Johan Alfred Ander

Identification

Johan Alfred Ander was born on October 27, 1873, and was executed on November 23, 1910.

Background

Ander was born in Ljusterö. He performed his military service duties from 1893 to 1894 at the Coastal Artillery Regiment of Vaxholm. After his military service ended, he married and tried to make a living as a waiter and hotel owner. His businesses failed in Strängnäs in 1898 and in Helsinki in 1903. Claims were made that Ander’s excessive drinking and mistreatment of his wife were, at least partially, the reasons for the economic failures.

In 1900, Ander was imprisoned for a few small crimes but managed to escape. By the time of his final conviction, he had been sentenced three times for theft (tredje resan stöld). In 1909, the couple moved back to Ander’s parents’ house in Karlsudd.

The offence

Ander’s robbery was connected to his money problems. For weeks, he was seen observing an exchange agency, Gerells Växelkontor on Malmskillnadsgatan 3 in Stockholm. On January 5, 1910, he robbed the agency and beat the clerk, Victoria Hellsten, so severely that she died. Ander stole 6,000 Swedish crowns in Swedish and foreign notes at the agency; he spent some before he was caught. Some of the notes in Ander’s possession were covered in blood, and this and the murder weapon led to him being connected to the crime.

Trial

During the trial, Ander claimed that he had received the money from a foreign (and unknown) man, whom he had met during his stay at a hotel in Stockholm. He never admitted to the crime. He was sentenced to death by all court instances. He never appealed to the king to be reprieved, though an application for clemency was made by his father.

Sentencing and clemency

Clemency was not granted by the king. This made Ander the first person to be executed in Sweden in a time period of ten years.

Outcome

Ander was executed by guillotine. He was the only person in Sweden to have been executed by the guillotine. He was the last person to be officially executed in Sweden.

Aftermath

The execution took place at Långholmen prison in Stockholm on November 23, 1910. The name of the executioner was Albert Gustaf Dahlman, who became Sweden’s last official executioner.