Sweden’s prime minister was shot after leaving a Stockholm cinema.
Updated 11 Aug 2026
Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot at close range while walking home from a Stockholm cinema with his wife, Lisbet, on 28 February 1986. The attacker fled through nearby streets before police could identify or detain him. [1]
The investigation became one of the largest in Swedish history. In 2020, prosecutors named the deceased Stig Engström as their suspected offender and closed the case, but the allegation was never tested in court. [2]
4 sourced milestones
Major events in the case, shown in chronological order.
Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was fatally shot while walking home from a Stockholm cinema with his wife, Lisbet Palme.
Source: Wikipedia ↗Christer Pettersson was convicted in the trial court, but an appellate court acquitted him after finding the evidence insufficient.
Source: Wikipedia ↗The Swedish Prosecution Authority identified deceased graphic designer Stig Engström as its principal suspect and closed the case because he could not be prosecuted.
Source: Swedish Prosecution Authority ↗A senior prosecutor declined to reopen the investigation but removed the 2020 finding that Engström was the identified suspect, concluding that the evidence did not permit a sufficiently definite attribution.
Source: Swedish Prosecution Authority ↗4 videos
Opening chapter of a multilingual 2025 investigative documentary series.
Examines the lone-perpetrator question and the history of the investigation.
Continues the filmmakers’ investigation into Christer A.
Final chapter, including a reconstruction of the night of the murder.
Play here or open the original video on YouTube.
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