Aahana Swrup
‘The Breakthrough‘ is a Swedish crime show about a discovery that upheaves the approach to a years-long murder investigation from the ground up. After a roadside stabbing results in the death of two victims in Linköping, Detective John Sundin takes on the case and prepares for a swift solve. Nonetheless, despite the evidence gathered against the perpetrator, including his DNA, the killer managed to evade identification. Sixteen years later, as new technology evolves, John partners up with genealogist Per Skogkvist, whose work shows great promise. However, the duo must catch the elusive killer before their deadline runs out, shutting down the funding of their investigation.
Throughout this extensive investigation, journalist Stina Eriksson, who is always on the lookout for a juicy scoop, becomes John’s greatest foil. Yet, in a roundabout way, her minuscule contribution also ends up securing a means for Per to track down the killer. Therefore, considering her instrumental role in the on-screen investigation, the audience is bound to grow intrigued about the possibility of an off-screen counterpart in the real 2004 Linköping murders. SPOILERS HEAD!
Stina Eriksson is Largely a Work of Fiction
Even though ‘The Breakthrough’ is based on a real-life criminal case, the Netflix show is liberal with its creative liberties and often diverges from factual and historical accounts in favor of storytelling. Stina Eriksson’s character remains the most notable example of this. The show’s base inspiration comes from the second-largest police investigation that has ever taken place in Sweden’s history. In this case of a double homicide, two Linköping residents— 8-year-old Mohamad Ammouri and 56-year-old Anna-Lena Svensson— fell victim to an elusive killer who couldn’t be caught for years.
Despite Chief Investigator Jan Staaf and his team’s dogged attempts, the killer continued to go unidentified for 16 whole years. Eventually, as new legislation allowed the police force to work with a genealogist, Peter Sjölund, to use the public data, they were able to track the perpetrator down through his family’s records. As such, Daniel Nyqvist, the killer responsible for the murders of Ammouri and Svensson, was apprehended and convicted for the crime. Reportedly, Sjölund’s investigative research included the use of databases of genetic testing companies like GEDmatch and Family Tree.
However, in the show, Sjölund’s on-screen counterpart, Per, arrives at his final revelation with the help of Stina Eriksson. Earlier in the story, the Journalist agrees to take a swab test in exchange for an exclusive interview with the genealogist. Yet, as it turns out, she’s the unwitting cousin of the killer, and her DNA sample provides Per with the final piece he needs to narrow down his search to its final stage. While this makes for riveting television, there are no records of something like this happening in real life. For the same reason, Stina’s character becomes a fictionalized addition to the show who lacks a clear counterpart in the real-life case of the murders committed by Nyqvist.
Stina Eriksson is Partly Inspired by Real-Life Journalist Anna Bodin
Even though Stina Eriksson is likely a fabricated character, part of her storyline still seems to reference a real-life journalist. In the aftermath of John and Per’s successful investigation, Stina approaches the genealogist with the idea of co-authoring a book about his research and the crucial part it played in Daniel Nyqvist’s arrest. This seems to be an allusion to the real-life collaboration between Peter Sjölund and journalist Anna Bodin, who penned the nonfiction book, ‘The Breakthrough: This is How the Genealogist Solved the Double Murder in Linköping’ (also known as ‘Genombrottet’).
Since Sjölund and Bodin’s book is the basis for the similarly titled show, this reference through Per and Stina’s characters becomes even more evident. Yet, even though Stina occupies the same space as Bodin in this on-screen scenario, certain distinctions still remain between the two. Stina’s relationship with the show’s killer and the lack of any connection between Bodin and Nyqvist are the most glaring dissimilarities between the two. Therefore, even if the fictional Journalist equipped Bodin as a source of inspiration, the link between the two remains loose and ambiguous.
Anna Bodin Continues Working For Dagens Nyheter
These days, Anna Bodin is best known for her literary venture alongside Peter Sjölund through the true crime book ‘The Breakthrough.’ On the other hand, she is also recognized for her work in Swedish journalism. The reporter sports a long-winded career in journalism with a background in crime reporting, as well as general and social reporting. She has been working at the Swedish daily newspaper—often abbreviated to DN—since 1998.
Now, more than twenty-five years later, Bodin remains a notable fixture at the publication and continues to pursue the journalistic calling. In the span of her decades-long career, she has covered several different topics and even continues to report on matters related to genealogy. Recently, in the build-up to the Netflix show’s release, Bodin and Sjölund spoke about the project and said, “We’re excited that FLX and Netflix will tell this story based on our extensive work. This is the first criminal case in Europe that has been solved with genetic genealogy, and it is a case that has touched both of us, the city of Linköping and Sweden, deeply.”
Read More: The Breakthrough Ending, Explained
