika with the blessing of kevin's family they created the kevin foundation an organization that would honor kevin's
memory while awarding two scholarships a year to vulnerable teenagers in arvika in a field of their choosing
the foundation aimed to reward those who fought against all odds to succeed academically
for years after kevin's death kevin's mother teresa was haunted by the accusations that she was a bad parent
those years filled with mourning and resentment had blended into one and she looked back at them as a fog
after the truth was finally revealed she was relieved to find solace with eva and
weiner with whom she formed a close bond like them thereas had reluctantly accepted the police explanation that
robin and christian had confessed to killing kevin despite questioning it herself for 20 years
she was relieved that the truth had been exposed even if it meant that the mystery of kevin's death
remained when the initial investigation was underway nobody made any objections to the way things were handled and after
kevin's murder was solved rolf sunderberry was promoted to chief of vermont police
two years before the documentary team re-examined the case sunbury suffered a head injury that affected his memory
yet he recalled that the brothers had been very clear about their confession and denied any wrongdoing
according to the book the story of the kevin case after christian and robin's names were officially cleared christian
called the child psychiatrist to bent euron johansson who he had worked with closely for 20 years wanting an
explanation however johansson never returned christian's calls neither yuansen nor lead investigator
ralph sundberry interrogation leader ingrid harrison or professor sven aukere christianson have apologized to the
family [Music] in march 2022 robin and christian were each finally awarded compensation of 1
million kroner from the swedish government in recognition of the wrongdoing announcing the payment sweden's justice
minister said when the state makes a mistake the state must take the consequences and try to
put things right today robin and christian are both fathers a role they each revel in
they refused to be bitter about the situation that impacted their childhood and haunted them for 20 years
when they were publicly declared innocent their father weiner wiped tears from his eyes as he told reporters
it's absolutely incredible it's so wonderful after so many years finally finally it's all right
[Music] [Music] you

Case 214: Kevin Hjalmarsson

*** Warning: This case involves a child victim ***

When the body of four-year-old Kevin Hjalmarsson was found floating on a wooden pallet in Sweden’s Kyrkviken bay, police determined that it wasn’t a tragic drowning, but a cold-blooded murder.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

Website https://www.casefilepodcast.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/casefile Twitter https://twitter.com/case_file Instagram https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast Patreon https://www.patreon.com/casefile Casefile Presents https://casefilepresents.com

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-214-kevin-hjalmarsson

Brief Summary

The case of Kevin Yelmerson reveals wrongful accusations against two boys after a flawed investigation into his tragic death.

Key points

The Investigation Begins. Authorities initially treated Kevin's death as a drowning, but soon realized it was a murder.
A Grief-Stricken Family. Kevin's parents were grief-stricken, struggling with their separation and the loss of their son.
Witnesses Emerge. Robin and Christian, two young boys, claimed to have witnessed Kevin's murder, becoming key witnesses.
The Shocking Confession. Robin reveals that his brother Christian killed Kevin, turning the investigation on its head.
The Interrogation Breakthrough. Christian finally admits to the details of Kevin's death during an intense interrogation.
The Community's Reaction. The community's outrage leads to the family's relocation for safety after the boys' identities are revealed.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This wasn't a tragic drowning accident at all but a cold-blooded murder.

6:06WatchJun 4, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from Casefile

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.