Mattias Flink (born 8 March 1970) is a

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 ...

spree killer A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations ...

who killed seven people on June 11, 1994, in Falun, Sweden. At the time, he was a second lieutenant in the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

. He was released from prison on 11 June 2014, exactly twenty years after the murders.

Early years

Flink was born and raised in

Falun, Sweden Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabitan ...

. His mother was a housewife and his father and grandfather worked as gunsmiths with their own shop. At the age of seven Flink joined the

Scout Movement Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

. His parents divorced when he was nine years old and the divorce is described as having been calm and sensible. Flink chose to stay with his father in the family house while his mother moved to an apartment just a couple of hundred meters from the house. According to psychological evaluations his mother's departure left deep scars within Flink. It is said that Flink developed some kind of alienation towards women. Flink attended high school with a focus on Electric Mechanical studies. After his graduation Flink enlisted as a conscript with Dalarna Regiment. He committed himself to become an officer of the Swedish Army and was employed at Dalarna Regiment in 1993.

Mental health

During the spring of 1994 Flink had severe problems with his mental health, resulting in aggression, severe jealousy, sleeping disorders and paranoia. This led to a total

mental breakdown 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 remitti ...

. He was reported as having been "thrown out of a restaurant for bothering women".

Killing spree

On 11 June 1994, Second Lieutenant Mattias Flink consumed a large amount of alcohol, then he went home to change his clothes. Dressed in his field uniform he walked to his regiment. He equipped himself with his Ak 5 assault rifle and 150 rounds of ammunition,

5.56×45mm NATO The 5.56×45mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 5.56 NATO, but often pronounced "five-five-six") is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge family developed in the late 1970s in Belgium by FN Herstal. It consists of the SS109, L110, and ...

caliber. Flink then set out for a park in downtown Falun where he shot 6 members of the Women's Auxiliary Services at random. Shortly thereafter, he shot two men, a cyclist and a security officer, at a nearby road crossing. Six of the victims died immediately, while another woman died in the hospital (see below). One victim survived the attack.

Victims

History

Arrest

After the shootings Flink sought refuge in a nearby crane. He remained there for some time before he made his way down to walk home along an abandoned railway. It was at this time that two policemen discovered him. Flink fired two rounds at the policemen who then returned fire. Flink was hit in the hip and collapsed. At 03:25 Flink was apprehended and brought to Falun hospital.

Trial

In the district court the defense never questioned the prosecutor's description of the crime. The question for the defense was whether or not Flink was mentally ill at the time of the shooting. According to experts, Flink was in a self-inflicted temporary psychotic condition, triggered by alcohol, on the evening of the crime. If Flink was found to be mentally ill he would not be able to be sentenced to prison. The final verdict came in the Swedish Supreme Court; Mattias Flink was sentenced to life imprisonment. This precedent verdict made it possible for the courts in Sweden to sentence people to prison for crimes stemming from and committed during an alcohol-induced psychosis.

Time in prison

Flink was placed in the

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

prison but was subsequently moved to Beateberg prison in Skogås outside of Stockholm. When the prisoners of Beateberg learned of Flink's move they arranged a meeting to show their disgust towards his actions of killing innocent women. Flink has been allotted protected identity by Swedish Authorities. He has refused to give any interviews. During his years in prison he has been described as a calm and well-behaved prisoner. During the spring of 2008, Flink applied for parole to the District court of

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers in ...

. On June 9, the court ruled that Flink must go through a psychiatric examination to determine whether he is likely to be dangerous to others before a decision on parole can be made. The examination by the

Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine The Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine ( sv, Rättsmedicinalverket, abbreviated RMV) is a Swedish government agency organized under the Ministry of Justice, responsible for forensic psychiatry, forensic chemistry, forensic medicine and ...

(''Rättsmedicinalverket'') was finished by July 7. The victims' families strongly opposed Flink's possible release. Flink was given several monitored short-term leaves from prison, and in May 2007 he was granted unmonitored leaves as he had behaved well during his other leaves. Relatives and families of the victims strongly opposed these leaves and expressed worries about a recurrence of Flink's violence.

Conversion of life sentence to a set time sentence

In January, 2008, Flink requested that his life sentence be limited to 24 years imprisonment. However, on 3 September 2008,

municipal court City court or municipal court is a court of law with jurisdiction limited to a city or other municipality. It typically addresses "violations of city ordinances and may also have jurisdiction over minor criminal cases...and over certain civil cases ...

rejected the request due to the circumstances regarding the case that were "exceptionally difficult" and that a set time punishment has to greatly exceed 24 years. On 7 July 2010, Flink's request to convert his sentence was approved by

tingsrätt (district court). His punishment was set to 32 years imprisonment, which would have made him eligible for parole sometime in 2015 as prisoners are in Sweden normally released after serving two thirds of their set time sentences. The decision was appealed by the prosecutor. On 21 December 2010, Flink's punishment was adjusted to 36 years by

Göta Court of Appeal The Göta Court of Appeal ( sv, Göta hovrätt), located in Jönköping, is one of the six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system. The court was established in 1634 during the regency of Queen Christina. It is the second oldest of the Swed ...

, pushing his potential parole date to the summer of 2018. After yet another appeal, Flink's punishment was adjusted to 30 years by the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

making his parole date to the summer of 2014, after serving 20 years in prison. On 11 June 2014, Flink was released from jail on the 20th anniversary of his shooting spree.

References

External links

Ingen ska behöva se mig med vapen igen, ''Aftonbladet''
(June 1, 2008) {{DEFAULTSORT:Flink, Mattias Living people 1970 births Swedish spree killers Swedish prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Sweden Swedish people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Sweden People from Falun Swedish mass murderers 1994 mass shootings in Europe Mass shootings in Sweden