Swede gets 4.5 years for last year's royal jewels heist

Published February 22, 2019

A 22-year-old Swede has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison after he was convicted of stealing royal funeral artifacts said to be worth 65 million kronor ($7 million) from a Swedish cathedral last year.

The Eskiltuna District Court said Friday that Johan Nicklas Backstrom stole two crowns and an orb used at the funerals of King Karl IX and Queen Kristina.

On the closing day of his trial last week, Backstrom confessed to stealing the items from the Strangnas Cathedral, west of the capital, on July 31.

His confession came after prosecutors said his DNA was found on the jewels that were discovered Feb. 5 in a garbage bin north of Stockholm. Backstrom said he cut himself when smashing the glass during the theft.

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