On July 3rd, 1988, nine-year-old Therese Johannesen disappeared from her home in Fjell, Norway without a trace. Johannesen's disappearance had been Norway's most infamous criminal case to date, and thus sparked the biggest police operation in its history. At the height of the investigation there were over 100 police officers working full time on the case; in the first year alone, they questioned over 1,700 people, received upwards of 4,600 tip offs, and collectively logged over 13,000 hours of car movement in the area.
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| Sture Bergwall, aged 46 (left) and Therese Johannesen (right) |
Years later, in late April of 1996, a man named Sture Bergwall, accompanied by police and attendants from Säter psychiatric hospital, was taken on a tour of Fjell. As they went through the town, Bergwall described the locations where he first saw Therese, knocked her unconscious by hitting her with a rock, and subsequently put her in the boot of his car.
His claim of murder was made further credible by his recollection of tiny, specific details. He recalled how on the day he was to have abducted Therese there had been wooden planks strewn all over the road, and that the balconies near the abduction site had since been repainted a new color. He had details about the murder that the police determined were factual and so explicit that surely no ordinary person could have just made them up. Shortly after his visit to Fjell, Bergwall was found guilty of the murder of Therese Johannesen, his fifth murder conviction. It would later come as a surprise to all when, in 2008, it came to light that he hadn't ever killed anyone.
His claim of murder was made further credible by his recollection of tiny, specific details. He recalled how on the day he was to have abducted Therese there had been wooden planks strewn all over the road, and that the balconies near the abduction site had since been repainted a new color. He had details about the murder that the police determined were factual and so explicit that surely no ordinary person could have just made them up. Shortly after his visit to Fjell, Bergwall was found guilty of the murder of Therese Johannesen, his fifth murder conviction. It would later come as a surprise to all when, in 2008, it came to light that he hadn't ever killed anyone.
Who is Sture Bergwall?
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| Säter Psychiatric Hospital built in 1912, Abandoned |
What is Group-think and How Did it Lead to the Creation of a Fake Serial Killer?
Simply put, Group-think is a psychological oddity that can occur within groups in which the apparent desire for consensus can lead to a wildly irrational, or dysfunctional, decision-making outcome.
Newspapers and online articles published in Sweden are claiming that what happened with Sture Bergwall was an occurrence of Group-think, with the "group" being Bergwall himself, the police, and the attendants from the psychiatric hospital. They heavily stress the relationship between Bergwall and the interrogators, with whom he became very close. Jenny Küttim, a Swedish researcher and journalist who was part of an investigative report that revealed the erroneousness of Bergwall's claims, stated the following:
He was convicted without any evidence at all...He was convicted on his
own confessions to these crimes. He got information from the newspaper
or through the police interrogator that he grew a strong bond with. He
confessed over a period of nine years. It was the same group of people
[during this time] who were leading these police investigations. That's
what the commission today is pointing at... it's a phenomenon of
'groupthink' (Küttim, 2015).
The Swedish media claimed that the group (Bergwall, police, and hospital attendants) slowly came to a cyclical-consensus; Bergwall was trying to convince the police that he was guilty, while the police and hospital attendants wanted someone to be guilty for the crimes, and the fact that Bergwall was presenting them with information that implicated himself caused them to agree that he did it without considering any evidence to the contrary. The fact that Bergwall was implicating himself also worked to further the Group-think, as the thought was that nobody would just take credit for that many crimes, and be able to come up with that many reasonable details, so nobody wanted to doubt his confessions.
Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, also noted that:
While the roles of a therapist, a memory specialist, police, prosecutor and
defense lawyer are normally clearly delineated. These boundaries were not
maintained when it came to encouraging a sick man to acknowledge his
crimes and the justice system to convict him of them...The bigger question
is why no one in the justice system stopped the seven-year circus (Dagens
Nyheter, 2012).
How Do We Avoid Group-think?
There are a lot of different ways that people claim you can challenge Group-think when you notice it occurring, or even preventing it from happening in the first place. The first of which is planning for it. Any good risk management plan should include a way to monitor and reduce any emerging Group-think. Another strategy, not wholly applicable in Bergwall's case, is encouraging debate. Leaders of groups need to speak up and, at the very least, explain why ideas and opinions need to be challenged.
Acknowledging biases in data is another good way to combat Group-think. It is a common misconception that you can eliminate the occurrence of Group-think by simply relying on data. It is important that any potential biases in the collecting, or interpretation, or data be acknowledged on the group level, because once misleading insights are "data approved" they are even harder to dispute. One last way to combat Group-think is to recognize that speed can kill. Was there a real debate? Did everyone offer an opinion, or did a few influencers appear to lead the group's decision?
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| Sture Bergwall in 2017, aged 67 |
While Group-think led to one man being wrongfully convicted multiple times over, it isn't always as catastrophic. However, it is still important to try and actively practice the tips above in order to reduce Group-think and make decision-processes as functional (and non conformity-seeking) as possible.
References:
Atlas Obscura. (2017, October 24). Säter Museum of Mental Health. Retrieved from https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sater-museum-of-mental-healthBlanco, J. I. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://murderpedia.org/male.Q/q/quick-thomas.htm
[image #1] Et svik mot Therese. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/i/7elGv/et-svik-mot-therese
Groupthink. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/groupthink
[image #3] Groupthink - Learn About the Negative Impact of Groupthink. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/soft-skills/groupthink-decisions/
How to defeat groupthink: Five solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2015/01/13/groupthink-solutions-information-failure/
Rastam, H. (2013). Thomas Quick: The making of a serial killer. Rearsby: Clipper.
[image #4] Sture Bergwall begär miljonskadestånd. (2017, October). Retrieved from https://omni.se/sture-bergwall-begar-miljonskadestand/a/5m0yb
Sveriges Radio. (n.d.). Relatives of victims call for independent inquiry - Radio Sweden. Retrieved from https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=5220995
Swedish commission blames conviction of fake serial killer on 'groupthink' | CBC Radio. (2015, June 05).
[image #2] The abandoned mental hospital by Jakob Ehrensv. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://secure2.pbase.com/jakobe/mental_hospital
It amazes me that a situation like this happened. You’d think with that many police officers on the case of the disappearance of that person that they wouldn’t of allowed it to go as far as it did. To be fair though, the police probably didn’t expect some crazy guy to start confessing to a bunch of random murders for no reason, especially when he gave such vivid descriptions of them. I also agree with you that encouraging debate is a good way to counter groupthink and to have more ideas shown. It’s a good thing debate and attempt to poke holes in all the bad ideas. I also agree that it’s important to acknowledge biases in data. I feel like confirmation bias would also come into play a great amount in groupthink. Anyways, I really enjoyed reading your article.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the same boat, I have never heard of this story before and it sounds almost too crazy to be true, but so is a lot of stories. From the perspectives of the enforcement they were probably thrilled to have a lead once the man began telling his story which where in such detail it was easy to believe. If groupthink can lead to outcomes such as this it just goes to show how important it is of those in the group to prevent groupthink. That's crazy though!
DeleteIt does sound too crazy to be true! I completely agree; when I was researching the facts and the stories of these events I had to do so much cross checking to make sure that what I was finding was actually true because it was just so out there. It seems rare, from what I've found, that groupthink produces such insane results, but this is just one of the more extreme examples of a pretty common occurrence among groups
DeleteFor sure, it also kind of makes you wonder what other events happened due to groupthink, events that could have been avoided. In this case its kind of amazing that Sture would have such descriptive stories that led people to believe him, if in fact he was the culprit. I think that the last point you made about SPEED CAN KILL applies to this story in particular.
DeleteA well and short written paper on the matter. I've always been interested in 'unique' events in history and had never heard of this before, definitely an enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteI guess that another factor at play here is confirmation bias, as well as the fact that incidents like these--ie, a person coming up with very specific details, and confessing to, a disappearance or alleged murder--are so rare that "it could never happen to me!", to put one way of thinking about it. Or perhaps another reason this could have happened would be related to crime in general; when someone confesses to a crime, you don't usually doubt they did it. It's usually the other way around where you're trying to get someone to confess to it using any tactic necessary.
I agree, it's very interesting to think that for once the police were trying to stop this man from confessing to all the crimes once they figured out what he was doing. It's such a strange situation to have on your hands too. Imagine the utter confusion the police must have been under when they discovered that all the elaborate, well-thought out confessions to some of the most popular homicide and missing persons cases they had were all total lies. Not only that, but the guy who confessed literally had nothing to do with the case at all. It's the ultimate red herring. I wonder if the police actually managed to solve any the cases he confessed to.
DeleteThis was really interesting to read about, it reminds me of a story in "The Psychopath Test" where it's fairly difficult to change people's minds once they're made - where in that story he convinced people he was crazy & then it was impossible to change their mind.
ReplyDeleteI think this scenario finds us constantly in life. People make inferences, good and bad, and it becomes permanent. That's why first impressions are so important. However, I do think over time the inference can change and mold into a different one but it takes time.
Delete"The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson is actually an amazing book and there are a few stories in there where this exact same scenario, with different conditions, occurs. There was one story about a man who convinced people in prison that he was insane and was a psychopath so they put him in an institution because he had convinced the group of doctors and nurses and jail officials that he, in fact, was insane and a psychopath. Subsequently, he was put into a state mental institution and has been fighting to get out ever since. He is actually in a position now where he is trying to get let out by convincing the staff that he is not insane/psychopathic, but they don't believe him because that's "exactly what an insane person would do and believe". Fascinating stuff, really.
DeleteIn Bergwall's case, is group-think a psychological disorder? Is there any explanation as to why he would want people to think he was a serial killer (with group-think why a serial killer? why not something good and not something that people would hate him for?) I do find this whole case very interesting and think you did a very good job explaining everything. Can group-think be caught early in childhood (you explained that Bergwall had signs of getting in trouble and criminal behavior early on but are there signs that they missed when he was in the psychiatric hospital that would point to group-think later in life?).
ReplyDeleteSo this guy want'ed to be blamed for these crimes he didn't commit? That's crazy, but whatever. It's just as crazy that nobody realized he wasn't sane. You said he gave stories showing he was in two places at once, shouldn't that be a huge red flag on his credibility. I know that the were looking for someone to arrest, but you'd think they would at least analyse the information to try and find proper leads. I guess it is pretty crazy how much group think can cloud peoples logical judgment. It's events like these that make my think maybe the Twilight zone episode Monsters are Due on Maple Street, where mob mentality drives everyone to almost kill each other, isn't to far fetched.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you pointed out how the police department wanted to arrest someone. I think they didn't analyse what he was saying due to the immense pressure the department was under: socially. But again you are right Ethan, its incredible to see what extent this played out. To link this to another case of confession but where the individual wasn't sane would be the West Memphis Three. You should check it out if you aren't familiar.
DeleteThis makes me think of warnings I have gotten from family members of mine-- the police are not you're friend. They just want a confession. If they take you in for questioning you need to wait for a lawyer because otherwise they will egg you on until you're admitting to whatever they want.
ReplyDeleteMy parents have warned me about the same thing. If you aren't being arrested, my father would always tell me not to talk to police officers and even then, keep it to a bare minimum until you get a lawyer. You wouldn't want what you say to be used against you because, due to group think, they may focus just on what you say and underscore or completely miss a piece of evidence. As a defendant on the bench, I don't think there is much you can personally do to keep the judge and the jury from falling victim to group think.
DeleteThat is such a scary thought. My fam has never talked about what to do in police situations.
DeleteIt's scary to think that you have to have strategies to avoid wrongful conviction when you are completely innocent. It honestly makes the stomach turn a bit.
DeleteExtremely well written article! I found it very easy to understand your aim in this post and your data was very well connected. I've always heard of stories like this (false confessions) but had never connected them to the way that people sometimes behave in a group. Very interesting read!
ReplyDeleteYour post was such a smooth, interesting read. I had never heard of this case before. It never occurred to me that it would be a problem for the same investigators to be interrogating the same suspect, but of course getting more opinions is always necessary, especially with so much on the line.
ReplyDeleteGood post on an interesting topic, in your research did you find any other stories similar to this one? I wonder how common of a situation this really is where investigators are just so eager for an easy conviction that they will take whatever they can get with no real due diligence.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a fascinating case and I really enjoyed how well you tied it to your topic. I am curious to know how much this occurs in day to day life as well as if there are any other cases like this one. I find it so interesting as to how this came about because it truly is hard to imagine anyone coming forward to admit to something like this especially if they had nothing to do with it. I really enjoyed your post, it was very thought provoking!
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely a bizarre case with many great topics incorporated into it. It is crazy to think that stuff like this actually happens in everyday life. I am extremely curious to think what goes on in a persons head like Sture's. Coming forth and admitting to cases that he didnt commit. This post was really unique to me because it got me to think about the justice system and how many people have wrongly been convicted of such horrible crimes. Very nicely done!
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