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Adnan Abbas and Gunilla Pairson are the murder victims in the Netflix original Swedish crime drama The Breakthrough (Genombrottet). The characters are based on real homicide victims, an 8-year-old boy named Mohammed Ammouri, and a 56-year-old woman, Anna-Lena Svensson. The change in names offers the filmmakers creative freedom while safeguarding the privacy of the victims' families.
On October 19, 2004, Ammouri (Adnan Abbas) was attacked on his way to school. A woman who tried to intervene, Anna-Lena (Gunilla Pairson), was also killed. The case lay cold for about 16 years until advancement in DNA genealogy. Daniel Nyqvist was arrested in 2020, he confessed and was later sentenced for the double murder.
The Breakthrough explores the investigation that cracked this cold case. Produced by FLX Studios and directed by Lisa Siwe, the series is written by Oskar Söderlund. It stars Peter Eggers as police detective John Sundin and Mattias Nordkvist as genealogist Per Skogkvist. Now available for viewing on Netflix, The Breakthrough is a dramatized but truthful account of what happened during the investigation period of Adnan Abbas and Gunilla Pairson's deaths.
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The real-life case behind Adnan Abbas and Gunilla Pairson's characters explained
According to an article published on thecinemaholic.com on January 8, 2025, Netflix's The Breakthrough dramatizes the tragic events of a double homicide that baffled Sweden for over 16 years. The true story features the story of Mohammed Ammouri, who Adnan Abbas was based on, and Anna-Lena Svensson, who Gunilla Pairson was based on.
Ammouri, eight years old, was a young boy living with his supportive parents in Linköping, Sweden. He was on his way to school when he was attacked on October 19, 2004. His life was tragically cut short when he was found stabbed to death on Åsgatan.
Not far from him, Anna-Lena, a 56-year-old language educator, witnessed the attack and attempted to intervene. However, she was stabbed by the same assailant. The incident occurred in the morning around 8:50 am, with Anna-Lena's residence just a block away.
Despite an eyewitness who saw the attack, the assailant fled before help could arrive. Shortly after, Anna-Lena died at the hospital, and the case of her and Mohammed Ammouri was soon classified as a double homicide. The crime left the Swedish public stunned, with many speculating about motives ranging from hate crimes to links with Ammouri's religion, but there was no clear explanation.
How Daniel Nyqvist was caught and the reason behind the homicides explained
The investigation into the double homicide of Mohammed Ammouri (Adnan Abbas) and Anna-Lena Svensson (Gunilla Pairson) remained unsolved for over 15 years despite critical evidence. The perpetrator had discarded his murder weapon, a butterfly knife near the crime scene, along with his black beanie and bloodied DNA.
The police struggled to identify the perpetrator for years until new legislation in 2019 allowed authorities to search for DNA matches on commercial genealogy websites. This led to a breakthrough when Daniel Nyqvist's DNA matched a profile on a genealogy database.
Nyqvist, a 37-year-old Swedish man, confessed to the murders after his arrest in June 2020. He admitted that he had obsessively thought about killing and chose his victims randomly. Ammouri, an 8-year-old boy, was killed first, followed by Anna-Lena, who tried to intervene witnessing the attack.
As per The Guardian, Nyqvist lived a secluded life and had limited interactions with others. In his confession, he said he expected to be caught or die after the killings. The court proceedings revealed that Nyqvist suffered from a serious psychiatric disorder at the time of the murders.
His defense argued for a manslaughter conviction due to his impaired mental state, while the prosecution pursued a charge of premeditated murder. According to heavenofhorror.com, Nyqvist was ultimately convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to psychiatric care rather than prison.
The Breakthrough, which follows the murder of Adnan Abbas and Gunilla Pairson, is now streaming on Netflix.
