The murder occurred in Everöd, Sweden, and this is the old train station in Everöd. I chose to include this picture since there are no pictures of the perpetrators or the crime scene online.
Hungry Children Killed Their Neighbor
15-year-old Anna and her 12-year-old brother Helmer grew up in the 1940s in Everöd, Sweden. They belonged to the less fortunate in society; their mother Eva refused to work, which resulted in the family being extremely poor. Eva was disliked by most people in the neighborhood; she was known to be rude toward anyone she met. The family barely had enough food, and Anna and Helmer often went to bed hungry. This resulted in the siblings becoming more and more desperate over time. They started to steal food from their neighbor, 54-year-old Anna Persson, while she was at work. Persson pitied the children at first and gave them food, but she started to avoid them after she caught them stealing from her house. Persson had also heard nasty rumors about Anna and Helmer; people claimed that they often abused animals for fun. They poked out the eyes from kittens and stomped on baby birds, for instance.
On 4 February 1942, Anna and Helmer went over to Persson and knocked on her door. They had planned to murder Persson and then steal all of her food, but Persson refused to open the door. She decided to hide, hoping that the children would either believe that Persson was not home or simply give up. However, Anna and Helmer continued to knock. They decided to lure Persson to the door by saying that they had brought her a bottle of milk. Persson hesitantly opened the door, and Helmer gave her a bottle inside a paper bag. As soon as Persson had taken the bottle, the children barged inside the house. Helmer attacked Persson by hitting her in the head with a cudgel, and Persson fell to the floor. Anna continued to hit Persson with the cudgel while Helmer strangled her with his bare hands. After a while, Helmer decided to take a rope and strangle Persson in that way instead. When they were certain Persson was dead, they dragged her body to the staircase leading up to the second floor. They hoped that the police would think that Persson had fallen down the stairs and that her death was an accident. After placing Persson’s body by the staircase, the children ran into the kitchen and rummaged through Persson’s pantry and later fled the scene carrying as much food as possible.
Three days after the murder, a carpenter knocked on Persson’s door. He had been hired by Persson a couple of days before the murder and became extremely worried when she did not open the door. He looked through the windows and discovered Persson’s lifeless body laying by the staircase. He contacted the police and told them that he believed that she had fallen down the stairs, but the police were not convinced. Persson had several injuries to her neck that indicated that she had been strangled. They talked to people in the neighborhood and noted that several people suspected that Eva could have something to do with the murder. As previously mentioned, Eva was often mean toward people in the neighborhood, and Anna Persson had not been an exception. The police decided to interrogate Eva and went over to her house, but she was not home. However, Anna and Helmer were at home and opened the door. The police noted that Anna seemed to be nervous and was shaking uncontrollably. They sat down in the living room and asked the children if they had any idea of what had happened at Persson’s house. Helmer stated that he was certain Persson’s death had been an accident while Anna nodded in agreement. The police became more and more suspicious toward the siblings and decided to talk to them individually. As expected, Anna and Helmer told different stories about what they had been doing at the time of the murder. The siblings were taken to the police station a couple of days later, and both of them were interrogated. Anna soon confessed to killing Persson, but she claimed that it had been Helmer’s idea. She never wanted to kill Persson, but her hunger had driven her to participate in the killing. Helmer confessed to the murder shortly thereafter.
Helmer could not be punished for his crime since he was just 12 years old at the time of the murder, but he was placed in foster care. A psychiatric evaluation showed that Helmer showed signs of psychopathy and that he was likely to continue down the path of crime. Anna on the other hand had reached the age of criminal responsibility and could therefore stand trial. However, a psychiatric evaluation showed that Anna was mentally ill and was sent to an asylum.
Anna was later released, but she spent at least eight years at the asylum. She got married to a Danish man but became widowed in 1980. She is now deceased. Helmer also got married and had several children. Helmer died in 2013.
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