Norwegian man admits operating in “grey zone” ahead of Swedish euthanasia trial

A Norwegian man accused of murdering a Swedish woman in 2024 has acknowledged operating in a legal “grey zone” but denies criminal responsibility, according to Swedish police interrogation records obtained by Dagbladet.

Steinar Wangen, 54, faces trial next week in Vestfold District Court in Tønsberg for the alleged murder of Malin, 47, in Trollhättan, Sweden, in September 2024. Prosecutors claim he suffocated her with a pillow after she became unconscious from a combination of pills and alcohol he instructed her to consume. Wangen has pleaded not guilty.

Swedish authorities have since expanded charges against Wangen, accusing him of encouraging suicide in four separate cases between 5 and 15 September 2024. Police documents reveal he contacted multiple women on 5 September 2024, offering detailed instructions on ending their lives. In messages to a woman from Västerås, he described his method—covering a person’s face with a pillow until death—and wrote, “What do you want? Take your own life or should I kill you?” He later claimed to have assisted in six suicides, including three he described as killings at the victim’s request.

Investigators uncovered search queries in Wangen’s browser history from summer 2024, including “killer woman strangle”, “killer woman handgag”, and “I like strangle people”, alongside searches on whether autopsies are performed after suicides. YouTube searches on similar themes were also documented.

During a December 2024 interrogation, Wangen refused to explain why he messaged four women simultaneously on 5 September. By January 2025, however, he admitted sending medication by post to one woman—an act he had previously denied—while continuing to deny criminal liability. “I have not encouraged suicide, but I have explained how she could take her own life because she asked me for help after I spoke out on a Swedish euthanasia forum,” he told police, referring to the Västerås woman.

One recipient, a woman with ALS, initiated contact with Wangen through a Facebook group advocating for legal euthanasia. She told police she sought his help because “we cannot get assistance legally in Sweden.” Wangen responded that he had already “helped” eight people and planned to assist two more that week, adding, “Sometimes people ask me to kill them. In Sweden, I do.”

Another woman, also contacted by Wangen, testified that his offer to kill her alarmed her. “I thought, ‘God, I hope he doesn’t come to Sweden and kill me,’” she told police, adding that she considered reporting him but chose not to after deciding she would never meet him.

Wangen was arrested in September 2024 during a live broadcast of the Norwegian TV2 program “Norge bak fasaden” (Norway Behind the Facade), which examined illegal euthanasia networks. His lawyer, Gaute Nilsen, has stated that Wangen “will explain himself when the time comes.”