SweStories Monday Special no 1

17/07/2023

A heinous robbery-murder was commited on wednesday, January 5, 1910. In the morning, Gerell's Exchange Office located in the center of Stockholm at Rydbergs House on Malmtorgsgatan was robbed. The 23-year-old cashier, Anna Victoria Hellsten, was brutally murdered. Will the police find the brutal robber-murderer?

The murder and robbery were discovered by a couple of coal delivery drivers who were supposed to deliver coal to the hotel at 10:20 in the morning. The coal delivery drivers entered the premises to inquire about where the coal should be delivered, only to be met with a gruesome sight. In the small office, right in the middle of the floor, lay the young woman, Victoria, completely lifeless in a large pool of blood and with severe crushing wounds on her head.

The police and an ambulance were immediately called, and Victoria was transported to Serafim Hospital, but she succumbed to her severe injuries. She had received two major wounds to her head that had penetrated the skull and entered the brain. One of the injuries was caused by a sharp weapon, and the other injury was inflicted with some type of pointed object.

The office clerk, Anna Victoria Hellsten, was born in Sundsvall on December 19, 1884, and was the daughter of the painter worker, Johan Hellsten (1847-1886), and Sara Stina Jonsdotter (1849-1936). Victoria was the youngest of four siblings. In 1906, she moved to Stockholm to live with her older sister, Signe.

Victoria had a bright future ahead of her and was ambitious and determined. Since 1906, she had changed residences several times but was currently living at Döbelnsgatan 21, 2nd floor, Stockholm, in 1910, along with her sister who was two years older. She must have enjoyed living in a bustling and growing Stockholm and in her job, where she had taken on more responsibility.

THE TRAIL OF THE MURDERER

On Wednesday evening, January 5, the police received information that a suspect had checked into Temperance Hotel on Bryggaregatan but had already checked out at 3:00 AM, appearing very nervous. The hotel guest had told the receptionist that he urgently needed to go to Vaxholm. The hotel guest could be identified because he had left a suitcase behind. Inside the suitcase, the police found a stack of foreign banknotes held together with a rubber band. They also found a handbag with an empty wallet marked "Viktoria Hellsten, Döbelnsgatan 21, 2nd floor" and a photograph of the murderer.

The estimated value of the entire stolen loot was around 4,500 kronor. In today's currency, that would be approximately 200,000 kronor (19,500 US dollars).

A group of about ten police officers boarded a boat and headed to Karlsudd, Vaxholm, where the hotel guest's father lived. The hotel guest had now been identified as the former waiter, Johan Alfred Andersson Ander, who was a known violent criminal. He had been convicted of three thefts and an assault in Sweden, as well as a theft in Helsinki, Finland.

The house in Karlsudd was now surrounded by about ten police officers with their weapons drawn, and Ander and his wife were apprehended calmly. The couple was taken into custody at 4:00 AM on Wednesday, January 7, on charges of robbery and murder.

Several items from Gerell's Exchange Office were found in the house at Karlsudd, including Victoria Hellsten's apartment keys. On Friday, January 8, the police received a tip about a package containing a "lever scale" which, upon examination, turned out to be the murder weapon. The package could be traced back to Alfred Ander, as he had purchased it two weeks earlier, and many witnesses had also seen him carrying the package on the day of the murder.

The trial against Ander began on February 28, 1910, in Stockholm City Hall after a thorough investigation. The trial lasted until May 14 when he was sentenced to death. Throughout the entire time, Alfred Ander vehemently denied his guilt. But the evidence was overwhelming with both witnesses and forensic evidence.

The execution took place, and the guillotine fell on the courtyard of Långholmen Central Prison on November 23, 1910, over 11 months after the murder. The last thing Ander said before lying down was, "Good morning, gentlemen."

Alfred Ander became the first and last person to be executed by guillotine in Sweden. The death penalty in peacetime was abolished in 1921.

ulf.guttman@sweroots.com