Isakin Drabbad

Isakin Daniel Drabbad, né Jimmy Daniel Isaksson, later named Isakin Jonsson (born 14 October 1978),^[1] also known as the Skara Cannibal (Swedish: Skarakannibalen), is a Swedish man who murdered the mother of five Helle Christensen in Skara, Sweden in November 2010. The then 32-year-old Jonsson decapitated his girlfriend and then ate parts of her body. He was convicted of murder to time in an institutional psychiatric care.

During his time at the psychiatric hospital, Jonsson has created several controversies that created headlines both in Sweden and internationally.^[2][3] In December 2011, he got engaged to what the media called the Vampire Woman, Michelle Gustafsson, a murderer in her own right and an inmate of the same psychiatric hospital. Together, they mockingly blogged about their committed crimes from the psychiatric hospital's computer, which gave rise to a motion in the Swedish parliament to stop Internet use for patients in Swedish psychiatric institutions.

In 2017, Jonsson made headlines again after selling voodoo dolls and other art containing blood and bodily fluids online from inside the hospital. He has also posted several clips of himself on YouTube filmed in the hospital grounds and during his furloughs. In the same year, he made big headlines when it was reported that Jonsson had been together with carers inside Karsudden Hospital in Katrineholm. Jonsson was denied furlough to marry the woman, who resigned and was placed under a restraining order as she was considered a security risk. Jonsson, since 2017 with the surname Drabbad, is still being cared for in forensic psychiatric care, but since 2020 is registered at an address in Katrineholm.

Background

Isakin Jonsson was born Jimmy Daniel Isaksson on 14 October 1978^[1] in Köping, Sweden and moved to Västerås at the age of two.^[4] He was in and out of institutions during his upbringing.^[5] He has been guilty of drug offenses and theft several times. It have happened in several locations in southern and central Sweden.^[6] When Jonsson committed the murder in 2012, he had a nine-year-old daughter. The daughter, Jamie-Lee, later wrote the book Skarakannibalens dotter ("The Cannibal's Daughter") about her upbringing.^[5]

Helle Christensen and Isakin Jonsson met in 2009 when they were both patients at a psychiatric clinic in Borås. They both had checkered pasts with mental health issues and both had felony convictions. They had limited contacts with the labor market. Helle Christensen had five children, all living with their fathers. Helle Christensen and Isakin Jonsson shared different homes and moved from Borås to Skara in the fall of 2010. The three bedroom apartment, which was located at Valhallagatan 13 D in Skara, was rented by Isakin Jonsson's mother. The apartment was sparsely furnished and contact was made with the social service in Skara about grants for home equipment. Isakin Jonsson and Helle Christensen had plans to live as cohabitants in the future and possibly start a tattoo and piercing shop in the apartment.^[7]

Helle's sister Britt has told the media that Isakin had a violent temper, that she often had to go and pick up her sister after they argued. Helle is said to have reported that he never hurt her even though she showed up with bruises or on one occasion broke her leg in three places. During the preliminary police investigation after the murder, the police found Helle's diary, which gave a different picture of the boyfriend. It was written shortly before the murder and describes how scared Helle was, but that she did not dare to tell her loved ones. She wrote that Isakin is a different person and that "he talks about punishments, about all the evil." She also describes his bad moods, personality changes and aggressiveness, but notes: "I can handle it because I love him." Shortly before the murder, however, she contacted a woman at a local library near her home and asked for help in finding a hostel where she could feel safe. But the librarian had to promise not to call the police.^[8] In his statement during the trial, public prosecutor Lars Johansson mentioned that Helle Christensen would start a new life in Skara and, among other things, start a tattoo and piercing shop. The plan was that they would live together in the future.^[9]

Murder of Helle Christensen

Isakin Jonsson murdered his then girlfriend, mother of five Helle Christensen, 40, on Valhallagatan 13 D in Skara on 12 November 2010.^[8] On the day of the murder, the couple got up at noon and got dressed. They then went out shopping. Isakin bought four beers and Jägermeister at Systembolaget and Helle bought food at the local Ica store Munken.^[9][10]

They are alone in the apartment until the murder, which happened between five, six, seven o'clock in the evening. Helle had at one point gone and laid down on a mattress to rest or read. Isakin then allegedly took a knife, cut the mattress, sat over Helle's shoulders and slit her throat. Jonsson then dampened the blood flow with a pillow. Helle did not have time to resist. Death occurred rather immediately.^[9] Isakin then cut Helle Christensen's pants, panties, shirt and bra. He had an erection and then penetrated Helle Christensen but did not ejaculate. With a knife, saw and ax, Isakin separated Helle Christensen's head from the body. He also cut off pieces of meat from one of her arms and legs, which he carried into the kitchen to cook. In a frying pan, the pieces of meat were prepared with salt and home grown cannabis leaves. Isakin also carried Helle Christensen's head out to the kitchen counter and processed it with an ax and knife, possibly to eat it.^[7]

After the murder, Isakin called the police and confessed. In the emergency call, he says: "When you get here, you don't have to jump on me, I'm as calm as can be."^[9] Furthermore, he said in the emergency call that "I want to do the right thing for myself. What I have done now, I have no idea that I have actually done it, but I have woken up".^[8]

Investigation

During the first police interrogation, Isakin said that he was most dangerous when he did not take his medication.^[11] Furthermore, he has said that there was a bit of a fight on the day of the murder and he could not explain what triggered the rage against his girlfriend. In the interrogation, which was held the day after the murder, he tried to explain: "I can be perceived as unaffected, but when it happened yesterday I was in someone else's guise. Someone else acted in me." About why he cut off his partner's head, dragged it out into the kitchen and put it on the sink, Isakin explained that "Why I have no idea. It felt like there were several people in the room. It's almost like a movie is playing".^[10]

Isakin was arrested on 14 November 2011 at a hearing in Skövde police station, on probable grounds suspected of murder. The following day, Skaraborg District Court [sv] decided that he would undergo a major examination conducted by a forensic psychiatrist.^[12] The analysis of the blood sample taken at the time of the arrest was carried out by the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine and showed that Isakin had 1.35 per mille ethanol in his blood and 4.1 micrograms of tramadol per gram of blood. Tramadol is classified as a narcotic in Sweden.^[7]

During a search of the apartment, several findings were made connected to the murder. A frying pan from the kitchen - and several horror movies on DVD. Among a large number of titles were films such as the Green River Killer (2005) and The Wonderland Murders.^[11]

Large parts of the investigation were classified.^[10]

Trial and verdict

On 11 March 2011, the trial against murder suspect Isakin Jonsson, 32, began in Skaraborg District Court [sv]. Isakin had then already confessed to the murder and the major forensic psychiatric examination he underwent showed that he suffered from a serious mental disorder.^[9] Among other things, he had hallucinations.^[8] He was brought into the courtroom with his hands cuffed along with guards and his lawyer Tore Brandtler. The hearing was held in the district court's special security room, room 5, - and a glass pane separated Isakin from the audience and journalists.^[9]

Lawyer Tore Brandtler said that Isakin was psychotic when the police arrived at the apartment but was able to tell what happened. What he had in his body he had taken after the murder. He had only had a few beers before. Furthermore, Brandtler stated that there was no motive beyond the serious mental disorder and about the motive that it was voices that made him do it.^[9] When the prosecutor then went through the photos from the crime scene and the autopsy, it happened behind closed doors. Journalists and the other audience members were allowed to leave the courtroom. When the emergency call was played in court, Isakin did not move a muscle.^[9]

Isakin was convicted of murder and sentenced to forensic psychiatric care with special discharge review at Karsudden Hospital [sv] in Katrineholm.^[8] He was also ordered to pay SEK 75,000 each in damages to Helle's parents, as well as SEK 75,000 in damages to each of her five children.^[9]

Time in psychiatric care

Initial hospital time

In the fall of 2011, it was reported that Isakin refused to take his medication for several months. This was evident from a medical report by chief physician Jan Golebiowski to the Administrative Court [sv] in Linköping. The report also showed that during the first time at the psychiatric hospital, Isakin mostly kept to himself, but that he then moved around the ward and socialized with other inmates. He did strength training and was allowed to regularly go for walks around the hospital with carers.^[11][13]

New girlfriend

At Karsudden Hospital, he met Michelle Gustafsson, known in the media as the Vampire Woman.^[13] Gustafsson was convicted of slitting the throat of 24-year-old father Daniel Stenman in Jakobsberg in 2010.^[2] Before the murder, she had written threatening texts on her blog about how she was going to cut the throats of people in the Stockholm Metro. She also posed for pictures, like a vampire, with bloody lips, knives and a chainsaw.^[14] They became a couple on 13 November 2011 after Isakin asked in a chat on Windows Live Messenger that "Will you be my girl?". They then got engaged on 9 December.^[14] The relationship with Gustafsson (who according to a judgment from the administrative court in March 2017 has non-institutional psychiatric care) ended in 2017.^[15]

Blogging, YouTube and art selling

On 23 February 2012, Borås Tidning reported how Isakin and Gustafsson mockingly blogged about their committed crimes from a hospital computer. The newspaper also reported how offensive the victim's little sister found it. A chief medical officer may only decide to restrict internet use for an individual inmate under very restrictive circumstances and the decision may apply for a maximum of 2 months at a time. A motion to prevent this (2016/17:855) was submitted to the Swedish parliament by Sweden Democrats Kent Ekeroth and Per Ramhorn in October 2016.^[16] On the blog, Isakin had answered questions from readers and expressed that he is indifferent to what society thinks of him and his crime: "Most people say at some point in their life that they would never take someone else's life, but have you done it it's not a big deal anymore".^[8]

In April and May 2016, Isakin published several video clips on YouTube where Isakin, who filmed himself while speaking into the camera in broken English, talks about how he is "fighting for survival" and that "The meaning of life is survival, nothing more. Because if you don't survive, you're dead. I'd rather have that philosophy, because it means I never have to doubt what's right and what's wrong in life. As long as I know I'm fighting for my survival. I have been in such a mental state in my life because of drugs and so that I've been sure I've seen devils and angels and aliens and everything. But even then, when I look back at the most "fucked up trip" you can imagine, I gave up." In one of the clips on Youtube, he says "I'm not a racist. Or I am a racist. I hate everyone, except a few people in the world. So I'm a racist against the human species, if you want to label me. I see me myself as anti-human. There's nothing about humans that I like. The only people in history who have any sense as I see it are the Vikings, the Spartans and people like that." In another one of the films, recorded outside an Ica store, he talks at length about his great interest in art, which he is said to have developed during his time in forensic psychiatric care.^[17]

In 2017, Katrineholms-Kuriren [sv] and Aftonbladet reported that Isakin sold his own Voodoo dolls and macabre works of art directly from the hospital. The Voodoo dolls were made from toilet paper, toothpicks and sewing thread. In the heads of the dolls were blood, hair and seamen from Isakin himself. He has also made masks that have been displayed on various sites along with several different works of art and paintings. Several were made from his own blood and signed in English with "They call me Skara Cannibal".^[18]

Furloughs and name change

In 2015, it was reported that Isakin had a four-hour furlough in Katrineholm every week.^[8]

In May 2016, it was reported that Isakin had been granted a three-day furlough from Karsudden Hospital. He would partly help a relative move, partly go to a summer wedding. The chief medical officer who applied to the administrative court for Isakin to be granted more furloughs wrote in a submission that "The care has been unproblematic. He has had a stable mental status without relapse into drug abuse. All furloughs have gone without complications. The goal is that he will gradually receive increased furloughs to his apartment and when the period involves several overnight stays, during the furlough he will have contact with a non-institutional psychiatric care clinic". During the period of care, Isakin has, among other things, been given his own apartment, where he was previously granted furlough. Now he would be granted additional freedoms through a three-day furlough during the month of June. The administrative court stopped the chief medical officer's wish for Isakin to also be granted two days' furlough. The prosecutor did not like Isakin's extended freedom outside the hospital and wrote that "In light of the risk of recidivism in very serious crime, there is no reason to grant additional furloughs. Even the plaintiffs for the crime that Isakin Jonsson committed have partially opposed more furloughs."^[19] In June 2016, however, Isakin was granted a three-day furlough, during which he helped a relative move - and attended a wedding. However, he was denied two days' furlough at the same time.^[13]

In the fall of 2016, Isakin Jonsson changed his surname to Drabbad. The name change had been prompted by great anger from Isakin. The anger was directed at the administrator at the National Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV). "Hey you fucking idiot," Isakin began his handwritten letter to the administrator, dated October 2016. In the letter, Jonsson wrote that his first wish was to change to the surname Isaksson. A few days before the letter was written, PRV had decided that it could not be approved, according to an order. Isakin wrote "I have paid money for you to do your job. I, Isakin Jonsson, want to change my surname from Jonsson to the newly formed surname Drabbad". He wrote the latter in capital letters. "Make sure and do your damn job because I won't give in and let this go until I get my way. You're messing with the wrong guy," Isakin concluded. The name change was approved, but the angry letter played a role when, in early 2017, his doctor applied for a three-day furlough for Isakin together with a relative. The prosecutor objected to the application in a statement to the administrative court with the words: "In connection with an examination at the National Swedish Patent and Registration Office, he has acted very inappropriately and threateningly towards an administrator". The prosecutor also wrote that Jonsson (now Drabbad) "still exhibits an aggressive and abnormal behavior when someone goes against him". Both the administrative court and the Administrative Court of Appeal [sv] in Jönköping rejected Isakin's furlough application. Isakin was considered by the chief medical officer at Karsudden Hospital near Katrineholm to have completed treatment and that he no longer had a psychotic diagnosis and was in the process of being discharged.^[20] In the administrative court, however, the chief doctor was supported by an expert doctor who said that Isakin was considered to have been treated and that he already had many "exempt benefits". The doctor also believed that the risk of recidivism in serious crime was low and that the prosecutor placed "too much emphasis on historical matters". However, as said, the permission application was rejected by both courts.^[21]

In the spring of 2017, the decision was made that Isakin would continue to be cared for and that he would be denied non-institutional psychiatric care.^[15] Isakin considered that he had been medically treated and wanted the treatment to end. He was first rejected by the administrative court and in April 2017 also by the administrative court of appeals. According to the chief medical officer and the prosecutor, Isakin still suffered from a mental disorder and there was a risk that he would relapse into crime.^[22]

 

Katrineholm City Hall [sv] where Isakin wanted to marry his former caretaker

In the summer of 2017, Isakin applied for a supervised furlough to the Katrineholm City Hall [sv] in order to marry his new girlfriend. In the decision that the Administrative Court [sv] in Linköping made, apart from himself, hospital staff, two witnesses and the girlfriend would be present. The girlfriend had worked as a carer at Karsudden Hospital and the relationship came to the knowledge of the hospital management after it was repeatedly informed that the carer's "relationship with the patient was more intense and closer than what constitutes a professional relationship". The days after the hospital management began to get wind of the relationship, the woman chose to resign - and was subsequently classified as a "security risk". In mid-July 2017, the carer was called to a meeting with management. During the meeting, she stated that she only had a professional relationship with Isakin. A few days later, the woman chose to terminate her employment. After that, she and Isakin had close telephone contact and she requested to visit him. Then, according to the judgment, a new meeting was held with her. "She admitted at this meeting to a friendly relationship between her and the patient but did not confirm any love relationship. She did, however, confirm that she could conceivably serve as a future furlough destination address for Isakin.

The Södermanland County Council chose to give the woman visiting restrictions. Had she not voluntarily chosen to end her employment, she would have been suspended from work during the ongoing investigation. According to the hospital management, she posed a security risk if she was allowed to meet Isakin. The administrative court wrote in the judgment that "This based on her knowledge of the hospital's routines and the risk that she participates in the introduction of unauthorized objects or in other way can conceivably assist the patient in the event of a release or escape". The fact that the woman also has knowledge of confidential information about the other patients was also something that played into the county council's decision, which she chose to appeal. In her appeal, she also revealed that it certainly concerned about more than friendship. In the judgment, she states, among other things, that Isakin was her boyfriend/fiancé and that she has not received any explanation as to why she is refused to visit him. The Administrative Court of Linköping chose to follow the county council's line and the visiting restrictions remained.

In addition, the court rejected Isakin's wish to go to Katrineholm so that they could get married. In the administrative court's decision, it was stated that the chief medical officer rejected the application and stated, among other things, the following: The application concerned an accompanied trip and was therefore not interpreted as an application to be examined by the administrative court. Karsudden Hospital did not object to Isakin's wishes to enter into marriage. However, the activity was not considered a care activity and personnel resources were not allocated for the purpose. The woman that Isakin planned to marry, the administrative court's decision said, "has recently received a decision to restrict access to Isakin Drabbad".^[15]

In October 2017, a document was received by the Administrative Court of Linköping. In it, Isakin's doctor wrote that the girlfriend has not been allowed to visit Isakin since July 2017, something that, according to his doctor, he reacted strongly to. In his notes, the chief doctor wrote that it is deemed to have given rise to "further frustration for the patient". Isakin's furloughs to his own apartment had previously ended. In connection with that, he allegedly used illegal substances and interrupted a drug treatment. The doctor wrote that "The patient today denies these drug-related activities and does not participate in constructive conversations in the spirit of relapse prevention". The risk that Jonsson would relapse into using illegal substances is deemed to have increased "Which would increase the risk of aggressive impulse breakthroughs". Furthermore, the doctor wrote in his notes that "due to the circumstances described above, release or furloughs are deemed not to be appropriate at the moment".^[23]

Jonsson is since 18 August 2020 registered at Jägaregatan 2 A in Katrineholm together with his mother Rose-Marie Jonsson (born 1959).^[1]

See also

• List of incidents of cannibalism

References

1. (in Swedish). Ratsit AB. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
2. "Jailed Swedish cannibal to marry blood-sucking killer in match made in hell". The Australian. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
3. Nelson, Sara C (1 February 2012). "Isakin Jonsson, Cannibal Who Ate His Girlfriend, Finds Love With Vampire, Michelle Gustafsson, In Prison". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
4. Isakin Drabbad of Sweden (formerly Jonsson) Answers Questions. Karsudden Hospital, Katrineholm: YouTube. 5 May 2016. Event occurs at 0:14. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
5. Engstedt, Malva (20 February 2023). "Jamie-Lee Arrow är Skarakannibalens dotter – uppväxten med Isakin Drabbad" [Jamie-Lee Arrow is the Skara Cannibal's daughter - raised with Isakin Drabbad] (in Swedish). Nyheter24. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
6. Ekelund, Martin; Sundell, Camilla; Nises, Erik; Nordström, Johan; Stenquist, Victor (2011-03-11). "Erkände mord för SOS Alarm" [Confessed murder to the emergency services]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
7. "Dom Mål nr B 4673-10" [Judgment Case No. B 4673-10] (in Swedish). Skövde: Skaraborg District Court. 2011-03-08. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
8. Sohlander Cassel, Annika (2015-08-19). "Britts syster dödades av Skara-kannibalen" [Britt's sister was killed by the Skara Cannibal]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
9. Hellberg, Magnus; Lindström, Anna; Mattsson, Anna (8 March 2011). "Skarakannibalen döms till vård för mord" [The Skara Cannibal is sentenced to psychiatric care for murder]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
10. Hellberg, Magnus (24 February 2011). "Skarakannibalen: "Någon annan uppträdde i mig"" [The Skara Cannibal: "Someone else performed in me"]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
11. Johansson, Roland (30 November 2011). "Skara-kannibalen vägrar ta sin medicin" [The Skara Cannibal refuses to take his medicine]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
12. Hellberg, Magnus; Johansson, Roland (26 November 2010). "Helle, 40, mördades av Skara-kannibalen" [Helle, 40, was murdered by the Skara Cannibal]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
13. Göthlin, Erik (20 February 2017). "Skara-kannibalen nekad permission – är hotfull" [The Skara Cannibal denied furlough - is threatening]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
14. Hellberg, Magnus; Högström, Erik (29 January 2012). "Mördarna hittade kärleken på rättspsyk" [The killers found love in psychiatric care]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
15. Berntsson, Jonathan (6 September 2017). "Kannibalen planerar att gifta sig – med vårdaren" [The cannibal plans to marry – the caretaker]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
16. Ekeroth, Kent; Ramhorn, Per (2016-10-03). "Åtgärder inom rättspsyk" [Actions within the psychiatric care] (in Swedish). Riksdag. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
17. Berntsson, Jonathan (5 March 2017). "Skara-kannibalen på Youtube: "Hatar alla"" [The Skara Cannibal on Youtube: "Hats everyone"]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
18. Skarakannibalen säljer egna voodoo-dockor direkt från rättspsyket [The Skara cannibal sells his own voodoo dolls directly from the psychiatric ward] (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 8 June 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
19. Hellberg, Magnus (31 May 2016). "Skarakannibalen får gå på bröllop" [The Skara Cannibal gets to go to a wedding]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
20. Berntsson, Jonathan (24 February 2017). "Här är Skara-kannibalens hotfulla brev: "Jävla idiot"" [Here's the Skara Cannibal's threatening letter: "Damn idiot"]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.
21. ""Skarakannibalen" skickade aggressivt brev – nekas permission" [The "Skara Cannibal" sent an aggressive letter - furlough is denied]. P4 Skaraborg (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
22. "Fortsatt sluten vård för "Skarakannibalen"" [Continued inpatient care for the "Skara Cannibal"]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). TT. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
23. Berntsson, Jonathan (10 October 2017). "Skara-kannibalens vrede på rättspsyk" [The Skara Cannibal's wrath at the psychiatric care]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2023.