Sture Ragnar Bergwall, a Swedish man born on 26 April 1950, used the name Thomas Quick from 1993 to 2002 and was for years believed to be one of Sweden's most prolific serial killers. After being sentenced for armed robbery in 1991, Bergwall was confined to Säter, a secure psychiatric institution, for treatment of personality disorders. Facing the prospect of release, and anxious about leaving the institution, he began describing childhood abuse and recovered memories of committing murders. His therapist, Birgitta Ståhle, came to believe he had multiple personalities, including one she considered the source of the killings, and viewed his case as significant for criminal psychology and trauma theory. Bergwall later said the personalities emerged through therapy and that he developed them to match his therapist's expectations, which in turn reinforced her belief in them.
During therapy sessions followed by police interviews, Quick confessed to more than 30 murders in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland between 1964 and 1993. Between 1994 and 2001, he was convicted of eight of these murders across six separate district court trials. None of the convictions rested on eyewitnesses or technical forensic evidence connecting him to a crime scene; each was based on his own confession, obtained while he was on benzodiazepines and interviewed following therapy built around recovered-memory theory. Investigators later found Quick had repeatedly guessed wrong before arriving at correct details, such as the murder weapon in the case of Israeli tourist Yenon Levi, and that his earlier incorrect guesses were edited out of the account presented at trial. In the case of nine-year-old Therese Johannesen, who disappeared from Fjell, Drammen, Norway, in 1988, the conviction relied on burnt fragments presented as her bones; those fragments were later determined to be composed of wood and glue resembling hardboard, not bone. In the case of Gry Storvik, semen recovered from the victim did not match Quick's DNA.
Journalists Hannes Råstam and Jenny Küttim, and separately Dan Josefsson, later published documentaries and books arguing that flawed therapy produced Quick's false confessions; Josefsson's account describes a group led by psychologist Margit Norell as having shaped both the therapy and the police investigation. In November 2006, retired lawyer Pelle Svensson reported Quick's trials to the Swedish Chancellor of Justice on behalf of a victim's parents seeking to have the convictions declared invalid.
In 2008, during the recording of a television documentary, Quick withdrew all of his confessions; in a December 2008 interview with Råstam he denied taking part in any of the killings he had previously confessed to. With his confessions retracted and no other evidence remaining, Quick's convictions were reconsidered one by one. The Yenon Levi conviction was quashed after Quick was acquitted at retrial in September 2010; the Johan Asplund conviction was quashed in March 2012; the Therese Johannesen conviction in March 2011; the Trine Jensen and Gry Storvik convictions in September 2012; the conviction for the killing of a couple at Appojaure in May 2013; and the Charles Zelmanovits conviction, the last of the eight, in July 2013. Having reverted to his birth name, Bergwall was released from Säter after more than twenty years in confinement. The episode has been described as the largest miscarriage of justice in Swedish history.
Key facts
- Victims
- Johan Asplund, Trine Jensen, Therese Johannesen, Yenon Levi, Charles Zelmanovits, The Stegehuis couple, Gry Storvik
- Date
- 1994
- Location
- Säter, Sweden
- Case status
- overturned
Case timeline
1950-04-26
Sture Ragnar Bergwall is born.
1991
Bergwall, who has adopted the name Quick around this time, is sentenced for armed robbery and subsequently confined to a secure psychiatric institution for the criminally insane.
1994
Quick is convicted of the 1976 murder of Charles Zelmanovits in Piteå, based solely on his confession.
1996
Quick is convicted of the 1984 murders of a couple, referred to in the case record as the Stegehuis couple, at Appojaure near Gällivare.
1997
Quick is convicted of the 1988 murder of Israeli tourist Yenon Levi at Rörshyttan.
1998
Quick is convicted of the 1988 murder of nine-year-old Therese Johannesen, who had disappeared from Drammen, Norway.
2000
Quick is convicted of the 1981 murder of Trine Jensen in Oslo.
2001
Quick is convicted in the 1980 disappearance and presumed murder of Johan Asplund in Sundsvall; no body was ever found.
2006-11
Retired lawyer Pelle Svensson reports Quick's trials to the Swedish Chancellor of Justice on behalf of a victim's parents, seeking to have the convictions declared invalid.
2008
Quick withdraws all of his confessions during the recording of a television documentary; in a December interview with journalist Hannes Råstam he denies involvement in any of the murders.
2009-12
The Svea Court of Appeal grants a retrial in the Yenon Levi case.
2010-09
Quick is acquitted at retrial in the Yenon Levi case and the conviction is quashed.
2011-03
The Therese Johannesen conviction is quashed after forensic re-examination undermined the evidence used at trial.
2012-03
The Johan Asplund conviction is quashed.
2012-09
The Trine Jensen and Gry Storvik convictions are quashed.
2013-05
The conviction for the killing of the Stegehuis couple is quashed following a retrial ordered by the Supreme Court.
2013-07
The Charles Zelmanovits conviction, the last of Quick's eight murder convictions, is quashed; Bergwall, having reverted to his birth name, is released from Säter after more than twenty years in confinement.
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People
Johan Asplund
VICTIMDisappeared in Sundsvall in 1980; no body was ever found. Quick was convicted of his murder in 2001 based solely on his confession; the conviction was quashed in March 2012.
Trine Jensen
VICTIMKilled in Oslo in 1981. Quick was convicted of her murder in 2000 with no forensic evidence connecting him to the crime. The conviction was quashed in September 2012.
Therese Johannesen
VICTIMA nine-year-old girl who disappeared from Fjell, Drammen, Norway, in 1988. Quick was convicted of her murder in 1998 based partly on burnt fragments presented as her bones; those fragments were later found to be hardboard, not bone. The conviction was quashed in March 2011.
Yenon Levi
VICTIMAn Israeli tourist killed at Rörshyttan in 1988. Quick was convicted of his murder in 1997; investigators later found Quick had repeatedly guessed the wrong murder weapon before arriving at the correct answer, information withheld from the trial court. Quick was acquitted at retrial in September 2010.
Charles Zelmanovits
VICTIMKilled in Piteå in 1976. Quick was convicted of his murder in 1994 based solely on his confession, with no forensic evidence. The conviction was quashed in July 2013.
The Stegehuis couple
VICTIMA couple killed at Appojaure, near Gällivare, in 1984. Quick was convicted of their murders in 1996; the conviction was later questioned after it emerged Quick may have had access to case details never disclosed to the public before trial. Quashed in May 2013 after a retrial ordered by the Supreme Court.
Gry Storvik
VICTIMKilled in Oslo in 1985. Quick confessed and was convicted, but semen recovered from the victim did not match his DNA. The conviction was quashed in September 2012.
Sture Bergwall
EXONERATEDConfessed under the name Thomas Quick to more than 30 murders while confined in a Swedish psychiatric institution and was convicted of eight of them between 1994 and 2001. Withdrew all confessions in 2008; all eight convictions were quashed on appeal by July 2013.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
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Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- Sture Bergwall, using the name Thomas Quick, confessed to more than 30 murders while confined in a Swedish psychiatric institution and was convicted of eight of them between 1994 and 2001; after he withdrew all his confessions in 2008, every conviction was quashed on appeal, the last in July 2013, in what has been called the largest miscarriage of justice in Swedish history.
- Where did the crime happen?
- Säter, Sweden.
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: overturned.
Related cases
View all cases
Sources
- ENCYCLOPEDICSture BergwallWikipedia · 2026-07-12
- PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The GuardianThe Guardian · 2026-07-12
- PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The TimesThe Times · 2026-07-12
Record history
- First published
- JUL 13, 2026