Who was Viktor Gunnarsson

PLANTEDEVIDENCE.COM

JUSTICE DENIED!


	Email Me

Who was Viktor Gunnarsson

The Watauga County Sheriff’s Office and the S.B.I. learned much that was suspicious about Viktor Gunnarsson. Of particular interest was how he managed to live without any visible means of support.

He had been awarded the equivalent of about $20,000 by the Swedish government in 1986 after he was arrested, but never charged with Prime Minister Olof Palma's assassination. On January 1, 1990, Gunnarsson was interviewed by Lena Gustausdotter, a Swedish reporter. During the interview, Gunnarsson maintained his innocence and said his arrest was political.

Defense attorneys presented to the jury that Gunnarsson was the victim of political revenge, not jealousy. However, when defense attorneys had evidence to support their theory presented to the jury, they failed to call any witnesses which supported this theory. On September 9, 1996, witness Rana Chaudhury came forward and provided defense attorneys with information that would have supported their political revenge theory. Chaudhury told defense attorneys that he knew Gunnarsson and had spoken to him frequently. He told my defense attorneys that Gunnarsson had bragged about killing the Swedish Prime Minister in 1986 and that he had gotten away with it. According to Chaudhury, Gunnarsson told him that he hated all political leaders and would kill all of them if he got the chance. Chaudhury also told defense attorneys that Gunnarsson had told him that he was in fear for his life and was afraid he would be killed for what he had done in Sweden. Gunnarsson said the reason he came to the United States was because threats had been made on his life. Even though Chaudhury was listed as a defense witness, he was never called to testify (Exhibit F, Interview of Rana Chaudhury) (Exhibit T, Defense Witness List).

Gunnarsson was a mystery to those who knew him, telling contradictory stories about his activities and plans. Some he told he was a translator and language tutor at area colleges, but investigators were never able to locate anyone he tutored. There was no evidence that he ever applied for a green card – a necessity for a resident immigrant seeking employment in the U.S.

He told others that he was a full-time student of theology, a devout Methodist who wanted to become a minister. Yet, no one stepped forward to say if he attended a Methodist or any church in the Salisbury area. Much of what was written about him in the Swedish press described him as a devout Baptist.

Trial testimony showed that Gunnarsson had told several people that he had opened an import-export business and had business cards printed up with “Vega Exports” on them (TPP. 1516-1517). Yet investigators never found where he had opened a business in Salisbury or the surrounding area. There was no record that he ever applied for a Salisbury business license – a necessity for running a business in Salisbury, North Carolina.

Some who lived at the apartment complex regarded Gunnarsson as strange. It was widely speculated that he made his money dealing drugs. Investigators discovered that he would take frequent trips to the Florida coast and would come back to Salisbury with wads of cash he would flash around. However, investigators never investigated this angle.

Bonnie Whitley, Gunnarsson’s landlord reported him missing on December 15, 1993 (TP. 1372), after a friend told the landlord he had visited Gunnarsson’s apartment on December 5, 1993 and found the door ajar.

Whitley testified that the apartment door was secured and locked on December 5, 1993 by the maintenance man, Leonard Straub (TP. 1322).

Whitley testified that she went to Gunnarsson’s apartment on December 13, 1993 to check the apartment, unlocked the door and went inside. She said that she observed a wet t-shirt hanging in the bathroom. She also said that while in the apartment, she noticed a gold watch and the answering machine tape in the answering machine with the lid down (TP. 1384-1385). Whitley testified that the victim’s clothing he was last seen wearing was on the back of a chair in the bedroom (TP. 1370). Whitley said she moved nothing while she was inside the apartment (TP. 1374).

However, two days later on December 15, 1993, she went back to Gunnarsson’s apartment to let investigators in and to file a missing person’s report (TP. 1372). She said she unlocked the door, and upon going inside, the gold watch she had noticed on December 13, 1993 was missing. She also said the answering machine lid was now up and the answering machine tape was missing (TP. 1372-1373).

Testimony at the trial showed that besides the master key the landlord had, only three other people had keys to Gunnarsson’s apartment. Gunnarsson’s keys were found by investigators inside his apartment during a crime scene search on January 13, 1994 (TP. 1446). Daniel Johnasson, a friend of Gunnarsson’s from Sweden testified he had a key that he returned to Gunnarsson on December 3, 1993, when Gunnarsson took him to the Charlotte airport to catch a flight back to Sweden. Johnasson had been visiting Gunnarsson from the last of October until December 3, 1993 (TP. 1458-1509).

Whitley testified that the only other person to have a key to Gunnarsson’s apartment was a man named Mike Blackwelder who was a friend of Gunnarsson’s and had lived in the apartment with Gunnarsson prior to the murder. However, Blackwelder’s key was never found (TP. 1380-1381).

On January 7, 1994, the day Gunnarsson’s body was found in Watauga County, investigators returned to Gunnarsson’s residence for a second time and photographs were taken of his apartment. Photographs entered by the state at trial, taken on January 7, 1994, showed the clothing Gunnarsson was last seen wearing on December 3, 1993, when he left Kay Weden’s residence, were still hanging on the back of the chair in his bedroom (TP. 1396).

One week later on January 13, 1994, S.B.I. agents and sheriff investigators returned to Gunnarsson’s apartment for a crime scene search. The clothing that had been photographed on January 7, 1994 hanging on the chair in the bedroom had now been moved to the bed (Volume II, TP. 720). Each and every witness who had been inside the apartment testified they never touched or moved anything (TP. 1355), (TPP. 1359-1360), (TP. 1374), (TP. 1438), (TP. 1396).

Back to Top