Assassination of Olof Palme

Olof Palme was walking home from a cinema with his wife, Lisbeth, when he was fatally shot in central Stockholm on February 28, 1986. The murder prompted a long-running investigation into competing theories about the gunman’s identity and motives.

In 2020, chief prosecutor Krister Petersson discontinued the investigation, naming Stig Engström, a graphic designer who had died in 2000, as the suspected gunman. Engström had worked near the scene. He was never charged or tried.

In December 2025, a review by Sweden’s prosecution authority found that the evidence was insufficient to identify Engström as the perpetrator. The authority changed the basis for closing the investigation and left it closed, citing the lack of a viable path forward. The murder remains unsolved.