Murder of Elin Krantz

Elin Krantz was a Swedish 27-year-old woman who was murdered in the Biskopsgården district of Gothenburg on 26 September 2010. 

Krantz was raped and murdered by Ephrem Yohannes, a 23-year-old Ethiopian immigrant, in Biskopsgården where her body was found.

Yohannes was found guilty of Krantz's murder and received a 16-year prison sentence and deportation on release.

Background

On 26 September 2010, Elin Krantz, a 27-year-old Swedish woman from Falköping, fell asleep on the tram after an evening enjoying the nightlife of Gothenburg. Footage from Security cameras showed that Krantz was then followed by a man who attempted to rape her and subsequently beat her to death. Krantz's severely beaten corpse was found the next day in Gothenburg's Biskopsgården district. 

On 28 September, 23-year old Ephrem Yohannes, an Ethiopian citizen with a residence permit with clothes and appearance similar to that of the man captured on the security cameras, was arrested by plainclothes policemen at Gothenburg Central Station. Krantz' DNA was found on his clothing and Yohannes' DNA was found on her body.

Trial

Yohannes was convicted for murder and aggravated rape. In March 2011, Yohannes was sentenced to 18 years in prison and subsequent deportation. He was to serve 16 years (About 10 1/2 years with good behavior) as a two-year reduction is applied to deportation sentences. The first sentence was appealed to the Hovrätt as the accused pleaded innocence. The prosecutor Stina Lundberg argued for a life sentence and aggravated sexual assault. In the autumn of 2011, the Court of Appeals upheld the original sentence. During the Hovrätt court proceeding, news broke that the wife and children of Yohannes had left Europe due to several threats to their lives. The parents of Elin Krantz and her five siblings were awarded criminal damages of around €60,000.

Yohannes was initially imprisoned in Norrtäljeanstalten, a high security prison in Norrtälje, but after attacking a fellow inmate he was transferred to Salbergaanstalten prison in Sala. Yohannes has received several warnings for inappropriate behaviour.

Aftermath

Krantz's body was interred at the Sankt Olof kyrkogård cemetery in her hometown of Falköping. In October 2010, over 1000 people gathered in the district - where her body was found - to commemorate her and to protest the violence.