Swedish court orders retrial for convicted serial killer who withdrew confession

STOCKHOLM – A man once considered Sweden’s worst serial killer is a step closer to being exonerated of all of his convictions, in what’s become a major scandal for the country’s justice system.

On Friday, a court in northern Sweden granted a retrial for Sture Bergwall in two murder cases from 1976 and 1984, citing doubts over confessions he made in the ’90s but which he has since withdrawn.

Bergwall’s five other murder convictions have already been overturned.

Bergwall, now 62, told AP on Friday that he had lied about the murders “to make myself interesting,” and while being under the influence of heavy medication.

His lawyer Thomas Olsson said that if Bergwall is cleared at the retrials he could be released later this year.