A man in his forties went on trial this week at Jönköping District Court, accused of aggravated rape of a patient receiving end-of-life care at Länssjukhuset Ryhov, SVT Nyheter reports. The charge was filed on Monday, and transcripts of the police interviews with the accused have now been made public.
In those interviews, the man said he was driven by a persistent sense of emptiness, and he described himself in early questioning as a psychopath, according to SVT Nyheter. He told investigators he had built a facade and played a role in order to function in daily life and at work.
Why it matters
The case raises hard questions about trust in care settings, particularly for patients who cannot speak for themselves. The accused was a nurse on a ward where colleagues say they felt safer when he was on shift. According to SVT Nyheter, both relatives and co-workers have said they noticed nothing unusual about his behaviour, and one colleague described him as the department's anchor — someone staff relied on.
That gap between how the man presented himself and what he told investigators is central to the case now before the court.
The account given in questioning
The man told police he selected the patient because she was unconscious. He said he did not want to do something like this to a person who would feel anything or be aware of what was happening, SVT Nyheter reports.
He described his thinking at the time as badly distorted and said he feels deep shame about what occurred. According to the interview material, he said he entered the woman's room and assaulted her there.
He was interrupted when a colleague came into the room. That colleague told investigators she raised the alarm as soon as she understood an assault had taken place.
After the colleague called police, the man left the building and ran out to the car park. Security guards who had been summoned were unable to stop him before he got into his car and drove off. He crashed a short time later while being pursued by police, according to SVT Nyheter.
Admission, but a dispute over the charge
The man's defence lawyer says his client admits the act but wants it classified as aggravated sexual assault rather than aggravated rape, SVT Nyheter reports. The distinction matters for the severity of the offence he would be convicted of.
Other Swedish outlets have also reported on the case. Aftonbladet carried the man's own words about the assault, and Jönköpings-Posten reported his opening statement that he would confess. Omni summarised the nurse's account as describing a choice of an unconscious victim.
The court proceedings continue, and the classification of the offence is expected to be a central point of argument.