Yngsjö murder

The Yngsjö murder occurred on 28 March 1889 in Yngsjö, Sweden. Hanna Johansdotter (born 1867) was murdered by her husband Per Nilsson and his mother Anna Månsdotter (born 28 December 1841), who became known as Yngsjömörderskan (in English: The Yngsjö Murderess). Both were sentenced to death for the murder, and Månsdotter became the last woman in Sweden to be executed.

The circumstances of the murder are not entirely clear, as both Månsdotter and her son gave several different explanations for it. In later years it has been suggested that she carried out the murder alone. During the trial it came to light that she had a sexual relationship with her son, and that this eventually led to the murder. It is believed that she murdered her daughter-in-law because of jealousy, and that she did this with her son's consent.

Anna Månsdotter had married Nils Nilsson, 13 years her elder, expecting a wealthy future, but they had become poor and afflicted with debts. She had three children, of which only one, her son Per, lived to adulthood. Anna's spouse Nils died in 1883. She had arranged the marriage between Per and Hanna Johansdotter, possibly as a way to prevent the spread of rumours about incest. The marriage was not a happy one. Anna did not move in with her own mother, which had been the initial plan, and Hanna complained to her father that her mother-in-law was the cause of her unhappy marriage. One suggestion is that Hanna had discovered the sexual relationship between her husband and his mother, and that they together murdered her to prevent her from being able to tell anyone. One of many summaries given of the murder was that they beat her with a piece of wood, after which Anna strangled her. They then dressed her and placed her as if she had fallen down the stairs.

Månsdotter was executed on the district jail grounds in Kristianstad on 7 August 1890 by executioner Albert Gustaf Dahlman. Per Nilsson was pardoned from his death sentence and was instead sentenced to hard labour for the rest of his life. He was however released in 1913 and died of tuberculosis in 1918.

The Yngsjö Murder has been portrayed in numerous movies and books over the years:

The mother, Anna Månsdotter.

The son, Per Nilsson.

The victim, Hanna Johansdotter.

Photograph taken just moments before the execution of Anna Månsdotter. The executioner Dahlman stands second to the left, hiding his axe behind his back.

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Wikipedia