An Adolescents Journey:
Robert Barestrand
A Biography about a teenager who moved to Sweden 1980 and became entangled in events that would forever change a nation, the murder of Olof Palme and the Estonia ferry disaster.
“The well-being of the people before that of big finance”
-Olof Palme during a speech at Sergels Torg in 1984.
Introduction
Ever since the morning of the first of March 1986 the question has been asked regarding the murder of Olof Palme, who did it and why. Throughout the years there has been an abundance of theories flourishing among official investigators as well as private such. Everything from large scale planned operations to alone acting individuals, and all in between, has been put forward. The investigation itself is said to be among the largest the world has ever known. It consists of over 22000 individual investigation trails ranging from the size of one A4 paper sheet to exceeding a usual murder investigation.
As many as 139 individuals have admitted the crime, of which 29 directly to the police. In the year 2023 Robert Barestrand came forward with new and specific information and statements in connection to the assassination. Not only did he become an unwilling witness, but also more or less knows the individuals that were tasked with organising and eventually implementing the murder. During his life he basically grew up closely nit to certain individuals within the group in question. Being in so deep also presented Robert the connections in society the group possessed and accordingly the sheer context of what can be described as the elite.
This ultimately also led to the insight of the true motive to the murder of Olof Palme. Robert has been in contact with the police three times to present his knowledge. First in 1986 shortly after the murder, then again in the 1990’s and finally in the year 2018. Feeling that the police were not interested Robert decided to come forward in the year 2023 via social media and also produced a book, “the stripling has been found”, which was released in June 2024. This biography intends to present the whole story based on recordings with Robert performed in January 2025.
Furthermore his given evidence will be related to the investigation material, regarding both the murder of Olof Palme and the sinking of M/V Estonia. Furthermore, this being a biography, Roberts adolescent years and upbringing will also be illustrated leading up to his integration to the aforementioned group.
Detailed background
Robert was born in 1969 in Poland, and came to Sweden in the 1970’s. Robert had a quite rough upbringing, which led him do distance himself from his parent and to live more independent.
Robert was kind of a “lost soul” in the new country, but he struggled. One day, he came in contact with a middle-aged man, through common interests. He gave Robert food and shelter, and Robert got to follow him on his many adventures. In some sense, you could say that this man became sort of a mentor to Robert, although their friendship also had its share of problems. The man had a group of friends around him, that Robert also came to befriend.
It was this man, named Gunnar Ställfors, that – according to Robert – later shot and killed the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme. And the group around Ställfors was well aware of the plans.
We want to be clear that Robert himself was not involved in these plans, He was just an “appendix” to the group itself, and had no involvement in the plans. His conscience is clean in regard to the killing of Olof Palme.
But what are the facts that support Robert’s story? Actually, it’s more than you are led to believe at first glance. Among other things, one of the men mentioned above has confirmed that he was aware of the plans, and he also confirmed that they knew each other. One important witness at the murder scene says that things “fall into place” when he hears Robert’s story. An ambulance driver confirms Robert’s story about how many, of few, persons that were present at the scene just after the shooting. And this is just a small portion of what we have found.
On top of that, you can see in the interview protocols that it certainly is possible that Robert’s story is true. Göran Israelsson, rode in the same car as Stefan Glantz, the man who officially performed CPR on Palme. Israelsson speaks about a “youngster” (“yngling” in Swedish) who were present close to Palme’s body. But the problem is that Israelsson and Glantz knew each other very well. So, if Stefan Glantz were present close to the body, Israelsson would not have said “youngster” about him, but would have said “Stefan” or “my buddy” or something similar. He couldn’t miss that Glantz ran up to Palme, as they were travelling in the same car.
Another important witness, Anna Hage, speaks about a “youngster” that performed CPR on Olof Palme, the same way that Robert says he did. Could this be Robert and not Stefan?
This is the key events of the night of the murder, according to Robert:
That evening, the 28th of February 1986, he follows a group of men to Stockholm city. They came to Östermalm i the central parts of Stockholm, or rather the intersection between Sveavägen and Tunnelgatan.
Robert and these men moved around the place that later on would become a murder scene.
Robert acknowledged that something was about to happen, but wasn’t sure what it was. Neither did he care, he just followed the grown-ups. Despite his young age, he had drunk a bit of alcohol this evening, similar to many other young people at this time.
They moved along several places close to Sveavägen/Tunnelgatan and Malmskillnadsgatan. The clock was ticking, and it’s now around 23,20.
Later on, Robert is standing on the sidewalk at Sveavägen. He is now behind the gray pillar near the closed entrance to the subway, along with one of the men. Robert says: ”Suddenly, he says ‘come on!’ and I start to walk. Then the guy next to me says ‘let’s walk in a zig-zag motion’ and fool around like this. So, he was playing around by walking in a zig-zag pattern, and I started to do so as well.”
Robert can clearly remember the construction barracks that were placed in the middle of the street between the houses at Tunnelgatan. You could pass by them on both sides, left and right. Robert and the man now start to walk hastily on the left side of said barracks, leaving Sveavägen behind them.
After a few seconds, Robert and the man arrives in the intersection between Tunnelgatan and Luntmakaregatan.
There, the two men took of to the left and continued on along the Skandia house, when they suddenly hear some loud bangs.
The person who interviews Robert asks: ”How many bangs did you hear?” Robert replies:
”Well, we were walking here and heard the bangs shortly after. It was like some fucking fireworks – BOOM (pause) BOOM. ‘Shit, is it new years eve?’, I thought”.
– Robert in an interview at the murder scene 2024.
Robert and the man then walks a little bit further on Luntmakaregatan behind the Skandia house when the man suddenly says that they have gone too far. They back up a little bit. Then they see a man jogging towards them. Robert and the man now arrives at the intersection between Luntmakaregatan and Tunnelgatan. Robert now turns tosee where the man went.
Robert is now alone at the corner while the man he walked with earlier walks over to the barracksm just to come back to Robert in a short while. But the man takes off once again towards the barracks, and then meets Robert who stands at the corner.
Now, the man is almost pushing Robert a little bit onto Tunnelgatan close to the barracks and points towards Sveavägen. He says: ”Robert, run over there and see what has happened”.
At the same time, Robert sees that the man he walked with have seen another man, wearing a blue jacket. This is close to the barracks.
Robert now runs on the slippery Tunnelgatan towards Sveavägen. On the way, he meets a tall man that is jogging and passes him. He doesn’t recognize the man, but he is sure that it isn’t Stig Engström, the persong named as the most likely murderer by the investigators.
He can now see that a person is laying down a bit further on, close to the road. Next to the laying man, there is a woman yelling.
Robert rushes to the scene and starts to help the person that later on turns out to be Olof Palme. He is administrating CPR on Palme, but a witness questions if Robert really knows what he is doing (he does). One man from the group takes Robert away from the scene shortly after.
This is Robert’s core story. If you want to know more about the background, the group itself and all the facts that support Robert’s claim, please order the book “The Hidden Witness” (“Ynglingen är återfunnen” in Swedish. You can find it at https://bokshop.bod.se/ynglingen-aer-aterfunnen-robert-barestrand-9789180576369. Please note that the book is currently only available in Swedish. We are working on a translation under the name “The Hidden Witness”.
To the right, you can see a number of pictures of Robert from the years surrounding the Palme assassination.
