Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 11:32:18 -0500 From: David B. O'Donnell To: Multiple recipients of list GLB-NEWS Subject: SWEDEN: Another Gay Man Murdered [ Send all responses to Bjorn.Skolander@NORDISKA.UU.SE only. Any responses to the list or list-owners will be returned to you. ] Another Gay Man Murdered in Sweden A few month ago a gay man was murdered in the south of Sweden after having established a contact via the chat line of the Swedish telephone company TELIA. Telia closed its chat lines - first in that region and a few days later in the rest of the country, mainly because of that murder. On Saturday March 11 the 29 year old elite ice-hockey player Peter Karlsson was murdered in Vaesteras on his way home from a local disco. He was stabbed to death with more than 60 stabbings from a knife. The murder got an extensive media coverage. Partly because the victim was a hero of the people, an icehockey player - and partly because Sweden lately has experienced a number of very violant massmurders, which has led to a public discussion of the "meaningless violence". Shortly after the murder, two 19 and 20 year old skinheads involved in the Swedish neo-nazi movement were questioned about the murder. About a week after the murder had happened the 19 year old skinhead confessed that he had murdered Karlsson, because the icehockey player had tried to date him. The media now for the first time revealed that Karlsson was gay. This information has however not influenced people's and the media's interest in the case. Karlsson's icehockey team arranged a protest march in honour of their murdered team-mate, which gathered more than 2000 participants. It is probably the first time that so many Swedish heterosexuals are taking part in a protest manifestation against the murder of a gay man. The 19 year old skinhead is well known for his violant behaviour by the police. He is said to be one of the leaders of a local neo-nazi group, which has been involved in several race related incidents. Bjorn Skolander bjorn.skolander@nordiska.uu.se