The Children Who Killed

Two children kill the third. A tragedy containing misunderstandings about love, and mobile phones.

Linna, 15, was found killed in late spring, in a forest park close to her school in the Stockholm district Enskede. The killer was Johan, a boy of her own age who, he claims, had been manipulated to the kill by a girl from his class, Julie. Julie, 16, had by a series of SMS-messages made it clear to Johan that if he wanted to date her, he first had to kill Linna.

Discussion in Sweden is now about if the trial should be public. Already a number of private details have been disclosed by journalists, who have received the police investigation on a CD-rom. The Swedish public is now aware, for instance, about how the first kiss between Johan and Julie had lasted “about two or three seconds, with a taste of tongue”. The Swedish legal system is generally precautious when children are involved – but has been influenced by a debate that has lasted for a few years within the European Union, of the importance of public influence about public affairs. However, an outrage is growing about excessive information about a case that is already a a tragedy of immense proportions, and has ruined the lives of three children. Julie has been diagnosed with a mental disorder, while Johan is sane enough to answer fully for his deeds.

In the meanwhile, the suffering community is grieving. With the school start only a week away, young people often go to the spot where Linna was found, and try to understand. The spot is already informally called, “Linna’s remembrance place”, and flowers are found on the ground. People passing by look out on the park from their cars or tram seats. All the while, in the paper we can read the lawyer saying “if they only had not met that night, then high school would have been over a week later, and in fall they would have started over in new classes in secondary school. Then it would not have happened”.

And if only the grown-ups had been more aware of the possibilities to spread hate through SMS-messages, if they only had checked their children’s mobile phones, once in a while.

(All names have been changed to protect the children.)