COLOMBO — 2005 · Murder
The Royal Park Murder
Yvonne Jonsson, a 19-year-old Swedish-Sri Lankan, was beaten and strangled in the stairwell of the Royal Park condominium complex in Colombo's Rajagiriya district on 1 July 2005. In the case, known publicly as the 'Royal Park murder', her sister's boyfriend was tried. The High Court sentenced him to 12 years in 2006; in 2012 the Court of Appeal increased the sentence to death. In November 2019 the then president pardoned him in the final days of his term, provoking outrage in Sweden and Sri Lanka. In 2024 Sri Lanka's Supreme Court declared the pardon unconstitutional and quashed it, but the convict was reported to have left the country in 2019 and has not been extradited.
- Date
- 2005
- Place
- Rajagiriya, Western Province, Sri Lanka, Colombo, LK
- Category
- Murder
- Case Status
- Solved
- Coordinates
- 6.9100, 79.9000 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 1 July 2005Yvonne Jonsson was killed in an apartment stairwell.
- 2006The trial court imposed a 12-year sentence.
- 2012The Court of Appeal increased it to death.
- November 2019The convict was pardoned by the president.
- 2024The Supreme Court quashed the pardon.
Sources
- BBC News — Sri Lanka pardon for Swedish teen's killer bbc.com ↗
- UCA News — Sri Lanka's top court invalidates pardon given to killer ucanews.com ↗
- Wikipedia — Murder of Yvonne Jonsson en.wikipedia.org ↗
- BBC News
- The Morning
- UCA News
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
Related Cases
More cases from Colombo
More cases from the 2000s
Categories
🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.