Sofia Maria Ekwall

Name and identification

Sofia Maria Ekwall (1826–1897) was a Swedish woman who was judged for two murders and for the murder of her father.

Background

Sofia Maria Ekwall was the eldest daughter of Per Ludvig Ekwall. Per Ludvig Ekwall was the son of the statesman Christopher Retzius Ekwall. Per Ekwall was described as a wealthy man who was honest but depressive.

In 1844, Per Ekwall moved with his wife Hedvig Christina and six children to the manor Attarp in Småland, south of the city Linköping in Östergötland.

Per Ekwall had been an alcoholic and a domestic tyrant. He refused to give his daughter Sofia Maria permission to marry her fiancé, which was thought to be the motive for her to poison him.

The offence

On Wednesday 28 May 1845, estate owner Per Ekwall became ill. The day after, he seemed to have recovered, but eight days later his health deteriorated and he was confined to bed. Suddenly, the maid Maja Stina Forsberg and one of the younger daughters of the family also became ill.

Maja Stina Forsberg died the same night. A doctor was called, discovered that the illness had been caused by poisoning, and administered antidote to Ekwall and the child.

A post mortem was made of the body of Forsberg, and the result confirmed that she had been poisoned. After this, the condition of Ekwall improved, and he made good recovery.

After having a cup of oat soup, however, Per Ekwall became ill again, and the same night he died. The child recovered completely.

Sofia Maria was later judged guilty of the murder of her father and of Maja Stina Forsberg.

Investigation

First arrests and accusations

The widow of Per Ekwall, Hedvig Christina, pointed out the maid Hedda Thorman as her husband’s killer. Hedvig Christina claimed that Thorman had given birth to a child in secret and killed it with the help of Maja Stina Forsberg. After that, Hedda Thorman had killed Forsberg to preserve her secret.

The question remained how Per Ekwall and his little daughter had consumed the poison.

Hedda Thorman was questioned, but it did not seem likely that she was guilty of the murder of Per Ekwall. She was arrested and remanded in custody because of the separate accusation of having murdered the child she had allegedly given birth to.

In connection to this, the eighteen year old Vilhem Ekwall, the son of the dead Per Ekwall, was arrested and remanded in custody because he was suspected of being the father of Thorman’s alleged child. He was also now seen as a likely suspect for the murder of his father.

Second arrests and further findings

It was established that Per Ekwall had been poisoned by the soup he had consumed. This soup had been prepared by Hedvig Christina Ekwall herself.

Maja Stina Forsberg had scraped and eaten the leftovers from the pot, and the little daughter had then eaten from her father’s plate. The police also discovered that Sofia Maria had sent for arsenic from the apothecary, with the intention of removing stains from her silk-dress.

Vilhelm Ekwall was then released from jail.

The everyday life of the Ekwall family was investigated. Maja Stina Forsberg and the child were believed to have been poisoned by mistake.

Sofia Maria was arrested for the murder of her father.

Confession and questioning

After having spent some time in jail, Sofia Maria Ekwall made a confession.

She said that she had prepared a sandwich with poison in the presence of her mother and, with her consent, given it to Maja Stina Forsberg. She denied that her mother had taken an active part in the murders.

Hedvig Christina Ekwall was taken in for questioning. More and more incriminating circumstances became attributed to her, but she refused to admit anything. She was allowed to remain free to take care of her children.

Sofia Maria then changed her mind and started to point out her mother as an active accomplice in the murders. Sofia Maria claimed that she and her mother had murdered her father together.

Hedvig Christina Ekwall sternly denied her daughter’s accusations and reproached Sofia Maria for trying to put the blame on her own mother.

Sofia Maria Ekwall continued her confession and said that her mother had poisoned the soup, which made her father ill and killed Forsberg. She also said that she had poisoned the oat soup which had killed her father in his sick-bed after he had begun to recover from the first poisoning.

Hedda Thorman, who during her time in prison had first admitted and then retracted her confession of having given birth to, and killed, an infant in secret, was also part of the case’s early criminal investigation and custody.

Trial and verdict

Hedvig Christina Ekwall

Hedvig Christina Ekwall refused to admit anything during trial. No matter how many accusations, statements and incriminating circumstances were put before her, she was stern in her denial. As there was no physical proof, she was released.

Hedda Thorman

Hedda Thorman was also freed. During her imprisonment she had first admitted and then retracted her confession of having given birth to, and killed, an infant in secret. After Thorman’s release, the authorities suspected that it was Sofia Maria who had done this.

Sofia Maria Ekwall

Sofia Maria Ekwall was judged guilty of murder of her father and of Maja Stina Forsberg.

She was sentenced to death.

Sentencing

After having asked the King of Sweden for mercy, her sentence was changed to twenty eight days on bread and water, followed by life imprisonment.

Appeals

The case record did not describe an appeal.

Outcome and aftermath

Sofia Maria Ekwall was finally released from prison in 1876. She died in 1897.

Hedvig Christina Ekwall remained on Attarp mansion until 1849.