Murder of Engla Höglund

On 5 April 2008, 10-year-old Engla Juncosa Höglund disappeared while walking home from soccer practice in Stjärnsund, Sweden. When she did not answer her mobile phone, her mother, Carina Höglund, went looking for her and found her daughter's bicycle abandoned in the woods. Carina Höglund suspected foul play, saying her daughter did not have the physical strength to have left the bicycle in that position herself.

A bystander who happened to be testing a new digital camera near the time of the disappearance had photographed his surroundings, capturing an image of Höglund riding her bicycle and a separate photograph of a red Saab 900 following her. After the photographer came forward and showed the images to police, investigators identified the driver of the car as Anders Eklund (born Gustavsson, 6 August 1965), and he was arrested.

Eklund was interrogated for several days by experts from Rikskriminalpolisen, Sweden's national criminal police. On 13 April 2008, he confessed to Höglund's murder and disclosed the location of her body. During the same round of questioning, Eklund also confessed to a second killing: the June 2000 murder of 31-year-old Pernilla Hellgren in Falun, who had been strangled and sexually assaulted. DNA recovered from Hellgren's body had already been matched to Eklund, and investigators presented him with that match during the interrogations.

Höglund's disappearance and death drew extensive national media attention in Sweden, where much of the public had hoped she would be found alive. Her funeral, on 10 May 2008, was broadcast live on the television channel SVT1 — the first time a funeral had been broadcast live in Swedish television history. The decision to air the funeral publicly was questioned and prompted debate over whether the broadcast was ethical.

Eklund's trial opened on 18 July 2008 on two counts of murder, two counts of rape, and multiple counts of possessing child pornography. In August 2008, after a comparatively swift trial, he was found guilty on all charges and was declared mentally fit to stand trial. On 6 October 2008, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of Höglund and Hellgren, a 2006 rape in Sandviken, and the child pornography offenses.

Following sentencing, Eklund was transferred to Norrtälje Correctional Facility, a high-security prison north of Stockholm that includes a separate wing for sex offenders. In June 2014, he was assaulted by other inmates and hospitalized; he was released and returned to the facility the same day.