Kriti Mehrotra
As a poignant drama shining a light upon the real 2004 double homicide that left the entire nation of Sweden baffled to the very core, Netflix’s ‘The Breakthrough‘ is truly unlike any other. That’s because it follows the case’s lead investigator as he spends 16 years poring over it to find the killer before actually bringing matters to a close in 2020 with the help of a genealogist. Their perpetrator was a loner by the name of David Nilsson, whose character is indeed inspired by 8-year-old Mohammed Ammouri and 56-year-old Anna-Lena Svensson’s real fatal stabber.
David Nilsson is a Mirror of Daniel Nyqvist
With the help of criminal profiling both in actuality as well as in the aforementioned Lisa Siwe directorial, it was quite clear from the get-go that the assailant had chosen his victims at random. As if that’s not enough, from how the two Linköping residents were brutally stabbed in an open street before the evidence was discarded nearby, officials were able to gather additional data too. That’s how they knew to zero in on males aged between 15 and 30 who not only knew the city well or were local but also struggled with social situations as well as their mental health.
Unfortunately, despite all this and concrete DNA evidence, it wasn’t until the summer of 2020 that Daniel Nyqvist (David Nilsson in the Nordic show) was positively identified as the murderer. He reportedly honestly preferred leading a reclusive life, first in his parents’ home just outside the wondrous southern municipality and then in a rat her dingy apartment near the heart of it. Furthermore, he was 21 at the time of the double homicide, which he confessed to almost immediately following his arrest on the morning of June 9 – he said the voices in his head pushed him down this path.
Daniel Nyqvist Fell Into Isolation During His Later Teenage Years
It was reportedly back when Daniel was in high school that he drifted away into his own world to such an extent he lost all social contact with even those who were once his closest confidants. This was seemingly around the same time he began cutting school and excessively drinking alcohol despite never having touched it or any other substance before, according to former friends. Little did his loved ones know he would then gradually develop a taste for violence within his long-term passion for role-playing, video, as well as computer games, only for it to then evolve into an interest in knives.
Daniel was actually on such a path of unemployment that he was offered a job at a fire station through a government wage subsidy – it was a 6-month full-time temporary position, but it’s unclear whether he even served there. This position ran from May 2009 to the end of that year, around the same time the 26-year-old moved out of his parents’ place as his brother had done long, long before. He lived there until his arrest in June 2020 – the 37-year-old had no family of his own, and he supported himself through compensation from the government.
Daniel Nyqvist First Became a Suspect in Early 2020
While it was in June 2020 that Daniel was arrested with the help of genealogy, a former friend had actually gone to the authorities about him just months prior in January. As per reports, upon seeing an old composite sketch the police had released of the double homicide’s killer, a childhood friend of his had approached them to let them know he thought Daniel was behind the murders. This was because of his interest in knives and because the friend vividly remembered him in the small black beanie that the police found near the scene as evidence. As a result, he was called in to do a DNA swab on January 27, but he never showed.
Daniel didn’t show up for the swab, but he never fled the city. In fact, he didn’t even resist arrest in the summer, later telling authorities he was actually sure he would be caught within a few days of the crime itself. According to his statements, he had started hearing voices in his head when he was a teenager, and they were the ones who convinced him that killing two people would bring him peace. So, on the morning of October 19, 2004, he first stabbed 8-year-old Mohammed Ammouri while he was walking to school before turning around and stabbing 56-year-old Anna-Lena Svensson, who had witnessed the whole thing and tried raising alarms.
Daniel Nyqvist Has Been Convicted of His Crimes
Daniel was never involved in any physical altercation or murder case again, but he did continue leading a reclusive life. In the end, on October 1, 2020, he was convicted of two counts of murder, following which he was sentenced to indefinite psychiatric care. After all, medical experts were able to determine that he has a serious psychiatric disorder and has had it since before the time of the crime. Nevertheless, he was also ordered to pay restitution worth 350,000 Swedish Krona to the family of 8-year-old Mohammed and 1.4 million Swedish Krona to the Swedish State. Anna-Lena’s family never requested any sort of compensation from him during the legal proceedings. Therefore, today, at the age of 41, the convict remains under medical care in Sweden.
Read More: John Sundin: Is He a Real Swedish Detective? Where is He Now?
