Case file
Murders of Robert Karlström and Olle Borén
The Malexander murders were the killings of two Swedish police officers, Robert Karlström and Olle Borén, on a country road near Malexander, Sweden, on 28 May 1999. The killings followed a bank robbery carried out earlier the same day in the town of Kisa, Östergötland. Three men — Tony Olsson, Andreas Axelsson, and former mercenary Jackie Arklöv — were convicted of the crimes. According to the source, all three were active neo-Nazis, and the robberies were intended to raise money to fund a planned "revolutionary" Nazi organization.
At 14:50, Arklöv and Axelsson entered the Östgöta Enskilda Bank in Kisa carrying pistols and grenades and wearing ski masks. They ordered those present to lie down, disabled the security cameras except one black-and-white unit, and emptied the vault, which had a time-limited lock. Olsson stood guard outside with an Uzi. The robbers took approximately 2.6 million Swedish kronor. Kennet Eklund, the only officer on duty at the Kisa police station, was dispatched after an alarm sounded, and at 15:10 the robbers fled in a stolen Saab 9000.
Eklund followed the vehicle until the men pulled over and fired on him; he escaped as grenades were thrown. At 15:18 the three switched from the Saab to a Toyota Avensis. Officers Olle Borén, aged 42, and Robert Karlström, aged 30 — both based in Mjölby — were killed with their own service pistols by shots to the head. The Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science reported that Borén was shot five times and Karlström three times.
Axelsson, injured during the shooting, was captured at a medical centre in Boxholm shortly afterward. Arklöv was arrested in Tyresö three days later, having been shot in the lung while evading capture. Olsson left the country and was arrested in Costa Rica on 6 June, when about one million kronor of the stolen money was recovered.
The Linköping court indicted the three men on 26 October. All three received life sentences — Axelsson and Olsson on 18 January and Arklöv on 2 February 2000 — and the sentences were upheld by the Svea Court of Appeal. Olsson and Axelsson admitted the robbery and their presence at Malexander but denied the killings; Arklöv confessed in June 2001 that he alone shot the officers with their own weapons, a version consistent with the forensic findings. The confession did not change the verdicts against the other two. The case was widely debated because Swedish law had no felony-murder rule. Arklöv was later sentenced for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia. The life sentences of Olsson and Axelsson were subsequently commuted to 35 years, in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Key facts
- Victims
- Olle Borén, Robert Karlström
- Date
- 1999
- Location
- Malexander, Östergötland, Sweden
- Case status
- solved
Case timeline
1999-05-28
Bank robbery in Kisa and the fatal shootings of officers Robert Karlström and Olle Borén near Malexander
1999-06-06
Tony Olsson arrested in Costa Rica; about one million kronor of the loot recovered
1999-10-26
The three men indicted by the Linköping court
2000-01-18
Andreas Axelsson and Tony Olsson sentenced to life imprisonment
2000-02-02
Jackie Arklöv sentenced to life imprisonment
2001-06
Arklöv confessed to shooting both officers with their own weapons
2004-07
Olsson escaped from Hall Prison and was recaptured two days later
2019-11-27
Olsson's life sentence commuted to 35 years
2020
Axelsson's life sentence commuted to 35 years
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People
Kennet Eklund
LAW ENFORCEMENTOfficer on duty at the Kisa police station who pursued the robbers and was fired upon before escaping
Jackie Arklöv
CONVICTEDConvicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment on 2 February 2000; confessed in June 2001 to shooting both officers; later sentenced for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia
Tony Olsson
CONVICTEDConvicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 January 2000, upheld on appeal; sentence commuted to 35 years on 27 November 2019
Olle Borén
VICTIMPolice officer, aged 42, based in Mjölby; shot and killed near Malexander on 28 May 1999 (named Olov Borén in the source body text)
Andreas Axelsson
CONVICTEDConvicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 January 2000, upheld on appeal; sentence commuted to 35 years in 2020
Robert Karlström
VICTIMPolice officer, aged 30, based in Mjölby; shot and killed near Malexander on 28 May 1999
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Places
Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- Two Swedish police officers, Robert Karlström and Olle Borén, were shot dead near Malexander on 28 May 1999 following a bank robbery in Kisa, and three men were later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
- Where did the murders happen?
- Malexander, Östergötland, Sweden.
- Who was convicted?
- Jackie Arklöv (Convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment on 2 February 2000; confessed in June 2001 to shooting both officers; later sentenced for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia), Tony Olsson (Convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 January 2000, upheld on appeal; sentence commuted to 35 years on 27 November 2019), and Andreas Axelsson (Convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 January 2000, upheld on appeal; sentence commuted to 35 years in 2020).
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.
Related cases
View all cases
Sources
- ENCYCLOPEDICMalexander murdersWikipedia · 2026-07-05
- PRESSContemporaneous coverage of the Malexander police murdersAftonbladet · 2026-07-05
- PRESSBakgrund: Polismorden i Malexander (background report)Svenska Dagbladet · 2026-07-05
Record history
- First published
- JUL 06, 2026
- Last verified against sources
- JUL 06, 2026