Atli Guðjón Helgason (born 7 March 1967) is an Icelandic

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played three games for the

Iceland national football team The Iceland national football team (in ) represents Iceland in men's international football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland, and have been a FIFA member since 1947 and an UEFA member since 1957. The team's nickn ...

. In 2001 he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the murder of his business partner Einar Örn Birgisson.

Football career

Club career

Atli played for 14 seasons in the Icelandic leagues. He was the captain of the Víkingur Reykjavík team that won the national championship in 1991.

National team career

He won three caps and scored one goal for the

between 1991 and 1992.

Murder of Einar Örn Birgisson

On November 8, 2000, 27 year old Einar Örn Birgisson, went missing. Einar, a football player and the son of former basketball star

Birgir Örn Birgis Birgir Örn Birgisson (23 September 1942 – 11 December 2017) was an Icelandic basketball player and coach. He was one of the inaugural players of the Icelandic national basketball team in 1959 and played a total of 33 national team games. H ...

, was Atli's business partner and former teammate. A week later, Atli confessed to his murder, having beaten Einar four times in his head with a hammer in

Öskjuhlíð Öskjuhlíð () is a hill in the centre of Reykjavík, Iceland. It is above sea level. The hill is a designated outdoors area and is covered with trees. At the top of the hill stands Perlan, a landmark building set on top of six water tanks. It ...

in Reykjavík and hiding his body near

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula (Iceland), Southern Peninsula of Iceland not far from the tuya Þorbjörn (mountain), Þorbjörn. It is one of the few cities with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work in ...

. On 29 May 2001 he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the murder. He was released from prison in 2010.

References

External links

* * 1967 births Living people Atli Helgason Atli Helgason Atli Helgason Atli Helgason Atli Helgason Atli Helgason People convicted of murder Sportspeople convicted of murder {{Iceland-footy-bio-stub