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user-inactivated  ·  1386 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: After 34 Years, Sweden Says It Knows the Killer of Olof Palme

There is definitely a lot that makes him suspect and if the initial investigators had been competent they would have taken him into custody for questioning in 1986 instead of looking into what every Kurd in Stockholm was doing at the time. At the same time, there's a lot of questions left unanswered, most importantly why did Engström, a graphic designer, carry around a Magnum revolver at work? Just in case he would run into Palme? There was definitely widespread hatred of Palme in the right-wing Täby Moderates circles he was a part of, even viewing Palme as a class traitor, but was it enough to inspire a political assassination?

One of my favorite conspiracy theories regarding the murder that ties in with Engström, was that it was carried out by elements of the "stay-behind" movement, the Swedish version of Operation Gladio, who thought Palme was getting too close to the Soviets. The leader of the movement, Alvar Lindencrona, was the CEO of insurance company Thule, which later became Skandia, where Engström worked. The stay-behind movement was set up by Tage Erlander, Palme's predecessor and mentor, giving some ironic flair to this theory. What really speaks against Engström being a part of a conspiracy is how much he kept appearing in the media afterwards, and even appearing as a witness in court twice in the defense of Christer Pettersson. You would think his would-be co-conspirators would be more able to rule him in. Also, why would you use a collector's piece like a .357 Magnum revolver for a planned murder that you would then have to get rid of?

So I guess I believe Engström might have been the one who did it, even though I was expecting more from the investigation, and I'm still holding out hope that more facts or better forensic techniques will appear one day to definitively close the case.