A 16-year-old Swedish boy went on trial at the Court in Lyngby on Monday, accused of attempted murder in a contract killing planned in Værløse. Three co-defendants living in Denmark are charged with complicity.
DR reports that the first hearing opened today, August 24, 2026. According to the indictment, the boy, then 15, stayed in an apartment in Værløse northwest of Copenhagen from June 29 to July 1, 2025. There he was prepared to kill a person he did not know.
The killing was prevented because police arrested him before it took place. Prosecutors believe he traveled from Linköping in Sweden to Denmark to carry out a killing on order. The indictment does not state who ordered the killing or who the intended target was.
Two men aged 28 and 29 and a 51-year-old woman are charged with complicity in attempted murder. All three live in Denmark and, according to the prosecution, facilitated the planned killing. All four defendants deny the charges.
Per the indictment, the 29-year-old arranged the apartment, bought groceries, procured an electric bicycle and instructed the Swedish teenager. The 28-year-old man and the 51-year-old woman are accused of possessing a trash bag holding a semi-automatic pistol, 13 rounds of ammunition, a latex mask and disposable gloves. The man allegedly handed the bag to the boy while the woman kept watch.
TV 2 Kosmopol reported on August 18 that Monday is the first of 15 court days set aside for the case. The final hearing is planned for November 24, 2026. If convicted, the boy would be the youngest Swede sentenced in Denmark in a case of criminality on order, according to the Ritzau wire story carried by DR and DK Nyt.
The case falls under what Danish authorities call “crime as a service,” meaning crime committed to order. In a press release dated July 2, 2025, the National Unit for Special Crime, NSK, said it arrested the 15-year-old in Værløse together with Nordsjællands Politi. Officers found a loaded pistol and an electric bicycle, and the boy was remanded in custody by the Court in Lyngby.
Escape from a secure institution
In July 2026 the teenager fled the secure youth institution Bakkegården in Nykøbing Sjælland, where he was held. He and another boy were arrested the same day and charged with escaping. Politiken linked the escape to the pending attempted murder case and to the NSK indictment.
DR reported after the escape that Bakkegården’s director and police confirmed enhanced security measures at the institution. Cases of contract violence have become part of the wider debate about crime rates in Denmark. The prosecution declined to comment on the case before the trial began.
