Christine Schürrer
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Christine Schürrer (born 30 June 1976 in
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
) is a German criminal, convicted of murdering two Swedish children, and seriously injuring their mother with 15 blows to the head with a
hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...
, after attacking them in their home in
Arboga Arboga () is a locality and the seat of Arboga Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,330 inhabitants in 2010. Overview The city of Arboga is known to have existed as a town since the 13th century but the area has been inhabited sinc ...
, Sweden, on 17 March 2008. The motive for the murders has been identified as jealousy, since Schürrer had dated the children's stepfather in 2006 while he was on holiday on the Greek island of
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
where she was working at a local
hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or share ...
.


Biography


Early life

Schürrer was born in Hanover, Germany. When she was 11 years old, her father left the family; Christine and her father had very little contact after that. She went to New York as an exchange student and lived with relatives in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. During her stay in the United States she also studied in
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
. After she moved back to Germany, Schürrer settled in
Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...
where she studied history for the next six years before traveling to
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
, Greece. While in Athens Schürrer got a job at a
hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or share ...
and also worked as a historian. After one year she moved back to her hometown in Germany to work but soon returned to Greece, this time to the island of
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
, where she met and had a romantic relationship with a Swedish man, the stepfather of her future victims.


Murders and arrest

Schürrer arrived in Sweden during the summer of 2007 and settled in
Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is a district and island in central Stockholm. Overview The district covers the large island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''). Although Södermalm usually is considered an island, wat ...
, in central
Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
. She later found an apartment in Skarpnäck, a suburb of Stockholm. During this period Schürrer tried to commit
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...
for a third time. She was admitted to Södersjukhuset hospital with cuts on her arms and was later released. She had previously tried to commit suicide because she felt betrayed by a Swedish man leaving her after a two-week romance in Greece. Police believe that Schürrer arrived in Arboga by train on the afternoon of 17 March 2008. She went to the victim's house and knocked on the door. When the mother, 23-year-old Emma Jangestig, answered the door, Schürrer entered the house and struck her over the head 15 times with a hammer. She then attacked the woman's two children, 3-year old Max and 1-year old Saga, causing fatal trauma to their heads. Schürrer had visited Arboga twice before on 12 March and 14 March, possibly to get more information as to the mother's location. The mother's ex-boyfriend, the father of the two children, was arrested, but he was released the next day after as it was established he was not the killer. Schürrer was arrested in Germany on 22 March 2008, but was released the same day. On 24 March German police sent DNA samples from the suspect to Swedish police for testing. The mother had begun to wake up from her coma in a hospital at about the same time, and could identify Schürrer as her attacker. Swedish investigators also examined video from a surveillance camera in the
Arboga Arboga () is a locality and the seat of Arboga Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,330 inhabitants in 2010. Overview The city of Arboga is known to have existed as a town since the 13th century but the area has been inhabited sinc ...
railway station and a witness had identified Schürrer, proving that she had been in Arboga on the day and time of the murder. She had left Sweden and headed back to Germany on 18 March. She was arrested by German police on 30 March, the day after an arrest warrant had been signed. She was later transferred to Sweden for the trial.


Trial and sentence

On 26 August 2008 Schürrer was found guilty of the murders and the assault on the mother. She underwent a psychological
evaluation Evaluation is a systematic determination and assessment of a subject's merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards. It can assist an organization, program, design, project or any other intervention or initiative to ...
to determine if she was fit to be sentenced to prison or should instead receive psychiatric treatment. She refused to cooperate with officials so it was impossible to make an accurate assessment of her psychological health. On 14 October 2008 she was sentenced to life in prison after an evaluation showed that she suffered from no
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...
as defined in Swedish law. If and when Schürrer is released from prison she will be deported from Sweden and barred from entering the country for life. Schürrer's
defense attorney A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ju ...
, Per-Ingvar Ekblad, said that he would take the case to the court of appeals. The case received extensive coverage from both
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and world media.


Autopsy photos

In September 2008, the Swedish media reported that the public preliminary investigation protocols concerning Schürrer's murder trial had been made available through a torrent on
The Pirate Bay The Pirate Bay (sometimes abbreviated as TPB) is an online index of digital content of entertainment media and software. Founded in 2003 by Swedish think tank Piratbyrån, The Pirate Bay allows visitors to search, download, and contribute ...
, a Swedish website providing
magnet links Magnet is a URI scheme that defines the format of magnet links, a de facto standard for identifying files ( URN) by their content, via cryptographic hash value rather than by their location. Although magnet links can be used in a number of con ...
. In Sweden, preliminary investigations become publicly available the moment a lawsuit is filed and can be ordered from the court by any individual. The documents included pictures from the autopsy of the two murdered children, leading their father Nicklas Jangestig to demand that the website remove the material; The Pirate Bay refused. The number of downloads increased to about 50,000 a few days later. On 11 September 2008, the website's press contact Peter Sunde participated in the debate program ''Debatt'' on the public broadcaster SVT. Sunde had agreed to participate on the condition that the father Nicklas Jangestig would not take part in the debate. Jangestig ultimately did participate in the program by telephone, which Sunde viewed as a betrayal by SVT. This resulted in The Pirate Bay suspending all of its press contacts the following day. “I don’t think it’s our job to judge if something is ethical or unethical or what other people want to put out on the internet,” said The Pirate Bay’s spokesperson Peter Sunde to TV4.


Appeal

Schürrer appealed to the
Svea Court of Appeal Svea Court of Appeal ( sv, Svea hovrätt), located in Stockholm, is one of six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system. It is located in the Wrangel Palace, on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm. History The Svea C ...
for a new trial. Her sentence was finalised on February 16 when her appeal was rejected. Schürrer was transferred to a women's prison in
Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is home to the University of Vechta. It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every summer and has a h ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
in March 2012 to serve out the remainder of her sentence. Schürrer is the seventh woman in Swedish history to be sentenced to life imprisonment.


References


External links


Pro-Christine Schürrer blog
(in Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schurrer, Christine German murderers of children German female murderers German people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Sweden People from Hanover German people imprisoned abroad German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Sweden 2008 crimes in Sweden 1976 births Living people Criminals from Lower Saxony Hammer assaults