Is ‘The Breakthrough’ a True Story? Contained in the Actual-Life Case

The Breakthrough follows a double homicide that took 16 years to unravel — very like a real-life incident that occurred in Sweden in 2004.

Primarily based on the 2021 novel of the identical title, the Netflix sequence recounts the chilling story of a long-unsolved case involving the deadly stabbings of a younger boy and a middle-aged girl. Sixteen years later, law enforcement officials teamed up with a genealogist who use superior expertise to establish the killer. Though it’s a fictional drama sequence, it’s impressed by real-life occasions that had been explored within the novel.

In November 2022, scriptwriter Oskar Söderlund instructed Netflix that upon studying The Breakthrough, he was “struck by the truth that there was such sturdy human destinies behind this huge homicide investigation.”

“Law enforcement officials who refuse to surrender, family members who needed solutions and final however not least the genealogist who lastly got here up with the answer,” he mentioned. “It’s a horrible trauma that has affected the folks and town of Linköping and I wish to respectfully inform concerning the makes an attempt to maneuver on from such trauma.”

So, what’s the true story behind The Breakthrough? Here is every part to find out about the actual double murders that struck Sweden in 2004 — and why it took 16 years to seek out the killer.

Is The Breakthrough a real story?

The Breakthrough begins with a younger boy on his approach to faculty when he’s stabbed by an unidentified man. A middle-aged girl intervenes, and consequently, he stabs her, too.

A bystander reviews the crime to the police, however regardless of the clues she brings, the case stays unsolved. All through the four-episode sequence, officers and genealogists work over the course of 16 years to uncover the reality behind the brutal assault and establish the killer. Ultimately, it is the DNA of a journalist making an attempt to jot down concerning the expertise’s position within the case that leads investigators to a person named David Nilsson.

Though the Netflix present is taken into account a fictional drama sequence, it’s primarily based on the nonfiction guide written by journalist Anna Bodin and genealogist Peter Sjölund in 2021. In a November 2022 assertion to Netflix, the authors mentioned they had been excited {that a} story primarily based on their “in depth work” can be instructed by FLX and Netflix.

“That is the primary felony case in Europe that has been solved with genetic family tree, and it’s a case that has touched each of us, town of Linköping and Sweden deeply,” the assertion continued.

What occurred within the real-life case of The Breakthrough?

Very similar to the sequence, a double murder occurred in 2004 when an 8-year-old boy and 56-year-old girl had been fatally stabbed by an unknown attacker, per The Native Sweden.

In response to the outlet, the boy had been on his approach to faculty, whereas the girl was headed to work. Police had been known as to the scene early within the morning, the place they first found the girl had been stabbed within the abdomen. She was transported to a neighborhood hospital and died throughout surgical procedure. In the meantime, the boy was discovered on the scene mendacity close by with a reduce throat and was pronounced useless upon arriving on the hospital.

Witnesses described the killer as being in his twenties, wearing a beige knee-length jacket and blue or black woolen hat, and instructed police that he “didn’t run however strolled away from the homicide scene,” per The Native Sweden.

As illustrated in The Breakthrough, the homicide weapon was believed to be a butterfly knife.

In response to The Guardian, the weapon was discovered on the scene alongside the suspect’s DNA and a bloody cap. However regardless of the clues, the case sat unsolved for years as investigators struggled to establish the killer.

How was the homicide in The Breakthrough solved?

In response to The Guardian, new laws was handed in January 2019 that enabled police to seek for DNA matches on industrial family tree web sites. This improvement led regulation enforcement to collaborate with genealogists to reopen and proceed investigating the chilly case 16 years after the tragic occasion.

The genealogists interviewed and examined the DNA of 1000’s of individuals. After creating household timber, the outcomes led investigators to a pair of brothers — as they did within the Netflix sequence — earlier than they finally discovered their match, per a September 2020 report from The Nomad As we speak.

In June 2020, police recognized a killer and launched an announcement that mentioned they “acquired a match virtually instantly,” per The Guardian.

They added that “his DNA was taken and matched 100%,” as proven within the Netflix sequence.

Who was the real-life killer from The Breakthrough?

After matching his DNA on a well-liked family tree web site, Daniel Nyqvist was recognized because the killer. In response to The Guardian, Nyqvist — who was 21 on the time of the assault — admitted to police that he had obsessive ideas about killing and selected the victims randomly.

Medical specialists concluded he had suffered from a psychiatric dysfunction, which grew to become his lawyer’s protection for rejecting the cost of premeditated homicide, per the outlet.

Moreover, The Guardian reported that the killer mentioned through the police interrogation that he by no means anticipated he would go unscathed for thus a few years.

“I keep in mind that I didn’t brush my tooth as a result of I used to be simply going to die or get caught that day,” he mentioned. “However I needed to do it. I did it totally on automated.”

Nyqvist had been unemployed and dwelling at his dad or mum’s house through the murders and continued to stay a quiet life close to Linköping following the assault, per The Guardian.

Who had been the real-life victims from The Breakthrough?

The younger boy killed by Nyqvist was recognized as Mohamad Ammouri. In response to The Native Sweden, it was a standard morning for Ammouri, who was on his approach to faculty when he was killed.

“Mohamad overslept and received up at about quarter previous seven. He was apprehensive about being late for college,” Ammouri’s brother Ali instructed the outlet. “My mum ready a easy breakfast which he ate earlier than he took his schoolbag and ran off.”

Quickly after he headed to high school, Ammouri’s sister Iman adopted him, solely to be met by disturbance within the streets and the picture of a physique mendacity within the highway — the identical approach the scene unfolded within the Netflix sequence.

Nonetheless, police prevented anyone from getting shut sufficient to establish the physique. Ammouri’s faculty then known as his household to ask why he hadn’t arrived, per the outlet, which led them to seek out out the tragic information about their son.

“Simply after 9 we discovered that our son had been killed,” Ammouri’s father instructed The Native Sweden. “He was radiantly joyful and cherished to joke with folks. Why would anybody wish to kill him? We’ve got no enemies in the entire of Sweden.”

The 56-year-old girl was recognized as Anna-Lena Svensson, who labored for an academic firm and was on her approach to work when she was killed, per the outlet. She and her husband had a 28-year-old daughter.

In response to The Native Sweden, the victims didn’t know one another, and police didn’t imagine there was any connection between them and the killer.

The place is The Breakthrough killer Daniel Nyqvist now?

Sixteen years after the assault, Nyqvist confessed to the crime and was convicted of homicide in October 2020, per The Native Sweden. In response to the outlet, he was sentenced to psychiatric care after being discovered to have “dedicated the acts underneath the affect of a extreme psychological dysfunction.”

Nyqvist was additionally required to pay damages to the younger boy’s household, whereas the girl’s family members didn’t request something, in response to Swedish outlet SVT NYheter. Following his conviction, Nyqvist’s legal professionals mentioned he wouldn’t request an enchantment to the decision, per a translated report from Swedish outlet Corren.

In response to Nyheter24, as of October 2024, Nyqvist — who goes by a special title now — stays in forensic psychiatric care at Regional Clinic in Vadstena, Sweden, per a request from the Administrative Court docket in Linköping.

Court docket information reviewed by the outlet reveal that his healthcare has been working easily, with no psychiatric signs noticed previously six months. The paperwork additionally famous that he lately started taking medicine as a precaution and feels that his sleep has improved.