Sweden: Hobby hunter charged with hunting a human

A hunter takes aim at a jogger, shoots him down, and flees. Now investigations reveal: he apparently targeted people on multiple previous occasions — and filmed everything.

In the early morning twilight last November, retired man Olle Rosdahl is jogging at 04:30 along a country road in southeastern Sweden, not far from his home in Klippan. Suddenly a shot rings out, the 78-year-old is struck in the hip and collapses.

In an interview with the Swedish television channel SVT he said at the time:

"I heard a shot and fell to the ground. I shouted 'what the hell is all this shooting!'"

His life is in danger, but thanks to the help of a neighbor he is quickly taken to the hospital in Helsingborg and survives. Police locate the 48-year-old shooter seven hours later, following a large-scale search operation involving heavily armed units and a helicopter. He is hiding in the undergrowth of a dense forest and explains that a terrible accident has occurred: the Norwegian — who, like many of his compatriots, travels to Sweden to hunt — says he saw a deer through his thermal scope and fired. Because this type of hunting in the dark is illegal, he fled when he heard voices.

Perpetrator violated hunting law

Based on the investigation, however, police soon stop believing it was an accident — and also dismiss the notion of gross negligent bodily harm, as reported by the Luzerner Zeitung. The Norwegian is charged with murder. Detectives found a short video on the memory card of the scope, in which a tall figure can be seen more or less clearly moving on two legs (see image). The crosshairs follow the figure for a while, then the shot is fired. The hunter must have clearly seen that he was aiming at a person, said prosecutor Ola Lavie to the Swedish newspaper «Kvällsposten». Yet he still pulled the trigger:«He shot to kill», Lavie told the court this week. He received support from a Swedish hunting expert: a mix-up, the expert said, could at most have occurred with a bear. But there are no bears in this area. According to the television channel NRK, the Norwegian is further implicated in the indictment. He is said to have travelled to Sweden a total of six times last autumn. This is not unusual for hunters — many Norwegians hunt in the open southern Swedish countryside, particularly for wild boar. However, the 48-year-old faces several charges of violating hunting laws: he is alleged to have illegally hunted at night on multiple occasions using an infrared scope and to have fired with an unlawfully large calibre.

Defence points to lack of motive

Even more suspicious are additional short films seized from the scope camera, which according to the prosecution show that the hunter had repeatedly aimed his rifle at other people as well — even at the head of one individual. In those cases, however, he did not pull the trigger. He also aimed at least once at the house of retiree Olle Rosdahl, whom he ultimately shot dead. The prosecution has so far found no personal motive or connection between the Norwegian hunter and the 78-year-old victim that could explain a deliberate killing. The defence drew attention to this absence of motive. The defendant, who broke down in tears repeatedly during the trial, denied all guilt. His client, the defence lawyer explained, had made a terrible mistake when looking through the scope — despite being an experienced hunter. Had he known he had shot a person, he would of course have rushed to their aid rather than hiding in the forest.