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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website today's episode involves crimes against
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children and won't be suitable for all listeners four-year-old kevin yelmerson loved his
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bicycle more than anything the little boy was a familiar face around doctor vic the small swedish suburb he lived in
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with his mother teres and half-sister isabella he was often seen riding happily around
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the neighborhood waving to those he knew as he cycled by the residential area was located on the
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shores of the shia keviken bay just three kilometers outside central la vica it was a close-knit community and
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residents mostly trusted one another therefore it was common practice for the local children to play around town
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without supervision provided they steer clear of the main roads and lake they never veered too far and a familiar
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adult was never too far away sunday august 16 1998 was the last day of holidays before school returned for
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the year and the sun made a much welcome appearance it was the perfect opportunity for kevin
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yelmerson to play outside on his bike after breakfast he rode over to meet his friend robin and the two played all
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morning before kevin went to his grandparents house for lunch afterwards he ducked home where his
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mother therese was busy preparing for isabella's return to school the following day
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she agreed to let kevin go out again as long as he didn't stay out too late by 6 30 pm kevin hadn't returned home
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and torias was starting to worry hoping he just lost track of time and was busy playing somewhere she enlisted
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kevin's grandparents to help her look around town they searched kevin's usual haunts
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including the playground's local school and football field but there was no sign
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of him anywhere the football field backed on to sheik vegan bay a large lake dotted with trees
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and walking paths they followed the path towards the lake where his grandmother noticed something
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propped up against the grassy mound behind a small wooden shed it was kevin's bicycle his prized
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possession which he took with him everywhere dread washed over kevin's family they called kevin's name but there was
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no response something must be horribly wrong there was no way kevin would stray too
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far from his beloved bike like the other children in the neighborhood kevin was strictly
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forbidden from playing near the lake a rule he happily obeyed as he couldn't swim and was afraid of the water
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however a sailboat was bobbing in the water and his family wondered if kevin might have been interested enough to get
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a closer look they trepidatiously headed towards the lake calling kevin's name repeatedly as
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they walked at the shore kevin's grandfather glanced over towards an area of reeds and
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slumped over in shock there lying face down on a wooden pallet amongst the raids
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was kevin [Music] [Music] [Music] kevin's grandfather carried kevin's lifeless body to shore and his
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grandmother administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while waiting for the paramedics
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kevin was rushed to hospital but all attempts to revive him were fruitless at 11 pm he was officially pronounced
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deceased with the cause of death determined to be drowning it was standard protocol for local law
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enforcement to look into drowning incidents and as soon as investigators saw kevin's body they knew this wasn't a
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typical drowning case for starters kevin's shoes and one of his socks were missing
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there were also visible injuries to the front of his neck and abdomen while it was possible that these
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injuries were caused by his body rubbing against the wooden pallet as it moved in
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the water this was unlikely the pallet kevin had been found lying on was in water approximately 20
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centimeters deep when his grandparents found him only his left hand had been trailing in the water
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while the rest of his body was afloat on the palate even though kevin couldn't swim it
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didn't make sense that he could have drowned in such shallow water an official autopsy confirmed
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investigators suspicions the whites of kevin's eyes showed clear signs of bleeding which is a telltale
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indication of strangulation there were also bruises to his genitals and signs of sexual assault as well as
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sand in his underwear this wasn't a tragic drowning accident at all but a cold-blooded murder
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the area where kevin's body was found was cordoned off although authorities kept it under wraps that they were
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investigating the boy's death as anything other than an accident the local school was right next door so
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parents and children arrived to a dramatic scene when they returned for the school year on monday morning
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as officers assessed the area two students approached and handed over a pair of black of velcro strapped sandals
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and a single purple sock they belonged to kevin and the children had found them behind the small shed
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where his bike had been abandoned the shed was approximately 30 meters from where kevin's body was found and
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the path leading up to it contained similar sand to that which was found in kevin's underwear
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this led investigators to theorize that he could have been killed near the shed before being moved to the pallet
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fluorescent clothing fibres were found on the path although none were detected on the pallet or on kevin's body
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a seven centimeter long bruise on kevin's neck indicated that he'd been killed by someone pressing a hard sharp
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object against his throat investigators were particularly interested in a stick that was found
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near the shed it was around one centimeter thick and broken in the middle testing revealed a child-sized handprint
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in the bark as well as several hairs attached leading to the conclusion that this was the murder weapon
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[Music] given the proximity of the crime scene to the school the rumor mill soon went
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into overdrive police had been canvassing the neighborhood to question people about
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what they'd seen on sunday afternoon making it obvious that this was no open and shut accidental drowning
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on thursday august 20 local suspicions that something more sinister was at play were confirmed when a press conference
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was held to announce that the police were now trading kevin's death as a sexual assault and murder
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kevin's parents were grief-stricken they had separated before he was born but his
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father portrait had recently moved closer to doktovic to focus on his relationship with his son
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the two had been growing closer and to have kevin suddenly snatched away left portrix so overcome with sorrow that he
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was unable to leave the house kevin's mother teresa shied away from the media to focus on her grief and take
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care of her daughter while also trying to process unfounded accusations of neglect
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though much of the community were supportive some parents were openly questioning how teres could have left
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kevin unsupervised she was accused of partying instead of taking care of her children
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others cruelly labeled kevin's grandparents as drunks and some went as far as to comment
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it was no wonder that he died this cruel gossip exacerbated theresa's already overwhelming grief
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as most child murders are committed by someone known to the victim protocol dictated that kevin's family were looked
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into not only did they all have verified alibis but police found nothing to suggest that they were anything other
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than loving and supportive and they were quickly ruled out of the investigation police had been trying to piece together
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kevin's last known movements but this was no easy task dattovic was a relatively lower
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socioeconomic area and many residents didn't trust the police as they felt they'd been overlooked when making
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reports in the past eventually investigators found some who were willing to talk and a timeline was
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established after kevin left his mother's house on sunday afternoon he met up with a friend
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named robert just before 4 pm the pair rode their bikes to the home of kevin's best friend
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robin and asked if he wanted to come out and play robin wasn't allowed to so kevin told
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robin he'd come by the next day instead he and robert then ran into a 13 year old they knew named felix not his real
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name the boys looked up to felix because he owned an impressive bmx bike with spider-man handlebars
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when robert left to go home kevin was still with felix he then played in the schoolyard with a
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group of other local teens and children none of whom recalled seeing any strangers or anything suspicious in the
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area several local residents had heard screaming at around 6 pm but hadn't been able to figure out where the noise was
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coming from one person had gotten into their car and driven around trying to locate the
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source to no avail the injuries to kevin's genital area indicated the crime may have been
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sexually motivated there were three known pedophiles who resided around adoptivic one of whom
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lived just 100 meters from kevin's home according to witnesses this individual was seen at around midday on sunday
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holding kevin's hand and helping him cross the street however he had a verified alibi for that
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evening as did the other two known child sex offenders plus there was no evidence linking any
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of them to the murder weapon daily press conferences were held to keep the public and media up to date
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with the latest developments in what came to be known as the kevin case but the details of how kevin died were
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withheld given the sensitive nature of the crime lead investigator rolf sunderberry
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decided that a restrained approach was best to prevent hysteria and keep speculation to a minimum
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police appealed for anyone with information to come forward but all they got was a series of false leads
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one woman implicated her partner in the crime while another claimed a hitman had
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been hired to kill kevin there was no evidence to support either of these claims
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questions were soon raised as to whether kevin had been sexually assaulted at all
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the pathologist who'd initially examined kevin's body had detected white liquid around the four-year-old's rectum and
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had partly based the sexual assault diagnosis on this evidence upon closer inspection he realized the
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liquid was actually from the thermometer that had been used to determine kevin's
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approximate time of death police were under immense pressure to make an arrest not only was kevin's
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death starting to make national headlines the community had become cloaked in fear
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children were no longer allowed to play or walk to school unsupervised with their parents on edge that a child
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killer was on the loose adding fuel to the fire were rumors and tip-offs that immigrants were
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responsible several of the children last seen playing with kevin were refugees including 13 year old felix
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theories arose that one of the foreign children had murdered kevin but were refusing to admit to it because their
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parents had threatened to kill them if they owned up these children had fled from war-torn countries where they'd
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witnessed all kinds of atrocities and some believed this could have influenced their behaviour
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although police were eager to dispel these rumors to quell any growing xenophobia interviewing these children
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proved difficult not only were their cultural differences but given the children's experiences
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with war some of them had learned not to trust authorities it was clear to police that some of them
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weren't telling the truth they just couldn't tell if this was because they genuinely had something to
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hide or because they simply didn't want to get into trouble it soon came to light that the children
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who'd handed in kevin's shoes to police only knew they were behind the shed because felix had told them so
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his knowledge about the shoes along with the fact that he was one of the last people seen with kevin led to rumors
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that felix had something to do with kevin's death however felix told police he didn't hang out
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with kevin at all if witnesses claimed they saw the two of them together they were mistaken
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he had indeed been riding his bmx bike around town but he had gone to the library at around p.m before heading
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home having successfully eliminated kevin's family and to known sex offenders from
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the investigation police focused on the children who had been seen playing with or near kevin on the night of his death
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however questioning young children regarding criminal matters is challenging at the best of times
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not only did the children's limited vocabulary make it difficult to have straightforward conversations but police
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also had to avoid asking any leading questions complicating matters further was the
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fact that many of the children weren't allowed to play near the lake so they lied and told police they weren't in the
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area they changed their stories constantly sometimes implicating other children then later taking it back
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with some parents flatly refusing to let their children speak to the police they
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were urged to speak with their children themselves and report anything that could be of interest to the
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investigation the police weren't used to questioning children regarding such serious matters
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and they didn't know how to interpret their constantly changing answers unsure what to think or how best to
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proceed they enlisted the help of professionals who were trained in dealing with children including those
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with different cultural backgrounds they brought child and family psychologists on board as well as social
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workers and representatives from charity organisation saved the children ingrid horison was a child psychologist
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trained in dealing with victims of sexual assault and she was tasked to assist police with the interrogations
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it was important that she built rapport with the children so they felt safe and comfortable enough to talk
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harrison along with some of the others on the interrogation team spent time playing with the children and chatting
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with them over barbecues fishing excursions and soccer games toys video games and sweet treats were
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brought into the station to help put the children at ease once the children felt comfortable
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hurrison and another detective would interview them in a private room while others in the team watched on via a
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covert tv screen horizon wore an earpiece so that another child psychologist named bente yuran
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juansen could guide her on how she should behave what questions she should focus on and how far she could push the
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children for many of the children kevin's death was difficult to comprehend although
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they understood that he would no longer be around kevin's murder was a hot topic around
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the neighborhood and kevin's best friend five-year-old robin dalian had heard plenty of the stories that were floating
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around his seven-year-old brother christian had just started school and came home every
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day rehashing everything that he'd heard in the schoolyard police had stopped by to question robin
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and christian several times as kevin visited their home on the afternoon he was killed
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robin hadn't been allowed to go out and play as his family had guests over for dinner
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robin and christian's father weiner dalian told police that after dinner the boys had played outside with the
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children of their guests they then all left to go on a fishing trip while they couldn't provide any
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information about the night in question weiner agreed to make note of anything his sons might mention that could be of
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any interest to police unlike some of his neighbours he trusted law enforcement and wanted to help in
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any way possible according to the book the story of the kevin case by andrea slatt on saturday
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august 22 six days after kevin's death viner was driving the boys to buy some sweets when he overheard christian say
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i saw kevin standing and talking to some big guys on the day that he died realising this was exactly the kind of
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information that could be helpful to the police weiner immediately re-routed the
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car towards the police station just before they arrived robin suddenly announced
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i saw the murder kevin weiner was taken aback he didn't think his sons had been playing down by the lake on the night
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kevin was killed but robin insisted he was telling the truth weiner didn't want to take any chances
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perhaps the boys had ridden to the lake while they were playing in front of the house after dinner
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he figured the boys could tell the police what they knew and the police could then figure out if any of the
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information was useful at the station robin and christian were taken into separate rooms to tell police
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what they knew robin was accompanied by his stepmother eva she and weiner had recently married and
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they had main custody of the two boys who also split their time with their mother anika
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the police probed robin to tell them everything he knew about who killed kevin but robin was reluctant
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eva reassured him he wouldn't get in trouble if he admitted he had rode his bike down to the lake
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robin denied doing so but then said they didn't listen who didn't listen the officer asked
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robin responded the one who murdered kevin he said there were two boys one wore all black while the other wore
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grey pants and a black jumper robin had watched as they stabbed kevin in the stomach
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given that kevin had died by strangulation this was obviously incorrect but police weren't prepared to
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rule robin's account out due to his age it was possible that he was simply getting the details of his
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story mixed up meanwhile in the other room christian told police that on the night of sunday
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august 16 robin had told him that he watched kevin's murder it became clear to police that the
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brothers could be the key witnesses they'd been waiting for case file will be back shortly thank you
00:22:51
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00:25:56
the news that robin had witnessed kevin's murder came as such a shock to his stepmother eva that she had a panic
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attack and had to be administered to a psychiatric ward she was overcome with fear that whoever
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had killed kevin would target robin next to ensure his silence she was heavily sedated and held in the
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hospital for nine days police visited eva in hospital and asked if she remembered the boys saying
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anything about seeing kevin's murder on the night that he died she recalled that christian might have
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said something about kevin's murder on the night had happened when pushed she also conceded that
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christian's clothing might have been wet for the police this was a major breakthrough that proved the brothers
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really had witnessed the murder police took robin to visit the scene of the crime hoping it would jog
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his memory but his story changed constantly leaving more questions than answers they took him to kevin's neighborhood
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and asked if he could identify the killer but robin simply knocked on doors at random
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they showed robin the yearbook from the local school and asked if he could identify the person who had killed
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kevin he first pointed to one boy but then changed his mind and pointed to another
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none of the perpetrators he singled out shared any physical characteristics making it clear that robin was just
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pointing to pictures at random robin then changed his mind completely and said the killer wasn't in the
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yearbook at all with very little physical evidence to go on police knew their best chance of
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solving the case was to find reliable witnesses robin began telling the police that his
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brother christian had also seen kevin's murder christian initially denied seeing
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anything but finally admitted that he had been with robin on the night kevin died
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they had seen him get into a fight with a group of other local kids police narrowed their focus onto eight
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young individuals who had been spotted playing in the area on the night of the crime
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they picked the children up from school and took them to the station so they could interview them without parental
00:28:29
influence a decision that was harshly criticized the spotlight was soon placed on two
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thirteen-year-old boys named marios and matthias who had been seen near the lake
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around the time kevin went missing when questioned by police they gave evasive answers and constantly changed
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their stories police became increasingly convinced that the two friends were lying to cover
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something up but they had no evidence to prove it they searched the boys homes and
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confiscated several items of clothing for forensic testing nothing of interest was found
00:29:12
the handprint on the stick that was believed to be the murder weapon was compared to several of the children last
00:29:18
seen with kevin but there were no matches instead it was theorised that kevin himself might have held onto the stick
00:29:27
while trying to fight off the attack as kevin's prints weren't ever taken this couldn't be determined with
00:29:35
certainty one month into the investigation police remained convinced that matthias and
00:29:47
marios knew more than they were letting on so they applied extra pressure during
00:29:52
their interrogations in a bid to extract the truth the pressure became so overwhelming that
00:30:00
at one point marios broke down in tears but at no point did either of the teenagers come any closer to making a
00:30:08
confession police then took an unorthodox approach although it was illegal to place a
00:30:16
wiretap on the home phones of miners they did so anyway covertly listening in on conversations
00:30:23
between the two friends in the hopes of finding the evidence they needed however if matthias and marios had any
00:30:32
information they were remaining tight-lipped with no evidence physical or otherwise
00:30:40
police reluctantly turned their focus away from the teens they were still convinced that robin and
00:30:48
christian knew something about kevin's murder they just couldn't figure out exactly what
00:30:54
as requested by police their father weiner had been taking note of anything the boy said about kevin's death at home
00:31:02
and reporting it back to the authorities [Music] the brothers gave various accounts about
00:31:09
how kevin died and who was responsible they switched between him being stabbed kicked and pushed into the water
00:31:19
sometimes the perpetrator was old other times he was just a kid their stories changed so constantly that
00:31:28
police started to suspect they hadn't witnessed the murder at all instead they believed the brothers had actually
00:31:36
been involved with it in all their changing stories one detail remained consistent
00:31:46
each telling centered around a floating jetty which was located just a couple of
00:31:50
hundred meters from the boys home this seemed significant however the jetty was roughly 30 meters from the
00:31:59
pallet where kevin's body was found the two locations were separated by rough terrain dense shrubbery and a
00:32:07
stone wall kevin's body had no injuries consistent with being dragged across such an area
00:32:15
so if he really had been killed on the jetty then how did he end up on the pallet
00:32:22
in mid-september the boy's mother anika reported that she'd been discussing the situation with robin when he suddenly
00:32:30
made an announcement my brother did it with this new information coming to light investigators asked robin if the
00:32:40
person he saw kill kevin was actually his big brother christian robin replied yes
00:32:55
two months into the investigation lead investigator rolf sunbury hired sven auker christensen a professor of
00:33:02
psychology at stockholm university who had specialized knowledge in interrogation techniques and had worked
00:33:09
with police on murder investigations in the past christensen had also conducted extensive
00:33:16
research on the subject of repressed memories he believed that certain memories can be
00:33:22
lost when an individual experiences a traumatic event but that they can be retrieved from the
00:33:29
subconscious later on this psychogenic amnesia as christensen called it was a defense mechanism aimed
00:33:38
to protect people from extreme emotions that surfaced during trauma as stated in one of his research papers
00:33:47
to the same extent that we need mechanisms to identify and recognize unpleasant events
00:33:53
we also need mechanisms to forget unpleasant experiences christianson reviewed the interrogation
00:34:03
reports from all of the children who had been questioned and immediately determined that robin and christian
00:34:10
either knew exactly what happened to kevin or had been involved in his death they had likely repressed the memory and
00:34:18
would eventually tell the truth but it could take some time possibly several months
00:34:25
the truth might not come out all at once but in dribs and drabs christianson believed that the most
00:34:33
important thing the investigative team could do was make the boys feel safe enough to open up
00:34:42
when weiner realized that his sons were now being treated as suspects he couldn't take it anymore
00:34:49
the past two months had taken such an enormous toll on his mental health that like his wife he too was admitted to a
00:34:57
psychiatric ward investigators visited weiner in hospital to question him once again about the
00:35:05
night that kevin was killed they wanted to know if he recalled his sons having wet clothing when they
00:35:12
returned from playing outside that evening weiner said he couldn't remember for sure but admitted it was possible
00:35:22
the clothing robin and christian had been wearing on the night kevin was killed was taken for analysis but the
00:35:29
garments had already been washed so they held no clues one night shortly after the police visit
00:35:38
weiner suddenly remembered that on the night kevin died christian had drawn a picture
00:35:45
it was of kevin's body floating in the water near the jetty by late october the interrogations had
00:35:57
been ongoing for six weeks during that time more than 1300 interviews had been held with 482
00:36:05
individuals after eliminating all other persons of interest investigators pieced together
00:36:12
the details provided by robin and christian and deduced the most likely scenario
00:36:19
the brothers had been playing a game with kevin when things spiraled out of control
00:36:26
an argument likely broke out on the jetty and christian had accidentally killed kevin
00:36:33
the brothers had simply been so traumatized by the event that they'd blocked it out of their memories hence
00:36:39
why they couldn't give investigators a straight answer about what happened or how kevin's body got from the jetty to
00:36:46
the pallet the fact that kevin died by a sharp object being pressed against his throat
00:36:53
was still classified information if the brothers revealed this detail police felt satisfied that they could
00:37:01
officially close the case according to professor sven orce christensen repressed memories could be
00:37:10
revived by leading the children back to the scene where the traumatic event took
00:37:15
place and recreating the same smells sound and light when investigators felt that the boys
00:37:23
were close to making a breakthrough ingrid hurrison took robin down to the jetty
00:37:29
she wore an earpiece so that professor christensen could guide her words with them was a child's size to doll
00:37:40
harison encouraged robin to use the doll to reenact what happened to kevin she asked if he or christian did
00:37:48
something to hurt kevin robin replied no hurry soon encouraged robin to play with
00:37:57
a stick but he ignored it instead asking if he should push the doll into the water
00:38:05
christian was then brought to the jetty hurricane encouraged him to use the doll
00:38:11
to show where kevin's injuries had occurred christians shut down completely saying
00:38:20
you can't know if you didn't see what happened he eventually said that robin pushed
00:38:26
kevin into the water after a fight on the jetty but he still didn't make any mention of a stick or strangulation
00:38:36
although the interrogation team were frustrated that they hadn't received the confession they were hoping for they
00:38:42
were certain that the boy's memories were now bubbling away just below the surface and would soon be revealed
00:38:52
on october 26 it all became too much for christian he broke down and finally admitted that
00:39:00
kevin wasn't killed on the floating jetty according to rolf sunderberry's official
00:39:06
report the interrogation team left sunderberry alone to interview christian with robin and eva
00:39:14
this time christian walked to the table where a map of the lake had been laid out
00:39:21
he picked up a pen and a circled the area of reeds where kevin's body was found he then indicated to robin that it was
00:39:30
okay to speak robin said that christian kevin and himself were playing in the soccer field
00:39:39
when an argument broke out amongst them the brothers began kicking and hitting kevin including in his groin area
00:39:48
they then chased kevin down to the shore of the lake where the fight continued and kevin somehow ended up on his back
00:39:57
christian then grabbed a stick and pushed it against kevin's throat when he let go robin knelt down and
00:40:05
pinched kevin in the throat but he was already dead the brothers lifted kevin up and dragged
00:40:13
him onto a rock where they rested for a while before carrying him onto the pallet in the water
00:40:20
it was at this point that christian's clothing got wet when sunbury pointed out to robin that
00:40:28
this account differed from his most recent story robin replied that was not true
00:40:36
everything else is true the following day a press conference was held to announce that two young brothers
00:40:47
had admitted to killing five-year-old kevin yelmerson it was the first time in modern swedish
00:40:55
history that a child had been blamed for killing another child and the authorities knew they had to choose
00:41:01
their words carefully instead of labeling it a murder they announced that kevin's death was the
00:41:08
result of a game that had gotten out of hand [Music] due to the age of those responsible
00:41:14
there would be no trial and their identities would not be revealed sunbury urged
00:41:22
this investigation only involves victims i therefore implore the media to show restraint and consideration towards
00:41:31
kevin's relatives as well as the children involved and to their relatives [Music]
00:41:39
despite their names being suppressed there was no hiding robin and christian's identities from their fellow
00:41:45
residents of arvika the community wanted nothing to do with the boys or their family and some people
00:41:53
wanted revenge it wasn't safe for the family to return home so robin christian weiner and eva
00:42:01
were moved to a treatment facility outside of town while authorities figured out the next steps
00:42:09
the boy's mother anika was relocated nearby but she was only allowed to see her sons for scheduled visits
00:42:17
a team of 11 staff were assigned to help the family process what had happened robin and christian couldn't grasp the
00:42:26
situation and kept asking when they'd be going home robin continuously asked when he'd be
00:42:33
able to see his bike again speaking about the case rolf sunbury later commented after all the conversations we had with
00:42:45
children i realised that children are fully aware of their actions in the kevin case the boys knew they
00:42:53
weren't playing a game they knew that if they did something in a certain way it could lead to death
00:43:02
robin and christian were both subject to various tests including mris and eegs to
00:43:09
check for any brain damage or abnormalities authorities were interested in figuring
00:43:15
out why the brothers had killed kevin and whether they presented a danger in the future
00:43:23
in april of 1999 a special program titled project staircase was developed to help christian and robin come to
00:43:31
terms with what they'd done and to help integrate them back into society as part of project staircase the boys
00:43:40
would move with ivana and eva into an apartment within a treatment facility while a team of assistants would live in
00:43:48
the apartment above the assistants would monitor the family's movements from 9am to 8pm
00:43:55
taking note of everything from their daily activities to their interactions to the boy's toilet breaks
00:44:03
robin and christian would undergo daily therapy sessions where they'd be asked how they felt about kevin's death
00:44:11
the aim was to help them process what had happened without fear of judgment or rejection
00:44:17
they'd soon be allowed to return to school on two conditions an assistant would accompany them in the
00:44:24
classroom every day and they weren't allowed to tell any of their classmates about kevin or their involvement in his
00:44:32
death five months into project staircase christian was in his daily therapy session when he suddenly made a
00:44:42
revelation the reason he had taken so long to confess was because his father had
00:44:49
instructed him and robin not to tell anyone how kevin had died the authorities were stunned
00:44:58
from early on they had suspected that weiner might have been covering something up and that he may have been
00:45:04
the one who carried kevin's body from the jetty to the palate christian's revelation only strengthened
00:45:12
their belief deeming viner unfit to be apparent robin and christian were taken out of the
00:45:20
clinic contemporarily put into their mother's custody weiner adamantly denied having any
00:45:27
involvement in kevin's death or telling the boys to lie about their involvement the authorities decided the brothers
00:45:36
would be best placed in foster care and set about finding suitable placements however when prospective families found
00:45:44
out who robin and christian were they wanted nothing to do with them nobody felt safe having a child killer
00:45:52
in their homes eventually the decision was made christian would live with his mother
00:46:00
while robin would remain with eva and weiner the brothers could see one another on
00:46:06
weekends in early 2000 project staircase officially disbanded and the families were free to live without daily
00:46:17
supervision for the first time in over a year however they still had to abide by
00:46:24
strict rules under no circumstances was anyone to reveal their involvement with the kevin
00:46:32
case if an outsider ever found out their secret a crisis plan was put in place the boys were also forbidden from
00:46:42
returning to arvika until they turned 18 but at this point it didn't matter anyway
00:46:49
none of their friends wanted anything to do with them although neither brother initially had
00:46:59
any recollection of the event they'd believed it was possible that they'd blocked the memories out as
00:47:05
investigators said as years began to pass the whole situation remained shrouded in mystery
00:47:14
christian and robin weren't allowed to talk about it with friends and their parents seemed eager to put it all
00:47:19
behind them and move forward but every now and then when life felt normal again an unexpected abusive
00:47:28
message would find its way into their letterbox or email accounts to remind them of their dark past
00:47:36
by the time robin was 10 his niggling concerns had developed into full-blown doubt that he was capable of hurting his
00:47:43
best friend it just didn't feel possible that he could have absolutely no memory of such
00:47:50
a significant event he wondered if he'd simply witnessed the crime and gotten his stories mixed up
00:47:59
at the same time he was plagued by the question what if it was me over the next few years robin started
00:48:10
doing his own research about the case using the internet to uncover any information he could get his hands on
00:48:18
the more he learned the more he felt he couldn't be responsible if he was capable of such horrific
00:48:26
behavior he didn't want to live robin's mental health began to suffer and he considered suicide
00:48:36
in contrast christian didn't want to dwell on the past he tried not to think about kevin's
00:48:43
death but there were some things he couldn't avoid ever since the police interrogations had
00:48:50
begun christian sleep had suffered hugely he became so riddled with anxiety that
00:48:56
he tossed and turned all night and could never fully relax he was afraid of the dark and would wake
00:49:03
up in a panic several times each night according to the book the story of the kevin case one night not long after his
00:49:14
confession a forlorn christian summoned his mother to the clinic where he was being housed because he had something he
00:49:21
wanted to tell her when she arrived he said i know nothing about kevin i wasn't there
00:49:32
when anika reasoned that that hadn't been what he told the police christian responded
00:49:39
but i just invented everything concerned anika reported this to the police but they assured her that her
00:49:48
sons had been telling the truth while the interrogation reports were confidential and they couldn't reveal
00:49:55
exactly what was said the police confirmed that christian and robin had provided descriptions of kevin's death
00:50:02
that only those responsible could know a couple of years later in 2001 the boy's parents asked to see the
00:50:12
transcripts of the interrogations after one senior investigator contacted them to raise questions about the way things
00:50:19
were handled lead investigator rolf sunderberry refused on the grounds that the investigation was classified and the
00:50:29
parents didn't push any further from the outset they'd felt completely out of depth when dealing with the
00:50:37
authorities they had fully trusted the process and accepted that the necessary steps had to
00:50:44
be taken to find kevin's killer even if it meant a few difficult months for robin and christian
00:50:53
robin eventually fell in love with a woman named mimi and when he was 20 years old the two welcomed a baby boy
00:51:02
however the secret about his past continued to haunt robin was under strict instructions not
00:51:10
to tell mimi about the kevin case and their relationship suffered as a result by the time their son was three months
00:51:18
old robin and mimi broke up with robin given full custody christian had done his best to push the
00:51:28
kevin case to the back of his mind but he found it impossible to live a normal life with such a huge secret in his past
00:51:37
by the time he was in his early twenties the thought occurred to him for the first time
00:51:43
what if he didn't do it christian was still in close contact with the child psychologist bent euron
00:51:51
johnson who had been seeing ever since the police interrogations he voiced his concerns to yuonsen but he
00:52:00
assured him he could put his mind at ease there was no doubt that christian and robin were responsible
00:52:12
professor rickard sherberry specialised in neuroscience at umeo university in northern sweden and he had a particular
00:52:20
fascination with forensic psychology in 2010 professor sherbery became involved with a high profile case that
00:52:29
shocked sweden to the core stura berivel formerly known as thomas quick was a swedish man who confessed to
00:52:39
committing more than 30 murders and cannibalizing several of his victims was ultimately convicted for aid of the
00:52:48
murders and sentenced to psychiatric confinement however the confessions were made while
00:52:55
berival was undergoing psychiatric treatment in a mental health facility and they only came about after a team of
00:53:02
psychiatrists used recovered memory therapy to extract vague information from a heavily medicated berryville that
00:53:10
could loosely tie him to the crimes in the absence of any concrete evidence the credibility of his confessions was
00:53:19
hotly disputed and when berryville retracted all of his confessions in 2008 there was no ground for the convictions
00:53:28
to stand on professor sherberry was part of the team that criticized the memory techniques
00:53:36
used in beriwal's case and all eight of his convictions were ultimately quashed it was deduced that the psychiatric team
00:53:46
had essentially used the leading questions to coerce beriwal into believing that he remembered certain
00:53:52
details about the crimes when in reality he had no involvement whatsoever beriwal ultimately admitted he had lied
00:54:02
about his involvement in the crimes because he enjoyed the attention and because the medication he was on enabled
00:54:09
him to confidently create the false stories in 2013 sherbery began looking through
00:54:18
the kevin case and noticed there were distinct similarities between it and the thomas quick case
00:54:26
not only did both cases rely strongly on repressed memories but both investigations had been guided by the
00:54:34
same memory specialist professor sven okay christensen while christensen's work on repressed
00:54:43
memories had seemed groundbreaking at the time this methodology had since come under fire
00:54:50
research had revealed that the so-called techniques used by therapists to recover
00:54:55
repressed memories also had the potential to create false memories of experiences that never happened
00:55:04
professor sherberry started reading about the techniques used to solve kevin yelmerson's murder and was immediately
00:55:12
suspicious there was simply no scientific evidence to support the interrogation techniques
00:55:19
used against robin and christian research had also taught him that having multiple long interrogations with
00:55:27
children can be dangerous the harder children oppressed the more likely they are to tell police what they
00:55:35
think they want to hear sherberry couldn't help but wonder what if the brothers hadn't had anything
00:55:44
to do with kevin's death after all case file will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening
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you support case file to continue to deliver quality content professor sherberry contacted don
00:57:48
yusufson a respected journalist whom he'd worked with on the thomas quick case and told him about his suspicions
00:57:57
yusufsan wasted no time in looking into the kevin case himself he immediately shared professor
00:58:03
sherberry's concerns that a severe miscarriage of justice might have taken place
00:58:11
christian and robin's family had a strict no media rule and they were near impossible to get in contact with
00:58:18
don yusefsen persisted for five months and eventually they agreed to speak with him
00:58:24
when the family learned of his intentions to make a documentary about the case they were hesitant
00:58:30
if yusufson's suspicions were wrong and investigators had acted entirely above board the family risked revealing their
00:58:38
true identities after 17 years of secrecy all their hard work would be undone and
00:58:46
christian and robin would be publicly outed as child killers yusefsen made them a promise
00:58:54
if he and his team couldn't find any evidence to support their theory of a botched investigation they'd forget
00:59:01
about the documentary entirely the family agreed on the condition that they didn't want updates until
00:59:08
yusufson's team had completed their research because the kevin case was classified
00:59:16
the documentary crew had to use various sources to get their hands on the preliminary investigation
00:59:23
they eventually gained access to interrogation transcripts as well as some video footage of the interrogations
00:59:31
the more they uncovered the more shocked they became it was immediately clear that the
00:59:40
interrogation team had acted unethically the european convention stipulates that
00:59:46
children should only be interrogated once and never for a long period of time robin and christian were interrogated a
00:59:55
total of 30 times with some interrogations lasting over four and a half hours their parents were rarely present even
01:00:05
when the boys became visibly distressed during the interrogations the brothers had singled out a total of nine
01:00:14
different perpetrators and mentioned at least seven different ways that kevin had died
01:00:21
they rarely repeated the same story twice [Music] up until the very last interrogations at
01:00:28
no point did either of the boys mention the palette where kevin was found or the
01:00:33
correct method of kevin's death it was only when the interrogation team fed them leading questions that they
01:00:41
were able to provide the details the investigators seemed so desperate to hear in fact the majority of the most damning
01:00:51
statements made by the brothers had been the result of leading questions one of the main reasons that robin and
01:00:59
christian had been considered suspects was that robin had responded yes when sundberry asked if his older brother was
01:01:06
the one who killed kevin after being shocked by this response sunbury had proceeded to ask robin 15
01:01:15
more times whether he saw christian kill kevin of those 15 times robin replied yes
01:01:23
eight times but seven times he said no it was clear from the interrogation reports and videos that investigators
01:01:33
became increasingly frustrated as time went by in the final stages of the investigation the boys had been taken to
01:01:41
the jetty with a life-sized doll in the hopes their so-called repressed memories
01:01:46
would resurface when a visibly upset christian had claimed that he didn't know how kevin's
01:01:53
injuries had occurred ingrid hurrison had pushed him saying but you did see because you were here
01:02:01
it's you who knows because you were here christian what did you do to kevin [Music]
01:02:10
in the subsequent final interrogations investigators not only intensified their use of leading questions but blatantly
01:02:17
fed the brothers information in order to extract a confession ingrid horizon was receiving directions
01:02:25
from the rest of the team in her earpiece she stopped beating around the bush and
01:02:31
straight out told robin where kevin's body was found and that he had a bruise on his neck
01:02:38
she even drew him pictures from there she proceeded to ask robin more than a hundred times how the
01:02:45
injuries occurred on kevin's neck robin repeatedly said he didn't know eventually with harrison continuously
01:02:55
pressuring him to speak about kevin's neck robin finally said that christian pinched kevin on the throat
01:03:03
at no point did he mention helping carry kevin's body to the palate despite harrison literally telling him
01:03:11
how and where kevin had died robin seemed incapable of providing this information
01:03:19
the same technique was then used on christian over four and a half hours of questioning he became increasingly
01:03:27
distressed he cried and repeatedly asked for his mother all up he asked 61 times for the
01:03:36
questioning to stop instead the interrogators told him he could only see his mother if he admitted
01:03:43
what happened to kevin at this point it was clear that he'd say anything if it meant he could leave but
01:03:52
he still couldn't provide the information they were so obviously hoping to hear instead detectives showed christian a
01:04:00
photo map of the lake and blatantly pointed out the area where kevin's body was found
01:04:07
one detective asked did you carry him there now realizing what they wanted him to
01:04:14
say christian said yes however he was still unable to explain how for the investigative team it didn't
01:04:26
seem to matter that evening lead investigator rolf sunderberry interviewed the brothers and
01:04:32
then wrote an official report declaring that they had made a full confession interestingly no other investigator was
01:04:41
present during this significant interview and it was the only time during the entire investigation that
01:04:47
sunbury filed an official report robin and christian were both interviewed again the following morning
01:04:55
but this time neither of them repeated the confession they'd supposedly given the previous day
01:05:03
the reality was there wasn't a single piece of evidence to tie robin and christian to the crime
01:05:09
their finger and handprints didn't match those found on the stick believed to be
01:05:14
the murder weapon in fact there was no evidence that the stick was the murder weapon at all
01:05:21
nobody had witnessed the brothers at the scene of the crime nor had they provided
01:05:26
any insider information until the interrogation team spoon-fed it to them forensic specialists also didn't think
01:05:35
it was possible that the brothers could have moved kevin from the jetty to the pallet
01:05:40
nor had they ever provided any explanation of how they managed to do so at the time of the investigation
01:05:50
the authorities didn't think that robin and christian needed illegal assistance because they weren't able to be
01:05:56
prosecuted due to their age no one ever told the boy's parents about their right to a lawyer and they had
01:06:03
never thought to ask had a defense lawyer been brought in they would never have allowed the
01:06:09
brothers to be interrogated for so long or so many times furthermore a crucial detail would have
01:06:17
never slipped through the cracks at the time of kevin's death the dalian family were close with another family
01:06:26
called the grands who had children similar in age to robin and christian the two families thought it would be
01:06:34
nice to spend the last day of summer vacation together on sunday august 16 1998 the grounds
01:06:42
arrived at the dalian's house mid-afternoon while the adults chatted inside the three grandchildren played outside with
01:06:51
robin and christian as the eldest of the group the grands 10 year old was put in charge and told to
01:06:58
keep an eye on the younger kids when police later questioned him he was unwaveringly adamant that robin or
01:07:06
christian never left his sight for any period of time likewise his mother had been keeping a
01:07:14
close eye on the children from the window and she confirmed that none of them ever strayed from view
01:07:22
after dinner the two families left to go fishing at around 6 pm christian rode in the car with the
01:07:29
grand family who stopped at a gas station just outside of doctorvic to put petrol in their car
01:07:37
this was corroborated by receipts as well as the gas station owner during the fishing trip all the children
01:07:45
remained within view of the parents at all times police had been aware of this alibi
01:07:52
since the early days of the investigation in fact they'd interviewed the grands a
01:07:58
total of 14 times and they always told the same story police never told weiner and eva that
01:08:06
their alibi had been verified and the grand family stopped speaking to them in the wake of kevin's death
01:08:14
this led to the boy's parents questioning their own recollection of that evening and wondering whether the
01:08:19
boys had indeed snuck off at some point without their knowledge the suspicion against the brothers had
01:08:27
been fueled by weiner and eva's admission that the boys may have had wet clothes on the night that kevin had died
01:08:34
and that they may have admitted to seeing kevin be killed on the night that had happened
01:08:40
however these admissions had been made while eva and weiner were heavily medicated and receiving treatment at a
01:08:47
psychiatric facility police had persisted in asking probing questions despite knowing full well that
01:08:55
they were taking sedatives and suffering immense stress not only had investigators acted
01:09:05
unethically and overlooked a crucial alibi they'd been quick to rule out a potential person of interest
01:09:13
on may 7 1999 just nine months after kevin's death a 50 fifty-year-old dotavic resident was walking through the
01:09:21
playground near the lake when they came upon a horrifying incident a three-year-old boy was being raped in
01:09:29
the sandpit the witness scared the perpetrator off but managed to catch a good glimpse of
01:09:36
him as he fled the scene it was felix the same 13 year old boy who had been spotted with kevin yalmerson on the
01:09:45
night that he was killed felix fled across the nearby border to norway but soon returned to doktovic and
01:09:53
turned himself in he admitted to the crime but given his age he was sent to a treatment facility
01:10:00
before returning to regular schooling three years later he was speaking to a classmate about the rape when he
01:10:08
allegedly confessed i have done worse things than that according to the book the story of the
01:10:19
kevin case felix's family lived in the same apartment complex as kevin's mother teres
01:10:26
just six days after kevin was killed felix's mother suffered a heart attack teres had rushed to help provide cpr and
01:10:36
paramedics were able to revive her but when teres heard that felix had sexually assaulted a young child she
01:10:44
immediately became suspicious was it possible that felix's mother knew more about kevin's death than she wanted
01:10:52
to admit and had that caused her heart attack there were several factors that made
01:10:59
felix appear suspect not only was he one of the last people seen with kevin but he'd also been the
01:11:07
one who told the other children where they could find kevin's shoes and socks behind the shed
01:11:14
felix had denied being with kevin on the night of his death despite multiple witnesses placing the two of them
01:11:20
together he told police that he'd rode around town for a while before visiting the
01:11:26
library then riding home however had the police bothered to double check this alibi they would have
01:11:33
discovered that the library was actually closed on sundays furthermore no witnesses had seen felix
01:11:41
riding around town as he described before felix arrived in doctorvic he spent time in a refugee camp after
01:11:51
fleeing war in his home country his childhood had been marred by traumatic events and he also had an
01:11:58
intellectual disability after being revealed as a child rapist many doctor vic residents began to
01:12:06
wonder if he could have been the real perpetrator of kevin's death the combined factors seemed way too
01:12:14
coincidental and it was possible that the police could have written felix off to avoid igniting xenophobia amongst
01:12:22
swedish citizens kevin's family voiced their concerns to the authorities but were advised that
01:12:29
kevin's case was closed and that was that robin and christian's mother also found
01:12:36
it curious that felix wasn't looked into further she contacted both the police and the
01:12:43
media to explore the possible connection but it seemed that nobody was interested
01:12:47
in what she had to say felix has never provided an explanation as to how he knew that kevin's shoes
01:12:56
were behind the shed near the lake one year after don josephson and his documentary team started digging around
01:13:07
they sat down with robin christian and their parents and presented them with the interrogation videos
01:13:15
the family was absolutely flawed although they'd always suspected that robin and christian were innocent they'd
01:13:23
been completely oblivious to how the interrogation team had behaved weiner didn't know whether to laugh or
01:13:31
cry after digesting what they'd seen christian remarked every question mark is erased for me
01:13:43
when the three-part documentary titled documents from within the kevin case aired on sweden's svt network in early
01:13:51
may of 2017 robin christian and their parents were extremely anxious they feared the exposure might lead to a
01:14:01
backlash however they received nothing but overwhelming support from the community
01:14:07
who were completely outraged at the way the authorities had handled the investigation
01:14:14
in a subsequent press conference robin and christian's full names were released to the public for the first time
01:14:22
the brothers spoke of the joy and relief they felt after the bungled investigation had been exposed
01:14:28
and thanked the media for helping bring the truth to light instead of living in fear of being
01:14:35
recognized they embraced the spotlight and welcomed people who approached to wish them well
01:14:42
robin told reporters this is a new start we'll just keep trying to lead an ordinary life
01:14:50
work house car not much planned beyond that ordinary life goals christian commented
01:15:01
they have taken years of my life that i will never ever get back now a new chapter begins
01:15:08
one can finally settle down i do not need to be afraid anymore the brothers voiced their concerns for
01:15:18
kevin's family who would no doubt have old wounds reopened christian told reporters
01:15:26
it is tragic both for us who were suspected and also for kevin's family who now have to go through all of this
01:15:34
once again with the story gaining huge attention in the media the case was formally reviewed
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by chief prosecutor nicholas vagrian he dissected the interrogation records reviewed kevin's autopsy report and
01:15:54
interviewed over 80 people who had been involved in the initial investigation on march 17 10 months after the
01:16:03
documentary aired vagrant held a press conference to announce his verdict he concluded that there was absolutely
01:16:12
no forensic evidence to indicate that robin and christian were involved in kevin's death in any way
01:16:18
or that they were even present when he died not only did they have a verified alibi
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from the very beginning but the interrogation methods used against them were entirely unethical and
01:16:32
unprofessional vagrant had no doubts about it both christian and robin were entirely innocent
01:16:41
the brothers were over the moon at finally being vindicated after the announcement christian told
01:16:49
reporters i haven't been able to digest it so i can only describe it as pure happiness
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they subsequently applied for financial compensation for the hardships they faced but their application was rejected
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on the grounds that too much time had passed with the botched murder investigation
01:17:14
exposed it raised a serious question if robin and christian didn't kill kevin then who did
01:17:24
chief prosecutor nicholas vagrion believed there were several possibilities while he wasn't prepared to completely
01:17:32
rule out drowning or that kevin might have been killed by someone other than the brothers it was more likely that he
01:17:39
had died by accident judging by the injuries to his body it was possible that kevin had been playing
01:17:47
by the lake either alone or with another child when a wooden pallet accidentally
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fell on top of him while trying to lift it the other child might have panicked moved the pallet and then fled the scene
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vowing never to speak a word about what had happened alternatively kevin might have been
01:18:07
playing with another child who could have sat on top of him pushing his neck into the edge of the pallet and
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accidentally strangling him the prosecutor concluded that exactly what happened to kevin would likely
01:18:22
never be uncovered kevin's father patrick told the media that he would now have to learn to
01:18:31
accept a new truth he remarked for almost 20 years i thought it was murder now it looks like it was child's
01:18:41
play ending in an accident believing something for such a long time then everything changes it's going to be
01:18:50
a process to get through christian robin and their parents wanted to do something to ensure that kevin
01:19:00
yelmerson would be remembered not just as a name in a news headline but as the happy friendly and confident little boy
01:19:08
they remembered him to be they also wanted to heal the wounds that the case had created for the city of
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arvika with the blessing of kevin's family they created the kevin foundation an organization that would honor kevin's
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memory while awarding two scholarships a year to vulnerable teenagers in arvika in a field of their choosing
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the foundation aimed to reward those who fought against all odds to succeed academically
01:19:42
for years after kevin's death kevin's mother teresa was haunted by the accusations that she was a bad parent
01:19:51
those years filled with mourning and resentment had blended into one and she looked back at them as a fog
01:19:59
after the truth was finally revealed she was relieved to find solace with eva and
01:20:05
weiner with whom she formed a close bond like them thereas had reluctantly accepted the police explanation that
01:20:14
robin and christian had confessed to killing kevin despite questioning it herself for 20 years
01:20:22
she was relieved that the truth had been exposed even if it meant that the mystery of kevin's death
01:20:30
remained when the initial investigation was underway nobody made any objections to the way things were handled and after
01:20:39
kevin's murder was solved rolf sunderberry was promoted to chief of vermont police
01:20:46
two years before the documentary team re-examined the case sunbury suffered a head injury that affected his memory
01:20:54
yet he recalled that the brothers had been very clear about their confession and denied any wrongdoing
01:21:03
according to the book the story of the kevin case after christian and robin's names were officially cleared christian
01:21:10
called the child psychiatrist to bent euron johansson who he had worked with closely for 20 years wanting an
01:21:18
explanation however johansson never returned christian's calls neither yuansen nor lead investigator
01:21:28
ralph sundberry interrogation leader ingrid harrison or professor sven aukere christianson have apologized to the
01:21:37
family [Music] in march 2022 robin and christian were each finally awarded compensation of 1
01:21:47
million kroner from the swedish government in recognition of the wrongdoing announcing the payment sweden's justice
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minister said when the state makes a mistake the state must take the consequences and try to
01:22:03
put things right today robin and christian are both fathers a role they each revel in
01:22:12
they refused to be bitter about the situation that impacted their childhood and haunted them for 20 years
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when they were publicly declared innocent their father weiner wiped tears from his eyes as he told reporters
01:22:28
it's absolutely incredible it's so wonderful after so many years finally finally it's all right
01:22:49
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