A 38-year-old Iranian citizen who immigrated to Sweden during the 2015 migrant crisis and worked in home care in Karlskrona has been sentenced to life imprisonment and deportation after stabbing a 50-year-old Ukrainian refugee to death in the city last year. The woman sought protection in Sweden following Russia’s invasion in the spring of 2022, but there was little protection to be found in the multicultural country of northern Europe. Her life ended after the Iranian man fatally stabbed her outside her residence. According to Blekinge District Court, the act had “the character of a pure execution.”
Court documents show that the Iranian man and the Ukrainian woman previously had a relationship lasting about three years after they met through social media.
Serious conflicts arose during the relationship, according to the investigation. When the woman wished to end the relationship, the man would not accept it. He is suspected of several earlier crimes against her, including assault, unlawful intrusion, and harassment.
In early October, about one and a half months before the murder, the woman reported the man to the police for assault after an incident where he bit her, among other things. She simultaneously applied for a restraining order, which was granted.
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Despite the restraining order, the man, according to reports, continued to seek her out, both by phone and at her residence. Witnesses described how he alternated between bringing her gifts and making threats. In one message, he is said to have threatened to kill her.
Waited 6 hours – stabbed multiple times in the head
On the day of the murder, November 27 last year, the woman had worked her morning shift at a preschool and then went to her internship placement. Later in the afternoon, when she returned home, the man had been waiting outside her residence in the Galgamarken district for about six hours.
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When she arrived at the entrance, he attacked her with a knife and stabbed her repeatedly in the head, neck, and body. She was taken by ambulance to Blekinge Hospital but her life could not be saved.
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Several people witnessed the event and parts of it were also captured on film, which was used as evidence in the case. One of the witnesses attempted to intervene but was threatened with a knife by the man. He is therefore also convicted of aggravated unlawful threats, as well as for violating the restraining order.
Fled the war in Ukraine
The murdered woman was 50 years old. After arriving in Sweden, she participated in Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) studies and completed an internship at a preschool in Karlskrona, where she was described as warm and appreciated, according to reports.
She left Ukraine together with her son, now 13 years old, after the Russian invasion in 2022 and settled in Karlskrona. Remaining in their home country were, among others, her two daughters.
Deported to home country
On Monday, Blekinge District Court announced its verdict against Mokhtar Darabi. The court wrote in its ruling that there are several circumstances making the act particularly ruthless.
The man initially confessed to the crime but later withdrew his confession. In questioning he claimed to have memory gaps and that he had no intention of killing the woman. The court dismissed this explanation and found that the incident had been planned.
The woman was judged to have experienced severe fear of death and extreme pain during the course of events, with extensive bleeding. The court also described the act as “having the hallmarks of a pure execution.”
The Iranian man was therefore sentenced to life in prison and deportation from Sweden.