Swede's claim to be "nation's most dangerous serial killer" debunked by journalist

Swedish police red-faced after 'nation's most dangerous serial killer'
revealed as a compulsive liar who made up confessions to 30 murders (Daily Mail)

Swedish police have come under fire after revelations that the nation’s most dangerous serial killer is a compulsive liar who made up confessions to 30 murders (and) have been left red-faced after a book about notorious serial killer Thomas Quick claims he simply made up his confessions and police took his word.

Quick was jailed in 1990 for armed robbery and during his compulsory psychotherapy sessions he confessed to murders in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. He has been convicted of eight murders between 1976 and 1885 and confessed to another 25.
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Investigative journalist and author Hannes Råstam claims that Quick, 62, collected details about unsolved murders across Scandinavia from a Stockholm library while on day release and began confessing to crimes.

With his research Quick was able to describe details such as murder weapons, details about victims’ clothes and their appearance. According to Råstam, the police who were eager to close the unsolved murder files took his confessions as fact.
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lengthy story, with pictures, at DM link above

A very in-depth article and interview with Sture Bergwall/Thomas Quick here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/20/thomas-quick-bergwall-sweden-murder

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens...of-fake-serial-killer-on-groupthink-1.3102320
June 05, 2015

"Bergwall suffered from mental illness, was a compulsive liar, and a drug addict.

"I think he confessed because he wanted to be a heavier criminal," Küttim theorizes. "He wanted to get some rank by confessing to murder. Then, he realized that he could get tranquilizers."

During the investigation, he was supplied a steady stream benzodiazepines, a class of potent tranquillizers.

"Obviously he'd confess to anything just to get a hold of a pill," she adds. "[And eventually], he actually believed that he killed people, creating false memories."

His legal defense did not challenge the convictions, at Bergwall's request, she says.

Bergwall admitted to lying about his confessions back in 2008. His last conviction was overturned in 2013. He is now free, sober, and lives on his own in northern Sweden. Küttim has met him several times.

"Looking back at this story, obviously he has a tremendous responsibility [confessing to] these heinous crimes," she says. "He was a part of this sect, or 'groupthink,' but he is actually the only one taking responsibility."