Is ‘The Breakthrough’ a True Story? Contained in the Actual-Life Case

The Breakthrough follows a double homicide that took 16 years to unravel — very like a real-life incident that occurred in Sweden in 2004.

Primarily based on the 2021 novel of the identical title, the Netflix collection recounts the chilling story of a long-unsolved case involving the deadly stabbings of a younger boy and a middle-aged lady. Sixteen years later, cops teamed up with a genealogist who use superior expertise to establish the killer. Though it’s a fictional drama collection, it’s impressed by real-life occasions that have been explored within the novel.

In November 2022, scriptwriter Oskar Söderlund instructed Netflix that upon studying The Breakthrough, he was “struck by the truth that there was such robust human destinies behind this huge homicide investigation.”

“Cops who refuse to surrender, kinfolk who needed solutions and final however not least the genealogist who lastly got here up with the answer,” he mentioned. “It’s a horrible trauma that has affected the individuals and the town of Linköping and I wish to respectfully inform concerning the makes an attempt to maneuver on from such trauma.”

So, what’s the true story behind The Breakthrough? Here is every part to find out about the true double murders that struck Sweden in 2004 — and why it took 16 years to search out the killer.

Is The Breakthrough a real story?

The Breakthrough begins with a younger boy on his approach to faculty when he’s stabbed by an unidentified man. A middle-aged lady intervenes, and consequently, he stabs her, too.

A bystander reviews the crime to the police, however regardless of the clues she brings, the case stays unsolved. All through the four-episode collection, officers and genealogists work over the course of 16 years to uncover the reality behind the brutal assault and establish the killer. Ultimately, it is the DNA of a journalist attempting to write down concerning the expertise’s position within the case that leads investigators to a person named David Nilsson.

Though the Netflix present is taken into account a fictional drama collection, it’s based mostly on the nonfiction e-book written by journalist Anna Bodin and genealogist Peter Sjölund in 2021. In a November 2022 assertion to Netflix, the authors mentioned they have been excited {that a} story based mostly on their “intensive work” can be instructed by FLX and Netflix.

“That is the primary prison case in Europe that has been solved with genetic family tree, and it’s a case that has touched each of us, the town of Linköping and Sweden deeply,” the assertion continued.

What occurred within the real-life case of The Breakthrough?

Very like the collection, a double murder occurred in 2004 when an 8-year-old boy and 56-year-old lady have been fatally stabbed by an unknown attacker, per The Native Sweden.

In response to the outlet, the boy had been on his approach to faculty, whereas the lady was headed to work. Police have been referred to as to the scene early within the morning, the place they first found the lady had been stabbed within the abdomen. She was transported to an area hospital and died throughout surgical procedure. In the meantime, the boy was discovered on the scene mendacity close by with a reduce throat and was pronounced useless upon arriving on the hospital.

Witnesses described the killer as being in his twenties, wearing a beige knee-length jacket and blue or black woolen hat, and instructed police that he “didn’t run however strolled away from the homicide scene,” per The Native Sweden.

As illustrated in The Breakthrough, the homicide weapon was believed to be a butterfly knife.

In response to The Guardian, the weapon was discovered on the scene alongside the suspect’s DNA and a bloody cap. However regardless of the clues, the case sat unsolved for years as investigators struggled to establish the killer.

How was the homicide in The Breakthrough solved?

In response to The Guardian, new laws was handed in January 2019 that enabled police to seek for DNA matches on industrial family tree web sites. This improvement led legislation enforcement to collaborate with genealogists to reopen and proceed investigating the chilly case 16 years after the tragic occasion.

The genealogists interviewed and examined the DNA of 1000’s of individuals. After creating household timber, the outcomes led investigators to a pair of brothers — as they did within the Netflix collection — earlier than they finally discovered their match, per a September 2020 report from The Nomad Right now.

In June 2020, police recognized a killer and launched a press release that mentioned they “acquired a match nearly instantly,” per The Guardian.

They added that “his DNA was taken and matched 100%,” as proven within the Netflix collection.

Who was the real-life killer from The Breakthrough?

After matching his DNA on a preferred family tree web site, Daniel Nyqvist was recognized because the killer. In response to The Guardian, Nyqvist — who was 21 on the time of the assault — admitted to police that he had obsessive ideas about killing and selected the victims randomly.

Medical consultants concluded he had suffered from a psychiatric dysfunction, which grew to become his lawyer’s protection for rejecting the cost of premeditated homicide, per the outlet.

Moreover, The Guardian reported that the killer mentioned through the police interrogation that he by no means anticipated he would go unscathed for thus a few years.

“I keep in mind that I didn’t brush my enamel as a result of I used to be simply going to die or get caught that day,” he mentioned. “However I needed to do it. I did it totally on automated.”

Nyqvist had been unemployed and residing at his father or mother’s house through the murders and continued to reside a quiet life close to Linköping following the assault, per The Guardian.

Who have been the real-life victims from The Breakthrough?

The younger boy killed by Nyqvist was recognized as Mohamad Ammouri. In response to The Native Sweden, it was a traditional morning for Ammouri, who was on his approach to faculty when he was killed.

“Mohamad overslept and obtained up at about quarter previous seven. He was apprehensive about being late for varsity,” Ammouri’s brother Ali instructed the outlet. “My mum ready a easy breakfast which he ate earlier than he took his schoolbag and ran off.”

Quickly after he headed to highschool, Ammouri’s sister Iman adopted him, solely to be met by disturbance within the streets and the picture of a physique mendacity within the street — the identical approach the scene unfolded within the Netflix collection.

Nevertheless, police prevented anyone from getting shut sufficient to establish the physique. Ammouri’s faculty then referred to as his household to ask why he hadn’t arrived, per the outlet, which led them to search out out the tragic information about their son.

“Simply after 9 we came upon that our son had been killed,” Ammouri’s father instructed The Native Sweden. “He was radiantly blissful and cherished to joke with individuals. Why would anybody wish to kill him? Now we have no enemies in the entire of Sweden.”

The 56-year-old lady was recognized as Anna-Lena Svensson, who labored for an academic firm and was on her approach to work when she was killed, per the outlet. She and her husband had a 28-year-old daughter.

In response to The Native Sweden, the victims didn’t know one another, and police didn’t consider there was any connection between them and the killer.

The place is The Breakthrough killer Daniel Nyqvist now?

Sixteen years after the assault, Nyqvist confessed to the crime and was convicted of homicide in October 2020, per The Native Sweden. In response to the outlet, he was sentenced to psychiatric care after being discovered to have “dedicated the acts underneath the affect of a extreme psychological dysfunction.”

Nyqvist was additionally required to pay damages to the younger boy’s household, whereas the lady’s kinfolk didn’t request something, in response to Swedish outlet SVT NYheter. Following his conviction, Nyqvist’s legal professionals mentioned he wouldn’t request an enchantment to the decision, per a translated report from Swedish outlet Corren.

In response to Nyheter24, as of October 2024, Nyqvist — who goes by a unique title now — stays in forensic psychiatric care at Regional Clinic in Vadstena, Sweden, per a request from the Administrative Court docket in Linköping.

Court docket data reviewed by the outlet reveal that his healthcare has been operating easily, with no psychiatric signs noticed prior to now six months. The paperwork additionally famous that he lately started taking medicine as a precaution and feels that his sleep has improved.