27.09.2018

„The Reykjavik confessions“ By Simon Cox:

Suspects Cleared Of All Charges In Notorious Icelandic Missing Persons Case

Reykjavik Grapevine
Published September 27, 2018
Andie Fontaine

Today, the Supreme Court of Iceland officially acquitted Sævar Marinó Cieselski, Tryggva Rúnar Leifsson, Kristján Viðar Júlíusson, Guðjón Skarphéðinsson and Albert Klahn Skaftason of all charges levied against them in the infamous Guðmundur and Geirfinnur Case, an unsolved disappearance case that happened in 1974.

The case itself is legendary in Icelandic criminal history, even garnering itself its own Netflix documentary. Despite the bodies of Guðmundur Einarsson and Geirfinnur Einarsson never being found, police presumed they were murdered, pinning the blame on the suspects.

After extensive interrogation, solitary confinement and torture, the suspects eventually pled guilty to the crimes—despite a total lack of forensic or circumstantial evidence implicating any of them. They would do long stretches in prison over these charges, but the Icelandic public remained convinced of their innocence. In the wake of their sentencing and release from prison, many of these suspects found their lives utterly destroyed.

With the new acquittals, it has not yet been announced if the families of any of the falsely accused will launch civil suits against the Icelandic government at the time of this writing.