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Lindh murder trial to close after surprise witness

The trial into the killing of Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh was scheduled to wind up yesterday after prosecutors call a last-minute witness before both sides present their closing arguments.

Mijailo Mijailovic, a 25-year-old Swede of Serbian origin who has a history of psychiatric problems, has admitted to stabbing Lindh, but has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, arguing that he did not intend to kill her.

Lindh, who had been tipped as a future prime minister, was stabbed repeatedly in the arms, chest and abdomen as she shopped for clothes with a friend at a Stockholm department store on Sept. 10.

She died the following day of her injuries, aged 46 and leaving two young children. Her death plunged Sweden and the world into shock, rekindling dark memories of the still unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme.

Mijailovic has insisted that he did not intend for Lindh to die, and has maintained that he was not in control of his actions since voices ordered him to attack her and he was sleep-deprived and on wrongly-prescribed medication.

The prosecution, which must prove that Mijailovic intended for Lindh to die in order to secure a conviction on the murder charge, hopes to prove that he was well aware that his actions would lead to her death.

Mijailovic faces a possible life sentence, which in Sweden usually corresponds to about 15 years, though the court was expected to order a month-long psychiatric evaluation of him before reaching its verdict.

The trial opened last Wednesday, with Mijailovic himself testifying about the voices in his head. He said he was aware he was attacking the foreign minister, but said his actions were not politically motivated.

The court later heard a spine-chilling, first-hand account of the assault from Eva Franchell, the friend who accompanied Lindh on the fatal shopping spree.

"Out of the corner of my eye ... I see a man come rushing toward us," she told the court. "I perceived it as terribly threatening."

"This image of him rushing past me is something I experience over and over again in nightmares," she said.

The prosecution was expected to call for the last-minute testimony of a taxi driver who drove Mijailovic out of town after the attack, before the court hears final pleas. The driver contacted police with his story last week, saying he had only just realized that he had driven Mijailovic home after the attack.
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