Agnes Magnúsdóttir (27 October 1795 – 12 January 1830) was the last person to be executed in Iceland, along with Friðrik Sigurðsson. The pair were sentenced to death for the murder of Nathan Ketilsson, a farmer in Illugastaðir in

Vatnsnes Vatnsnes () is a peninsula jutting into Húnaflói in northern Iceland. It is surrounded by waters of Miðfjörður on the west and Húnafjörður on the east. It is home to one of the largest seal colonies in Iceland, among others at Hindisvík ...

, and Pétur Jónsson from Geitaskarð on 14 March 1828. They were executed by beheading in Vatnsdalshólar in

Austur-Húnavatnssýsla Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police ( ...

on 12 January 1830.

History

Agnes had been described as an intelligent, imaginative and talented woman. Her appearance is disputed, but one source says she is "not visible", while another describes her as more complete and fun in her approach. Agnes was in her thirties and worked as a maid at Geitaskarð when she met Natan Ketilsson. At the same time they were attracted to each other and Agnes was hired at Illugastaðir for the next few days. Agnes no doubt hoped to become Natan's housekeeper and wife, but when he got there it turned out not to be. Natan had chosen Sigríður Guðmundsdóttir as housekeeper, but she was only 16 years old. Friðrik Sigurðsson liked Sigríður, and Agnes probably hoped that she would choose Friðrik and Natan would then choose her. That did not happen, however.

The murder

On the evening of March 13, 1828, Friðrik came to Illugastaður and had the two maids, Agnes and Sigríði, hide in a barn until Natan and Pétur Jónsson, who was a night visitor to the farm, were asleep. When the men were asleep, Agnes and Friðrik went into the bathroom where the two men were sleeping and Friðrik killed them both with a knife. It is not known whether Sigríður took part in the murder itself, but before Friðrik and Agnes set the bathroom on fire, she stole what was considered valuable. On the night of March 14, local people woke up in the town of Stapakoti in Vatnsneswhen Agnes was there with news. She said that Illugastaðir was engulfed in light flames and that the owner of the farm, Natan, was burned inside together with Pétur Jónsson. But when the fire was put out and the bodies were found, it turned out that it was not an accident.

Execution

The axe blade used to behead Agnes is on display at the National Museum of Iceland.

In media

Agnes was the subject of the 1995 Icelandic film ''Agnes'' by Egill Eðvarðsson and novel, '' Burial Rites'' by Australian writer Hannah Kent (May 2013). In 2017, it was announced that

Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. She appeared in ''Time''s 100 most influential people i ...

would play the role of Agnes in the film adaptation of ''Burial Rites'', directed by Luca Guadagnino.

References

Bibliography