John Filip Nordlund
Encyclopedia
John Filip Nordlund (23 March 1875 - 10, December 1900) was a Swedish
mass murderer, the second last person to be executed in Sweden (after Alfred Ander in 1910) and the last person to be executed through manual beheading in any Western nation other than Germany, where the practice survived into the Nazi era.
near Falun
. He had two siblings, Joel, an older brother who was a mute, and a younger brother named Rickard. Histories are told of the young Nordlund as an odd child who never laughed. In 1882 the family moved to Falun where Nordlund went to school, but being of an impatient nature he never finished school. Instead he took to the road, at first with a classmate who was an orphan, in 1886. Later that year, he was spotted by a friend of his parents in Hedemora
, and returned to home. In 1887 he was on the run again, and as a person of both size and strength he had the ability to work, passing as an adult. For a brief period, one and a half years, he worked at a lumber mill in Korsnäs
, which, according to himself, was the only time he tried to live an honest life. Still he gave in to temptation and forged a bill, which got him fired from the lumber mill. His parents had now moved to Gävle
; Nordlund also lived in there for a short period of time.
Nordlund had gotten used to thieving during his time on road and in 1891 he was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison for cattle rustling by a court in Ljusdal
. Later the same year he received his first long term prison sentence, this time for stealing, when he was sentenced to three years in prison. The prison term was served at the county jail in Malmö
. In 1895 he received another three-year sentence which was to be served in Långholmen Prison
in Stockholm
, where he was enrolled as prisoner number two. Due to unruly behaviour in prison and other things he was to serve four years and according to letters written by himself in 1900, it was here his plan for the future took its final and drastic shape.
The 20th of April 1900, Nordlund was released from Långholmen and with the help of his younger brother, who was now living in Stockholm
and working as a clerk, he went home to Gävle. As an ex-convict he had difficulties getting a job, so soon he returned to his old life, but this time with a disastrous plan of one final big hit that would solve his problems.
of several years to come, and reserve a place for him in the criminal history of Sweden.
He boarded the ferry in Arboga
and bought a ticket for Stockholm on the evening with an evil plan. The contents of his luggage were two guns, a knife and several padlocks, with which he had planned to lock the door to the engine room. His plan was to rob and kill as many people as possible on the ship and steal the ship's register. To avoid early detection he also planned to torch the ship. This plan failed however, partly because scared passengers on the boat managed to attract the attention of another ferry, the "Köping". Still he managed to commit one of the worst murder sprees in known Swedish history by killing four and wounding nine (of which 8 survived) and a partly trashed ship. The victims of Nordlund's rampage included the ship's captain (Olof Rönngren), a butcher, an old lady, a farmer and a cattle merchant. His plan also failed in the aspect that he did not manage to steal the ship's register, leaving his booty at 800 kronor. He managed to escape from the ship because no one thought that one single man could be strong enough to put one of the life boats in the sea and row away.
The next day he was arrested by three police officers at the train station in Skogstorp near Eskilstuna
, where he had bought some new clothes earlier and avoided detection. He had planned to take the train to Oxelösund
and travel to Copenhagen
via Gothenburg
. When he was arrested he is supposed to have shouted things like; “This was my revenge on humanity” and “Be glad that you arrested me here – if I had gotten on the train several more would have been killed”.
). In the letter he wrote that he had to explain himself to someone and that he realised that he would receive only one more sentence, capital punishment
. He also told them not to grieve and that he welcomed the end since he never felt that he was a part of the society at all.
In court he never tried to act in a manner which would result in a lighter sentence; he never pleaded insanity, he showed no remorse saying only that he regretted not having killed everyone on the ferry. He was sentenced to death and to forever lose all privileges as a citizen for five murders, eight attempted murders and theft. Twice he tried to flee from his cell in Västerås
county jail injuring the jailors with a sharp object that he managed to manufacture in the cell. He attempted to escape once, because he had nothing to lose but to await execution.
The act that he committed resulted in a media hysteria comparable to the ones we see today, partly because the ruthlessness of the crimes. Several papers competed with each other on several numbers of victims. In some papers the number of victims was exaggerated, claiming a much larger death toll. Several skillingtryck were made about the events on Prins Carl with songs detailing the horrors of the night of May 17.
, to plead for mercy, which he chose not to do. Strangely enough, he took the time to write a letter to the Supreme Court
complaining about the fact that he had been wrongfully sentenced for robbery of people that he did not rob. The Supreme Court wrote in their answer (of November 13) that this was irrelevant and that the sentence passed by the court was correct. While awaiting his execution he met his mother several times (the last time five days before his execution). In addition the priest from Långholmen, August Hylander came to visit him several times. In his final letter to his parents he actually asked the lord for redemption and told his parents good bye.
On the morning of December 10 Nordlund was escorted to the prison yard of Västerås County Jail where he was strapped to a stretcher-resembling block and beheaded the high executioner Dahlman
using a manual blade, rather much resembling a meat cleaver. Nordlund's execution was swift, striking the head off in a single blow, and as his body was claimed by his family after his death he was laid to rest in sacred soil. Up until the 1870s this type of burial would not have been legal, but as society was progressing justice policy also changed.
only argued that it was unfortunate that Nordlund had been released from prison.
Some have claimed that the way Nordlund acted after being caught is a proof of insanity, and that his lack of empathy for his victims also proves this. It has been said that had he not committed the act in a time when several gruesome murders were committed he would probably have received a lighter sentence (or been sent to an insanity asylum). The claims of insanity and the fact that two of the three persons executed in 1900 were claimed to have been insane, probably had an effect on the justice system with a 10-year stretch of reprieves until the execution of Alfred Ander by guillotine
, the last ever in Sweden.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
mass murderer, the second last person to be executed in Sweden (after Alfred Ander in 1910) and the last person to be executed through manual beheading in any Western nation other than Germany, where the practice survived into the Nazi era.
Early years
Nordlund was born in SäterSäter
Säter is a locality and the seat of Säter Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 4,438 inhabitants in 2005.Säter is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city...
near Falun
Falun
Falun is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 36,447 inhabitants in 2005. It is also the capital of Dalarna County...
. He had two siblings, Joel, an older brother who was a mute, and a younger brother named Rickard. Histories are told of the young Nordlund as an odd child who never laughed. In 1882 the family moved to Falun where Nordlund went to school, but being of an impatient nature he never finished school. Instead he took to the road, at first with a classmate who was an orphan, in 1886. Later that year, he was spotted by a friend of his parents in Hedemora
Hedemora
Hedemora is the oldest locality in Dalarna County and the seat of Hedemora Municipality, Sweden, with 15,164 inhabitants in 2011.Despite its small population, Hedemora is for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city...
, and returned to home. In 1887 he was on the run again, and as a person of both size and strength he had the ability to work, passing as an adult. For a brief period, one and a half years, he worked at a lumber mill in Korsnäs
Korsnäs
Korsnäs is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
, which, according to himself, was the only time he tried to live an honest life. Still he gave in to temptation and forged a bill, which got him fired from the lumber mill. His parents had now moved to Gävle
Gävle
Gävle is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 71,033 inhabitants in 12/31 2010. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland , having received its charter in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria.-History:It is believed that the name Gävle...
; Nordlund also lived in there for a short period of time.
Nordlund had gotten used to thieving during his time on road and in 1891 he was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison for cattle rustling by a court in Ljusdal
Ljusdal
Ljusdal is a locality and the seat of Ljusdal Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 6,100 inhabitants in 2005.Ljusdal is located beside the river Ljusnan which goes from Bruksvallarna to Ljusne....
. Later the same year he received his first long term prison sentence, this time for stealing, when he was sentenced to three years in prison. The prison term was served at the county jail in Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
. In 1895 he received another three-year sentence which was to be served in Långholmen Prison
Långholmen prison
Långholmen Prison, officially Långholmen Central Prison , was historically one of the biggest prison facilities in Sweden with more than 500 cells, located on the island of Långholmen in Stockholm. It was built 1874-1880 as the central prison of Sweden, and was in use until 1975...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, where he was enrolled as prisoner number two. Due to unruly behaviour in prison and other things he was to serve four years and according to letters written by himself in 1900, it was here his plan for the future took its final and drastic shape.
The 20th of April 1900, Nordlund was released from Långholmen and with the help of his younger brother, who was now living in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
and working as a clerk, he went home to Gävle. As an ex-convict he had difficulties getting a job, so soon he returned to his old life, but this time with a disastrous plan of one final big hit that would solve his problems.
The mass murder on the steam boat ferry Prins Carl
On the night of 16th and 17 May 1900 Nordlund committed the act that would make him the bogeymanBogeyman
A bogeyman is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children into compliant behaviour...
of several years to come, and reserve a place for him in the criminal history of Sweden.
He boarded the ferry in Arboga
Arboga
Arboga is a locality and the seat of Arboga Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,369 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:The city of Arboga is known to have existed as a town since the 13th century but the area has been inhabited since around 900 AD...
and bought a ticket for Stockholm on the evening with an evil plan. The contents of his luggage were two guns, a knife and several padlocks, with which he had planned to lock the door to the engine room. His plan was to rob and kill as many people as possible on the ship and steal the ship's register. To avoid early detection he also planned to torch the ship. This plan failed however, partly because scared passengers on the boat managed to attract the attention of another ferry, the "Köping". Still he managed to commit one of the worst murder sprees in known Swedish history by killing four and wounding nine (of which 8 survived) and a partly trashed ship. The victims of Nordlund's rampage included the ship's captain (Olof Rönngren), a butcher, an old lady, a farmer and a cattle merchant. His plan also failed in the aspect that he did not manage to steal the ship's register, leaving his booty at 800 kronor. He managed to escape from the ship because no one thought that one single man could be strong enough to put one of the life boats in the sea and row away.
The next day he was arrested by three police officers at the train station in Skogstorp near Eskilstuna
Eskilstuna
Eskilstuna is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 60,185 inhabitants in 2005. Eskilstuna has a large Sweden Finn population....
, where he had bought some new clothes earlier and avoided detection. He had planned to take the train to Oxelösund
Oxelösund
Oxelösund is a locality and the seat of Oxelösund Municipality in Södermanland County, Sweden with 10,843 inhabitants in 2005.- History :The harbour at Oxelösund has been used for at least 500 years. In the 19th century, an increased extraction from the Mining district of Central Sweden , made...
and travel to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
via Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
. When he was arrested he is supposed to have shouted things like; “This was my revenge on humanity” and “Be glad that you arrested me here – if I had gotten on the train several more would have been killed”.
After the arrest
He was put in a holding cell in Eskilstuna, in which the guards were barely able to keep an angry mob from killing him. The 18th of May he wrote a letter to his family, explaining what he had done and that he was the one responsible for the newspaper headlines. The letter was published by the newspapers (both Gefle Dagblad and AftonbladetAftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...
). In the letter he wrote that he had to explain himself to someone and that he realised that he would receive only one more sentence, capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. He also told them not to grieve and that he welcomed the end since he never felt that he was a part of the society at all.
In court he never tried to act in a manner which would result in a lighter sentence; he never pleaded insanity, he showed no remorse saying only that he regretted not having killed everyone on the ferry. He was sentenced to death and to forever lose all privileges as a citizen for five murders, eight attempted murders and theft. Twice he tried to flee from his cell in Västerås
Västerås
Västerås is a city in central Sweden, located on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province Västmanland, some 100 km west of Stockholm...
county jail injuring the jailors with a sharp object that he managed to manufacture in the cell. He attempted to escape once, because he had nothing to lose but to await execution.
The act that he committed resulted in a media hysteria comparable to the ones we see today, partly because the ruthlessness of the crimes. Several papers competed with each other on several numbers of victims. In some papers the number of victims was exaggerated, claiming a much larger death toll. Several skillingtryck were made about the events on Prins Carl with songs detailing the horrors of the night of May 17.
The execution
Nordlund had the possibility of writing a letter to the king, Oscar IIOscar II of Sweden
Oscar II , baptised Oscar Fredrik was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death and King of Norway from 1872 until 1905. The third son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, he was a descendant of Gustav I of Sweden through his mother.-Early life:At his birth in Stockholm, Oscar...
, to plead for mercy, which he chose not to do. Strangely enough, he took the time to write a letter to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Sweden
The Supreme Court of Sweden is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and with few exceptions, leave to appeal can be granted only when the case is of...
complaining about the fact that he had been wrongfully sentenced for robbery of people that he did not rob. The Supreme Court wrote in their answer (of November 13) that this was irrelevant and that the sentence passed by the court was correct. While awaiting his execution he met his mother several times (the last time five days before his execution). In addition the priest from Långholmen, August Hylander came to visit him several times. In his final letter to his parents he actually asked the lord for redemption and told his parents good bye.
On the morning of December 10 Nordlund was escorted to the prison yard of Västerås County Jail where he was strapped to a stretcher-resembling block and beheaded the high executioner Dahlman
Albert Gustaf Dahlman
Albert Gustaf Dalman , was a Swedish executioner. He was the last executioner to carry out capital punishment in Sweden....
using a manual blade, rather much resembling a meat cleaver. Nordlund's execution was swift, striking the head off in a single blow, and as his body was claimed by his family after his death he was laid to rest in sacred soil. Up until the 1870s this type of burial would not have been legal, but as society was progressing justice policy also changed.
The aftermath
The year 1900 was one of the darkest for the people who wanted to abolish capital punishment in Sweden with three executions in the same year, all by decapitation (between 1866 and 1900 there were 11 executions in total). The people who argued that one inherited the role as a criminal and the people who wanted to keep the death penalty used Nordlund as an example of why this penalty was necessary. Abolitionists such as Hjalmar BrantingHjalmar Branting
was a Swedish politician. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party , and Prime Minister during three separate periods . When Branting came to power in 1920, he was the first Social Democratic Prime Minister of Sweden...
only argued that it was unfortunate that Nordlund had been released from prison.
Some have claimed that the way Nordlund acted after being caught is a proof of insanity, and that his lack of empathy for his victims also proves this. It has been said that had he not committed the act in a time when several gruesome murders were committed he would probably have received a lighter sentence (or been sent to an insanity asylum). The claims of insanity and the fact that two of the three persons executed in 1900 were claimed to have been insane, probably had an effect on the justice system with a 10-year stretch of reprieves until the execution of Alfred Ander by guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
, the last ever in Sweden.
Sources
- Aftonbladet May 18, 1900 “Mördarens antecedentia”
- Aftonbladet May 20, 1900, letter to parents
- Aftonbladet December 11, 1900
- Mälarmördaren – historien om ett brott (JO Ekholm, S Sperlings, Bonniers 1979) pages 137-174 (”Hur jag blifvit den jag är”, ”Allmänna meningar”)
Literature
- Anders Gustaf Dalman, skarprättaren, föregångare och förättningar (GO Gunne 1936)
- En alldeles ny visa om det hemska Mälaredramat 1900 (skillingtryck 1900)
- Mälaredramat: en sångbar berättelse om de gräsliga ogerningarna å ångbåten ”Prins Carl” (skillingtryck 1905)
- En som borde tagits omhand (Svensk Läraretidning 1900)