Missing bodies and contested deaths test justice systems across four continents

Swedish police have once again cordoned off an abandoned mine hole deep in the forests of Norberg, this time as part of a fresh murder investigation led by the country’s cold-case unit. The same shaft was the scene of a notorious crime in 2022, when a woman survived after being raped and pushed down the hole; a man was later convicted of attempted murder and aggravated rape. Now, investigators say new information has emerged that compels them to re-examine the treacherous terrain, possibly using drones if it proves too dangerous to descend. The case underscores how unresolved violent deaths can lie dormant for years before a fragment of evidence breathes new life into a dormant inquiry.

Half a world away in Brisbane, a jury has been asked to entertain an even more unsettling possibility: that the alleged victim may not be dead at all. Mark Sheridan Waden, 50, is on trial for the murder of Priscilla Brooten, a 46-year-old American who lived in Australia illegally for years. Her body has never been found, and defence barrister James Godbolt argued in his closing statement that Brooten could still be alive, deliberately maintaining her “below the radar” lifestyle. He described the police investigation as “inadequate in the extreme”, highlighting the profound difficulty of securing a murder conviction without a corpse. The case tests the legal principle of corpus delicti in an era of global mobility and undocumented lives.

In Norway, a different boundary is being probed: the line between mercy and murder. Prosecutors in Tönsberg are seeking a 15-year prison term for Steinar Wangen, a self-styled “death helper” accused of smothering a Swedish woman with a pillow in her Trollhättan flat. Wangen admits he was present when she died but insists he did not use a pillow; his defence warns that the rule of law itself is at stake if revulsion towards the accused overrides cool judicial reasoning. Meanwhile, in João Pessoa, Brazil, a family’s long wait for justice ended in bitter disillusionment. Nearly nine years after Luanna Alverga was shot dead by her boyfriend, a jury convicted him but handed down just six years in a semi-open regime. Her brother told local television that the sentence felt like proof that “crime really does pay”, a sentiment that resonates far beyond Latin America.

Viewed from Stockholm, the Norberg investigation signals a broader shift in how cold-case units are deploying technology—drones, ground-penetrating radar, forensic genealogy—to crack historic crimes that once seemed impenetrable. Analysts in London note that the Brisbane defence’s argument, while audacious, reflects a genuine evidentiary vacuum that prosecutors increasingly face when victims vanish across borders. The Norwegian trial, meanwhile, is being watched closely by right-to-die advocates and opponents alike, as it may set a precedent for how the state distinguishes between assisted suicide and homicide. Taken together, these four cases illuminate a common tension: justice systems are being forced to deliver certainty in situations where the facts remain stubbornly, sometimes permanently, out of reach.