Killing of Gunnar Tryggvason

Gunnar Sigurður Tryggvason (17 June 1925 – 18 January 1968) was an Icelandic cab driver. In the early morning hours of 18 January 1968, passersby in Reykjavík discovered his body in the driver's seat of his Mercedes-Benz taxi. He had a bullet wound to the back of his head. The taxi's engine was still running and its taximeter remained on, suggesting the killing occurred during or shortly after picking up a fare. Investigators determined the murder took place between 5:15 and 6:00 in the morning. The case has never been solved.

The weapon used in the killing was identified as a Smith & Wesson Model 1913 pistol. The gun had been stolen in 1965 from Jóhannes Jósefsson, an Icelander also known as Jóhannes á Borg. In 1969, the pistol was recovered from a vehicle belonging to another taxi driver. That driver admitted to having stolen the weapon but denied killing Gunnar. He was subsequently charged with the murder, but a court found him not guilty due to insufficient evidence.

Decades after the killing, a new lead emerged when a witness came forward with information from childhood. According to this account, in 1969 a man who knew the witness's mother visited their home while the mother was away and showed the witness a gun, claiming he had used it to shoot Gunnar. The witness's sister, who was also present, corroborated the account. Working with police, the siblings separately selected the same man from a photo line-up. No charge resulted from the account or identifications.

The case has drawn public and media attention in Iceland over the decades. It was the subject of the 2007 book "Morðið á Laugarlæk" by Þorsteinn Bergmann Einarsson, was featured in the 2020 radio program "Sönn íslensk sakamál," and was covered again in the 2024 television series "Íslensk sakamál" on Síminn TV.

Gunnar Tryggvason's killing remains formally unsolved. The only person ever charged in connection with the murder—the taxi driver found in possession of the stolen weapon—was acquitted. The later witness identifications did not result in a prosecution.