Reminiscences of the silent landscape

The seventh day. I really do believe that we will never get out of here. This journey just keeps getting longer and longer. City, trees, fields, water, highway; city, diner, trees, fields; highway. We left something behind us. Feeling my sister’s hand in mine. Another highway exit. Another town. Travelling leaves us behind. Falling asleep.

In Märsta on the 11th January 2001 OL intentionally deprived his ex-wife, FB, the mother of his daughter, of her life by administering to her twenty-four knife wounds and cuts to the trunk, neck and head with injuries to the ribs, heart, left lung, liver, inferior vena cava and windpipe as well as several cuts to the left arm, hands and the left leg. Death occurred from the wounds. OL was given a life sentence for murder and assault.

The fourth day. The mirror of water is still, gleaming. Car parked. Pausing gives a feeling of liberty. The legs creak lightly, but soon enough exploratory joy takes hold. I investigate the lake, the beach, the sky. All is deserted. Father points to a house at the far end of the water. I do not get a chance to see it before we have to drive off again. But I hear how it creaks in the distance.

In Helsingborg on the night prior to the 30th January 2001. EJ deprived NS of her life by strangling her with his hands, and thereafter beating her head several times with a large stone which caused crush wounds, serious fractures of the skull, and brain injuries. Death was caused by the brain injuries. EJ was sentenced to forensic psychiatric care, with special discharge probation, for murder.

The second day. People throng past. Journeys, red lights, faces. Unknown. Once again I reach for the windscreen. Looking. Out. Feeling my sister’s hand in mine, untouched. The red lights are the best. The waiting. The memories. Pictures with a semblance of yesterday. Squeezing the hand. It is still there. The warmth, the memory of yesterday. Now we are moving again.

In Bäckhammar on the 20th July 2001 GN deprived his wife AU of her life by first stabbing her in the abdomen and back six times and thereafter strangling her with a pair of tights. GN was sentenced to ten years in prison for murder.

The fifth day. They told me to sit absolutely still. Went away. Silently. I breathe irregularly, the air gets caught half way up. My knuckles whiten around the wrought iron, I put my feet against the floor boards. Silently. With all my strength. They approach the door. I am alone. The silence deafens me. I close my eyes to block out the motionlessness.

At their common work place in Hovmantorp on the 5th of July 2001 HA deprived his wife GA of her life by forcefully administering two knife wounds, one above the left breast injuring the heart, lungs, aorta and inferior vena cava, and the other to the left side of the back injuring the left lung. GA died immediately from injuries caused by the two strokes. HA was sentenced to for ten years in prison for murder.

The fifth day. Door closing behind me. Engine rustling to life. Radio on, mostly hissing. White noise. Let’s go, father said. The others were eager. Motion. I felt it through my legs, up to my belly. How was I to know that this was only the beginning.

In an apartment in Göteborg on the morning of the 31st of December 2001 DK deprived his wife SK of her life by administering several cuts with a kitchen knife to the face, the throat with injuries to the upper left aorta, the front of the trunk with injuries to heart and lungs, and the arms and legs. The injuries to the internal organs of the thorax and the upper left aorta lead to SK’s death from loss of blood. DK was sentenced to forensic psychiatric care, with special discharge probation, for murder.

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Color photography and text by Joakim Sebring, B&W photography by Anders Blomqvist.
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