August 7, 1890
Yngsjö, Skåne County, Sweden
Anna Månsdotter becomes the last women executed in Sweden
Månsdotter, a 45-year-old widow, was convicted of killing her son’s 22-year-old wife by strangulation. During trial, evidence of a long-term incestuous relationship between Månsdotter and her son surfaced and was presented as a possible motive for the murder.
Månsdotter was executed by decapitation. She lifted her head briefly before the fatal blow and the executioner had to place it back on the block. This may have altered her position as the ax cut below the eyes and into her mouth, severing her tongue and leaving her chin with the rest of her body.
Her son Per, although tried with his mother, was pardoned from his own death sentence and instead given a life sentence of hard labor. In 1913 Per was released of this sentence as well, and died in 1918 of tuberculosis.
