Tore Hedin

Tore Hedin (1927 - 22 August 1952) was a Swedish mass murderer, spree killer and police officer, the worst in known Swedish history.

First crimes

Hedin was born in Stora Harrie, near Kävlinge. He committed his first crime in September, 1943 when he broke into a local brewery near his parental home to steal some oats. To avoid detection, he then burned down the brewery to hide his crime; this was a method he used later to cover his tracks when he committed far more serious crimes.

On 28 November 1951 he robbed and murdered his friend John Allan Nilsson after a poker game at Nilsson’s home in Tjörnarp. To cover his tracks he burned down the crime scene. Being the local police representative, he took part in the investigation and even answered questions from the national media concerning the case.

Killing spree

Almost a year later, in the night of August 21, 1952, he went on a killing spree after being dumped by his girlfriend, Ulla Östberg. His first stop was his parents house in Saxtorp, where he killed them both and set the house on fire sometime before midnight.

Thirty minutes later he arrived at the retirement home in [http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurva Hurva] , where his ex girlfriend worked and lived. He climbed a fire escape and entered the room where Östberg usually slept. This night however, she was not sleeping there, but in the room of Agnes Lundin, the matron. He discovered this, entered the room and killed them both with an axe. After killing Östberg and Lundin he blocked the entrance to the retirement home and set it on fire. Four elderly people died in the flames, with a fifth dying some days later from severe burns.

It is unclear at what point he decided to take his own life. The police had realised by now that Hedin was behind the killings and had started a manhunt. They found his car parked near a cabin by a lake. In the front seat was a suicide note,Suicide note - published at http://www.flashback.info/showthread.php?t=82659&page=2, accessed 12/8-2006 19:30 (CEST)] his jacket and his wallet. The suicide note contained a full confession of all crimes he committed. He claimed he was only good at one thing, tracking other criminals. It ended with his name, occupation (murderer), whereabouts (unknown) and an explanation to why he had killed his parents — so that they would not have to suffer for his crimes. Somewhat later his weighted down body was found in the lake where he had drowned himself.

Hedins corpse was transported to the Institution of Anatomy at Lund University. It was stored at the institution until 1974, when it was cremated.

TV references

# In 1986 an episode of the mini-series "Skånska Mord", titled "Hurvamorden", was made about these tragic events. Ernst-Hugo Järegård played the role of Tore Hedin in this episode.

Sources