Solved case · 2022
The short answer
Tove Tönnies, a 21-year-old woman, was beaten and strangled to death in an apartment in Vetlanda, Sweden, in the early hours of 16 October 2022, after reconciling with an estranged friend following a fight at a nightclub earlier that night; her body was then burned in a wooded area and was not found for roughly three weeks.
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Suggest coverage for Murder of Tove TönniesTove Tönnies, a 21-year-old woman, was killed in Vetlanda, Sweden, after a night out that began at the local nightclub "Nöjet" on 15 October 2022. Tönnies had a long-running, contact-free feud with Johanna Jansson, 20, but the two crossed paths at the club that night and got into a physical fight. As Tönnies was leaving, she met Jansson and a mutual friend, Maja Hellman, outside, and the three agreed to reconcile. Tönnies then went with Jansson and Hellman to Jansson's apartment to work out their dispute.
At the apartment, Tönnies and Jansson argued again. The argument ended with Jansson beating and strangling Tönnies; Hellman allegedly held Tönnies's arms while Jansson strangled her. Tönnies made her last phone call to her boyfriend at 01:48 on 16 October 2022 — he had earlier urged her not to go home with the two women — and she was killed in the apartment in the hours that followed. Several neighbours heard a loud noise after midnight and knocked on Jansson's door; she offered an explanation, and one neighbour later drove her to a McDonald's, where she bought a cheeseburger. Later that same night, Jansson and Hellman drove Tönnies's body to a wooded area and set it on fire. Police did not find her body until 3 November 2022, roughly three weeks later.
Hellman and Jansson were remanded into custody as the main suspects the day after Tönnies disappeared. During police interrogation, Jansson admitted to strangling Tönnies, while Hellman said she had only helped move the body afterward. In the year before the killing, Jansson had reportedly expressed hatred toward Tönnies, including writing a hostile song about her and her twin sister, and had allegedly tried to kill Tönnies previously by setting fire to the house where Tönnies lived with her father and twin sister; she had also told friends she wanted to see Tönnies dead.
At trial, prosecutors argued that both women had cooperated in killing Tönnies and sought life sentences for each; the defense sought acquittal or short sentences in the event of conviction. Both women were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by Eksjö court, making them the first women in Swedish history under the age of 21 to receive that sentence. During the trial, Hellman testified that she had slept through the killing, while Jansson said Hellman had helped hold Tönnies's arms as she strangled her. The two women were also jointly ordered to pay roughly 1 million Swedish kronor to Tönnies's family and boyfriend, and both said they would appeal.
On appeal to the Court of Appeal (Hovrätten), Jansson's sentence was reduced to 16 years' imprisonment, while Hellman was released, having already served the sentence handed down on appeal.
Tove Tönnies has a physical fight with Johanna Jansson during a night out at the Nöjet nightclub in Vetlanda; as Tönnies is leaving, she meets Jansson and Maja Hellman outside, the three reconcile, and Tönnies agrees to go with them to Jansson's apartment.
After a renewed argument at Jansson's apartment, Tönnies makes her last phone call to her boyfriend at 01:48 and is then beaten and strangled to death by Jansson, with Hellman allegedly holding her arms.
Later that night, Jansson and Hellman drive Tönnies's body to a wooded area and set it on fire.
Police discover Tönnies's body.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
21-year-old woman beaten and strangled to death by Johanna Jansson, with Maja Hellman allegedly holding her arms, in Jansson's apartment in Vetlanda in the early hours of 16 October 2022; her body was then burned in a wooded area and was not discovered until 3 November 2022.[3]
Convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by Eksjö court; admitted during interrogation to strangling Tönnies. On appeal to the Court of Appeal (Hovrätten), her sentence was reduced to 16 years' imprisonment.[3]
Convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by Eksjö court; said during interrogation that she had only helped move Tönnies's body afterward. On appeal to the Court of Appeal (Hovrätten), she was released, having already served the sentence handed down on appeal.[3]
From the record
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