Thomas Quick: The Making of a Serial Killer

Investigative journalist Rastam (1956–2012)—who tragically died the day after finishing this manuscript—shares the compulsively readable story of Thomas Quick (whose real name was Sture Bergwall), who came to be known as “Sweden’s most notorious serial killer.” Though Quick’s confessions to more than 30 murders led to eight convictions, Rastram was fascinated by the phenomenon of false confessions, and the more he examined Quick’s story, the more problems he found. With painstaking attention to detail, Rastram compiled a devastating list of inconsistencies in Quick’s accounts and proof that the information Quick provided was accessible to others. Even more disturbing is the evidence that Swedish law-enforcement fed Quick some of his story, that heavy medication affected him during the confessions, and that Quick’s lawyer abrogated his role to force the state to prove its case. This fascinating true crime story, which reads like a detective novel, is a fitting legacy for its author. Agency: Salomonssen Agency. (June)