Woman in Sweden accused of having sex with skeletons, later acquitted

A 37-year-old Swedish woman, whose name has never been released, was arrested in September 2012 accused of using human bones for sexual purposes. The case made headlines around the world, but it ended very differently from how it began.

The discovery of the skeletons

The police discovery was completely accidental: neighbors had called the police because they heard noises, which they thought were gunshots, coming from the woman’s apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Once inside to check, officers found the home full of bones: a nearly complete skeleton, at least six skulls, a spine and many other bones, more than a hundred pieces in all.

In the apartment there were also knives, a drill, a body bag, several firearms and a photograph of a mortuary. Police also found photos of bones placed around the house, including her bed, and two CDs titled “My necrophilia” and “My first time”.

The charges

According to the prosecution, some of the photos showed the woman hugging and kissing the bones and engaging in sexual acts with them. She, however, always denied being the person in the photos, saying she had found them online.

In Sweden necrophilia is not a crime in itself. So the woman was charged with “violating the peace of the dead” (brott mot griftefrid), punishable by up to two years in prison.

Katarina Öberg, head of the sexual medicine department at Stockholm’s Karolinska University Hospital, said she had never dealt with a similar case nor heard of one in Sweden. There was, however, no evidence that the woman had dug up bodies or stolen them from a mortuary. She said she had bought the bones legally online, and it emerged that she had sold three skulls to a man, who testified at the trial.

Her version

The woman admitted to keeping many human bones at home, but said she had them out of historical and scientific interest and treated them with respect. She described herself to the newspaper Göteborgs-Posten as an “odd bird” and explained:

I have an interest in forensic medicine and I’m passionate about osteology. I have pictures of dead people, I don’t deny that. I’m also interested in necrophilia, but I’m not sexually interested in necrophilia.

Trial and acquittal

On December 17, 2012 the Gothenburg District Court convicted her of violating the peace of the dead and of illegal possession of weapons, the only charge she had admitted. She did not go to prison: she was given probation and ordered to undergo treatment for addiction and psychiatric problems. According to the judges she had handled the bones “in an undignified manner”, and to be guilty it was enough that she knew she was handling human bones.

On appeal, however, the story changed. On October 8, 2013 the Court of Appeal acquitted her of all skeleton-related charges and upheld only the weapons conviction. The seized bones were returned to her.

Her lawyer had argued that the law protects only corpses and the ashes of the dead, meaning remains that are buried, cremated or in a coffin, and that there was no proof she had ever raided a tomb. Meanwhile she said she had sought help for her addiction and had started selling off her skeletons and weapons.

In 2015 the Swedish state paid her 70,000 kronor, about 7,500 euros, in damages for being falsely accused of necrophilia.

Sources

• The Local – Skeleton lover guilty: Swedish court
• The Local – ‘Skeleton lover’ keeps her bones after court case
• Sveriges Radio – Woman accused of using skeletons for sex acts
• Sveriges Radio – Court finds woman guilty in necrophilia case
• Sveriges Radio – ‘Skeleton woman’ verdict upheld – will get her bones back
• Inquirer – Swedish woman falsely accused of necrophilia wins damages