On 28 February 1986, at 23:21 CET (22:21 UTC), Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, was fatally wounded by a single gunshot while walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street Sveavägen. Lisbeth Palme was slightly wounded by a second shot. The couple did not have bodyguards with them.
Christer Pettersson, who had previously been convicted of manslaughter in an unrelated case, was convicted of the Palme murder in 1988 after Mrs. Palme identified him as the assailant. However, on appeal to Svea Court of Appeal, he was acquitted. A petition for a new trial, filed by the prosecutor, was denied by the Supreme Court of Sweden. Pettersson died on 29 September 2004, legally innocent of the Palme assassination.
On 10 June 2020, chief prosecutor Krister Petersson, in charge of the investigation, announced his conclusion that Stig Engström, also known as the "Skandia Man", was the most likely suspect. No direct evidence was presented but the prosecutor mentioned Engström's past knowledge of weapons, friendship with anti-Palme circles and similar clothes as described by certain witnesses. However, as Engström had died on 26 June 2000, and no further investigative or judicial measures were possible, the investigation was officially closed. The decision to name Engström as a suspect was widely criticised.
At a December 2025 press conference it was announced that Stig Engström no longer was the main suspect of the assassination, but that the investigation would not be reopened.
Other theories about the murder have also been proposed. In 2018, the former businessman Jan Stocklassa conducted an investigation, which itself was based on the writer Stieg Larsson's own investigation. In 2023, this investigation was presented in the HBO Max documentary The Man Who Played With Fire.
Assassination
Despite being Prime Minister, Palme sought to live as ordinary a life as possible. He would often go out without any bodyguard protection, and the night of his murder was one such occasion. (According to Joakim Palme, Olof Palme tried to reach his bodyguard detail prior to going to the cinema, but for unknown reasons failed to reach them.) Walking home from the Grand Cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street of Sveavägen, close to midnight on 28 February 1986, the couple were attacked by a lone gunman. Palme was fatally shot in the back at close range at 23:21 CET. A second shot wounded Lisbeth.
Police said that a taxi driver used his mobile radio to raise an alarm, and two girls in a nearby car tried to assist. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Sabbatsberg Hospital at 00:06 on 1 March 1986. The attacker escaped eastwards on Tunnelgatan.
Deputy Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson immediately assumed the duties of Prime Minister as the new leader of the Social Democratic Party.
Tributes As a sign of national mourning after the assassination of Prime Minister Palme on March 1 and 15, on the day of the funeral in Sweden, flags were lowered to half-staff and many cultural and entertainment events were cancelled, while the radio played subdued music. Cuba, Portugal, Nicaragua and Ghana declared three days of national mourning, India, Argentina and Yugoslavia declared a day of national mourning.
Funeral Palme's funeral was held on 15 March 1986. The funeral ceremony, a two-hour secular service held in the Blue Hall of the Stockholm City Hall, was attended by foreign dignitaries from 125 nations, schoolchildren, activists from Palme's Social Democratic Party, members of the Swedish royal family and Palme's family. Eulogies to Palme were given by King Carl XVI Gustaf, Palme's successor as Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party Ingvar Carlsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs Sten Andersson, Secretary-General of the United Nations Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and President of the Socialist International and former Chancellor of West Germany Willy Brandt. Musical performances were given by a small orchestra led by jazz musician Arne Domnérus – one of Palme's favorite musicians – and by Finnish singer Arja Saijonmaa, who sang a Swedish-language version of Gracias a la vida by Chilean singer-songwriter Violeta Parra.
After the ceremony in the Stockholm City Hall, Palme's coffin was brought in a public funeral procession through central Stockholm to Adolf Fredrik Church, near the scene of the assassination, where the burial was to take place. An estimated 150,000 members of the public took part in the procession. At Adolf Fredrik Church, a smaller ceremony was held, attended only by Palme's family and a handful of guests.
Among the foreign dignitaries who attended Palme's funeral ceremony:
Country Representative(s) Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi Minister for Community Services Don Grimes Chancellor Fred SinowatzFormer Chancellor Bruno Kreisky Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau Vice President of the Council of State Carlos Rafael Rodríguez President Spyros Kyprianou Prime Minister Poul Schlüter President Mauno KoivistoPrime Minister Kalevi Sorsa President François Mitterrand Chairman of the State Council Erich Honecker Chancellor Helmut KohlMinister of Foreign Affairs Hans-Dietrich Genscher President Jerry Rawlings Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Prime Minister Shimon Peres Prime Minister Bettino Craxi Former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda President Samora Machel President Daniel OrtegaMinister of Foreign Affairs Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann Prime Minister Kåre Willoch Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo Prime Minister Mário Soares Premier Nikolai Ryzhkov Prime Minister Felipe GonzálezWife of the Prime Minister Carmen Romero LópezGeneral Secretary of the Presidency of the Government Julio Feo Former Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit Lord President of the Council William Whitelaw Secretary of State George ShultzAmbassador Gregory J. NewellAssistant to the President for Policy Development John A. SvahnAssistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs Rozanne L. Ridgway President Kenneth Kaunda Prime Minister Robert MugabeLEADERS TRAVEL TO STOCKHOLM FOR FUNERAL AND DIPLOMACY, The New York Times, March 15, 1986
Palme's funeral was also attended by representatives from organizations such as:
Country Representative(s) American Popular Revolutionary Alliance General Secretary Armando VillanuevaSocialist International President Willy Brandt Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Five countries – Afghanistan, Cambodia, Chile, Paraguay and South Africa – were not invited to send delegations to the funeral, in a pointed demonstration of Palme's fight for human rights. Instead, several opposition figures from those countries were invited, such as South African anti-apartheid fighters Desmond Tutu and Allan Boesak, and Chilean politician Gabriel Valdés, an opponent of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Sequence of events Cinema decision Palme's decision to visit the Grand Cinema was made at very short notice. Lisbeth Palme had discussed seeing a film when she was at work during the afternoon, and called her son, Mårten Palme, at 17:00 to talk about the film at the Grand Cinema. Olof Palme did not hear about the plans until at home, at 18:30, when he met with his wife, by which time Palme had already declined any further personal bodyguard protection from the security service. He talked to his son about the plans on the phone, and they eventually decided to join Mårten and his girlfriend, who had already purchased tickets for themselves to see the Swedish comedy Bröderna Mozart (The Mozart Brothers) by Suzanne Osten. This decision was made at about 20:00. The police later searched Palme's apartment, as well as Lisbeth's and Mårten's workplaces, for wire-bugging devices or traces of such equipment, but did not find any.
Grand Cinema
At 20:30 the Palmes left their apartment, unescorted, heading for the Gamla stan metro station. Several people witnessed their short walk to the station and, according to the later police investigation, commented on the lack of bodyguards. The couple took the subway train to the Rådmansgatan station, from where they walked to the Grand Cinema. They met their son and his girlfriend just outside the cinema around 21:00. Olof Palme had not yet purchased tickets which were by then almost sold out. Recognizing the prime minister, the ticket clerk wanted him to have the best seats, and therefore sold Palme the theatre director's seats.
Murder After the screening, the two couples (Olof & Lisbeth, and their son Mårten, with girlfriend)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yIj-jb1Na4
06:15 Timestamp regarding information stayed outside the theatre for a while but separated at about 23:15. Olof and Lisbeth Palme headed south on the west side of Sveavägen, towards the northern entrance of the Hötorget metro station. When they reached the Adolf Fredrik Church, they crossed Sveavägen and continued on the street's east side. They stopped a moment to look at something in a shop window, then continued past the Dekorima (later Kreatima, now Urban Deli) shop which was then located on the corner of Sveavägen and Tunnelgatan.
At 23:21, a man appeared from behind, shot Mr. Palme at point-blank range and fired a second shot at Mrs. Palme. The perpetrator then jogged down Tunnelgatan street, up the steps to Malmskillnadsgatan, and continued down David Bagares gata [street], where he was last seen.
Timeline Thanks to time stamps on the radio chatter in the central dispatch centre, the events immediately after the murder have been determined with very high precision.
23:21:30 – Palme and his wife are shot. 23:22:20 – A witness calls emergency services to report the shooting, but the call is misdirected and the caller is not put through to the police. 23:23:40 – A Järfälla Taxi switchboard operator calls the police dispatch centre to pass on a message from one of its drivers to the effect that someone has been shot at the corner of Sveavägen and Tunnelgatan. 23:24:00 (approx.) – A police patrol, stationed a few hundred meters away, arrives on scene after being alerted by a second taxi driver who heard of the shooting on his taxi radio. 23:24:40 – The emergency dispatch centre is contacted by the police concerning the shooting on Sveavägen. The dispatch centre operator denies knowledge about any such events. 23:24:00–23:25:30 (approx.) – A patrol wagonstationed at Malmskillnadsgatan, not far from the attacker's escape route arrives and is ordered by the commanding officer to hunt for the attacker. 23:25:00 (approx.) – An ambulance, which just happens to be passing the crime scene, is flagged down and assists the victims. 23:26:00 – The police dispatch centre calls the SOS emergency centre to assure them they are informed about the events on the Sveavägen/Tunnelgatan intersection. A third police patrol arrives. A second ambulance arrives. 23:28:00 – The first ambulance leaves for the Sabbatsberg Hospital, around a kilometre away from the scene, with both victims. Mrs Palme, suffering only a minor graze to her back, refuses to leave her husband. 23:30:00 – The police superintendent in charge at the scene informs the police dispatch centre that the prime minister was the victim. 23:31:40 – The emergency dispatch centre is informed that the ambulance has arrived at the hospital. 23:37:00–23:40:00 – The emergency dispatch centre is informed by the ambulance that the prime minister was the victim, that he's fatally wounded and likely not going to survive. 00:06:00 – Palme is pronounced dead. 00:45:00 – Deputy Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson arrives at Rosenbad, the office of the Swedish government. 01:10:00 – First radio broadcast about the murder. 04:00:00 – First television broadcast. 05:15:00 – The government holds a press conference.
Leads from the crime scene