Back in January, I wrote a post about necrophiliac woman in western Sweden. http://abstractbyjoannasantanen.blogspot.com/2013/01/necrophilia.html
Read the Local News story here: http://www.thelocal.se/44536/#.UQHkLx3O1sF
Yesterday, I received an email (through my author site: www.joannasantanen.com) from a woman claiming to be the offender in question, though there's really no way to verifying her identity because her name was not released. Of course, I'm skeptical that she's the actual woman who was charged in Sweden. I hope that she is considering I have so many questions about her condition and the events surrounding her arrest, but the likelihood is slim. I am conducting an investigation, but I felt it was worth a post regardless of whether the email was from the "Swedish Necrophiliac" or not. Bearing that in mind, I'd like to relay some of the thoughts she felt compelled to share (again, this could just be someone looking to create a hoax, but if not, it's pretty fascinating).
The woman, Helena, 37, wrote a letter which was surprisingly well-mannered. I would have expected her words to be more seething, especially considering she was trying to set me straight about how these events completely destroyed her life. As one can imagine, the news media exploded regarding this bizarre story of a woman who not only possessed human remains, but was discovered to have used the bones to pleasure herself. The absolute repulsion of the story doesn't negate international intrigue. Helena describes in her somewhat broken English how the media and police & law officials obliterated her entire life including her relationship (she goes so far as to indicate that she is a lesbian, and prefers LIVING women) and her freedom.
Helena claims to have spent 97 days in isolation during her jail time. Helena does not elude as to why she was in isolation, but one can imagine that the nature of her crime might beget her some flack from the general population. Isolation may have simply been a way of protecting her while she served her time. She states that the prosecutor was seeking prison time, but the murder and necrophilia charges against her were dropped. She goes on to say that the prosecution is attempting to seek a higher court, but does not have much evidence on her because they were unable to retrieve material from her encrypted hard drives. I can only imagine what's on those. (Pause for dramatic Yuck! here.)
Though she does not deny her actions in terms of her "use" of the human remains, she doesn't explain her motivations either. She simply says that she is trying to change her ways, but has been involved in the black market and profiting from death for so long that she is struggling to find another way. (Get a job?)
Helena closed her email by saying that she is "stronger than ever" because of this ordeal. She admits that now that she has lost everything, she is fearless and doesn't have anything more to lose. I suppose I can applaud that particular revelation, but it doesn't excuse her reprehensible actions or absolve her from the responsibility of buying and selling human remains on the black market. This story begs the question: how does one even acquire such items? Grave robbing? Thievery from hospitals? Dismemberment? Murder?
I will update my blog once I have had a chance to conduct some more research regarding this story and the origin of the email. I am assuming that this individual may just be a bored necrophiliac who had combed the internet for material regarding their fascination and happened upon my blog post. However, if it turns out the email is truly from the actual Swedish woman mentioned in the news, I will be ecstatic to interview her. I might even write her story for my next project. A good friend of mine offered up this title: Bad to the Bone: The True Crime Story of the Swedish Necrophiliac. Hilarious! :)
