16 years after the events, a 37-year-old Swede was convicted on Thursday for a double murder.

The case remained unresolved for many years, until his DNA was found on an online genealogy site. 

A 37-year-old Swede was found guilty on Thursday of a double murder in a case that remained unsolved for more than 15 years, until his DNA was found on an online genealogy site.

Daniel Nyqvist, who confessed shortly after his arrest in June, was on trial for the October 2004 murders of a 56-year-old woman and an 8-year-old boy, perpetrated with a knife in the center of the peaceful town of Linköping, where the trial was held.

The culprit, recognized as having "committed acts under the influence of a serious psychological disorder", was sentenced to psychiatric internment.

>> READ ALSO

- United States: accused of assassinations and rapes, the killer of the "Golden State" pleads guilty

The crime could never be solved by the investigators despite an exploitable DNA, the discovery of the murder weapon and a cap stained with blood, as well as good indications of the suspect, described as a young man. with blond hair.

The investigation file, weighing several tens of thousands of pages, had become the second largest in Sweden after that of the murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme.

The use of genealogy sites using DNA

Its outcome came from a new method of investigation, when Sweden allowed investigators, from January 1, 2019, to legally carry out family DNA matches.

Including genealogy sites using DNA, which have become very popular since basic genetic mapping became inexpensive, a survey method imported from the United States.

"Almost immediately, we had a result. And a few months later, the suspect was able to be arrested. His DNA was taken and corresponded to 100%", explained the police in a statement, the day after the arrest.

21-year-old at the time, Daniel Nyqvist explained during the hearings that he accidentally struck these victims, with whom he had no connection, first stabbing the little Mohammed, 8, then the fifty-something, Anna-Lena. .

According to the report of the investigators, he had lived since practically without social contact in the suburbs of Linköping.