Victor Gunnarsson - Assassination of Olof Palme

Assassination of Olof Palme

Gunnarsson (labeled in the media 33-åringen, "the 33-year-old") was an early suspect for the assassination of Olof Palme on February 28, 1986, in Stockholm, Sweden. He was taken in for questioning a first time on March 8, but released the same evening, but taken in again on March 12. On March 17, he was taken into custody and the prosecutor made a request to the court to have him detained. After evidence against him had weakened, primarily due to less weight being placed on identification near the scene by one eyewitness, he was released on April 11. However, he continued to be the subject of continued telephone surveillance for some periods of time.

Gunnarsson had connections to various extremist groups and was a member of the European Workers Party, the Swedish branch of the LaRouche movement, for a year before being kicked out in 1985. Also, anti-Palme pamphlets from this party, which had Palme as a target of much of their propaganda, were found in his home outside Stockholm.