Case file
Guðmundur and Geirfinnur Disappearances and Wrongful Convictions
On the night of 26 January 1974, 18-year-old labourer Guðmundur Einarsson disappeared while walking home from a community hall in Hafnarfjörður, part of Iceland's Greater Reykjavík area. A motorist reported that he nearly fell in front of their vehicle shortly before he vanished; he was never seen again. Ten months later, on 19 November 1974, 32-year-old construction worker Geirfinnur Einarsson — unrelated to Guðmundur despite sharing a surname — received a phone call at home and drove to a harbour cafe in Keflavík, leaving his car keys in the ignition. He did not return. Extensive searches turned up no bodies, witnesses, or forensic evidence in either case.
Under intense public and media pressure, Icelandic police opened inquiries treating both disappearances as homicides. Six people — Sævar Ciesielski, Kristján Viðar Viðarsson, Tryggvi Rúnar Leifsson, Albert Klahn Skaftason, Guðjón Skarphéðinsson, and Erla Bolladóttir — eventually signed confessions after being held in isolation and interrogated at length with limited access to lawyers. They were given sedative drugs and subjected to sleep deprivation; Sævar, who had a fear of water, was also subjected to water torture. The confinement was extreme: Erla was held in solitary confinement for 242 days, two others for more than 600 days, and Tryggvi for 655 days — described in source reporting as the longest solitary confinement outside the Guantánamo Bay detention camp. Sævar remained in custody for 1,533 days total. In 1976, four more men were separately held in solitary confinement for 105 days after other suspects implicated them; none was convicted.
Sævar, Kristján, and Tryggvi were convicted of killing Guðmundur, and Albert was convicted of helping conceal his body. Sævar, Kristján, and Guðjón were later convicted of killing Geirfinnur. Erla was convicted of perjury for implicating her half-brother and others during the investigation.
The case was reexamined decades later. A police investigation report reached Iceland's State Prosecutor in 2013, and in February 2017 the Interior Ministry's Rehearing Committee recommended that the Supreme Court rehear the convictions of Sævar, Kristján, Tryggvi, Albert, and Guðjón, though not Erla's perjury case. The committee's review drew on research by psychiatrist Gísli Guðjónsson into "Memory Distrust Syndrome," in which extreme psychological pressure can lead a person to distrust their own memory and offer a false confession. New witness accounts surfaced in 2015 and 2016, casting further doubt on the original investigation. In February 2018, the State Prosecutor asked the Supreme Court to overturn all six convictions, and on 27 September 2018 — 44 years after the disappearances — the court acquitted the five men while leaving Erla's perjury conviction in place. The government apologized and later paid roughly 815 million krónur (about 6 million euros) in compensation to the acquitted men and the families of those who had died; Erla was separately awarded further damages and an apology in 2022 over her own solitary confinement.
Tryggvi Rúnar Leifsson died of cancer in 2009 and Sævar Ciesielski died after an accident in Denmark in 2011, both before the acquittals; Kristján Viðar Viðarsson died in March 2021. Síðumúli Prison, where the group was held in isolation, was later closed and was criticized by the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee over conditions there. Iceland continues to use pretrial solitary confinement, which Amnesty International has said still causes harm to detainees. In October 2019, Iceland's Attorney General opened a new investigation into the original disappearances, focusing on the 2015 and 2016 witness accounts. Source reporting has described the case as one of the most significant miscarriages of justice in Europe.
Key facts
- Victims
- Guðmundur Einarsson, Geirfinnur Einarsson
- Date
- 1974
- Location
- Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
- Case status
- overturned
Case timeline
1974-01-26
Guðmundur Einarsson, 18, disappears in Hafnarfjörður, near Reykjavík, after leaving a community hall; he is never found.
1974-11-19
Geirfinnur Einarsson, 32, disappears in Keflavík after driving to a harbour cafe following a phone call; he is never found.
1976
Four men are held in solitary confinement for 105 days after being implicated by other suspects in the case; none is convicted.
2013
A police investigation report on the case is delivered to Iceland's State Prosecutor.
2015
A key witness is reinterrogated, and new testimony casts doubt on the original account used to implicate two of the suspects.
2016
A witness reports seeing three men board a boat in Keflavík the day after Geirfinnur's disappearance, two of whom returned alone.
2017-02-24
Iceland's Interior Ministry Rehearing Committee recommends the Supreme Court rehear the convictions of five of the six original defendants.
2018-02
Iceland's State Prosecutor asks the Supreme Court to overturn all six convictions.
2018-09-27
The Supreme Court of Iceland acquits five of the six original defendants, 44 years after the disappearances, while leaving Erla Bolladóttir's perjury conviction in place.
2019-10
Iceland's Attorney General opens a new investigation into the original disappearances, focusing on witness testimony from 2015 and 2016.
2020-01
Iceland's government announces compensation of about 815 million krónur (roughly 6 million euros) for the acquitted men and the families of those who died.
2022-12
Erla Bolladóttir is separately awarded about 210,000 euros in damages, with a formal government apology, over her solitary confinement.
2009
Tryggvi Rúnar Leifsson dies of cancer, before his conviction is overturned.
2011
Sævar Ciesielski dies after an accident in Denmark, before his conviction is overturned.
2021-03
Kristján Viðar Viðarsson dies; his family announces his death on Facebook.
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People
Sævar Ciesielski
ACQUITTEDConvicted of killing Guðmundur Einarsson and Geirfinnur Einarsson after signing a confession extracted through prolonged solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, and water torture; held in custody for 1,533 days total; acquitted by the Supreme Court of Iceland on 27 September 2018; died in 2011, before the acquittal.
Guðjón Skarphéðinsson
ACQUITTEDConvicted of killing Geirfinnur Einarsson; acquitted by the Supreme Court of Iceland on 27 September 2018.
Albert Klahn Skaftason
ACQUITTEDConvicted of helping conceal Guðmundur Einarsson's body; acquitted by the Supreme Court of Iceland on 27 September 2018.
Guðmundur Einarsson
VICTIM18-year-old labourer; disappeared on 26 January 1974 while walking home in Hafnarfjörður; his body was never found.
Tryggvi Rúnar Leifsson
ACQUITTEDConvicted of killing Guðmundur Einarsson; held in solitary confinement for 655 days; acquitted by the Supreme Court of Iceland on 27 September 2018; died in 2009, before the acquittal.
Geirfinnur Einarsson
VICTIM32-year-old construction worker; disappeared on 19 November 1974 in Keflavík; his body was never found.
Kristján Viðar Viðarsson
ACQUITTEDConvicted of killing Guðmundur Einarsson and Geirfinnur Einarsson after signing a confession extracted through prolonged interrogation and isolation; acquitted by the Supreme Court of Iceland on 27 September 2018; died in March 2021.
Erla Bolladóttir
CONVICTEDConvicted of perjury for implicating her half-brother and others during the investigation; held in solitary confinement for 242 days; this conviction was not reversed in the 2018 Supreme Court acquittals; awarded damages and a formal government apology in December 2022 over her solitary confinement.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
archival location
File:Hegningarhúsið Exercise Yard.jpg
Credit: Nephets · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
Places
Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- Two men vanished in Iceland in 1974, and six people who signed confessions after prolonged isolation and interrogation were convicted despite the absence of bodies, witnesses, or forensic evidence; Iceland's Supreme Court acquitted five of them in 2018.
- Where did the disappearances happen?
- Hafnarfjörður, Iceland.
- Who was convicted?
- Erla Bolladóttir (Convicted of perjury for implicating her half-brother and others during the investigation; held in solitary confinement for 242 days; this conviction was not reversed in the 2018 Supreme Court acquittals; awarded damages and a formal government apology in December 2022 over her solitary confinement.).
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: overturned.
Related cases
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Sources
- ENCYCLOPEDICGuðmundur and Geirfinnur caseWikipedia · 2026-07-12
- PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The GuardianThe Guardian · 2026-07-12
- PRESSContemporaneous coverage — BBC NewsBBC News · 2026-07-12
Record history
- First published
- JUL 13, 2026