Lindh killer deemed 'not criminally insane'

Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh's killer, who has blamed "inner voices" for the attack, was not criminally insane when he…

Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh's killer, who has blamed "inner voices" for the attack, was not criminally insane when he stabbed her last September, according to a psychiatric evaluation released today.

Mr Mijailo Mijailovic (25) has confessed to stabbing Lindh but denies intent to kill her. In January a Stockholm court ordered a six-week psychiatric examination and adjourned the trial until after its findings.

The pychiatric board's conclusion means there is no impediment to him being jailed if he is found guilty. Judges say they expect the trial next Tuesday to last just one day and the verdict to be given a week later.

"Mijailo Mijailovic does not suffer from a serious mental disturbance... therefore prerequisites do not exist to place him under criminal psychiatric care," one of the pychiatrists, Ms Eva Marie Lauren, said in a summary released to the public.

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Mr Mijailovic, a high-school dropout born in Sweden to Serbian parents, admitted to police that he inflicted the knife wounds that caused Ms Lindh's death in a Stockholm department store on September 10th, but he denies intent to kill.

His lawyers say he acted on impulse under the influence of medication and should be set free. Murder carries a jail sentence of 10 years to life.