different realities and reactions At this time executions for murder were becoming rarer in Sweden and the plan of Berglin was therefore somewhat unrealistic.576 Similarly, in 1870 the maid Brita Maria Andersdotter in Uddevalla murdered Inger Maja Nilsdotter. In her confession she talked about her sadness because of a broken engagement and how she had decided to murder somebody with the hope the punishment would bring her relief from her own bad situation. If her aim was to be executed is unclear and it would not happen. The final sentence of the appeal court, reduced due to her unsoundness of mind, was prison for eight years.577 One could say that a distinct quality of the Swedish environment was that initiatives often came from below, primarily from courts and individuals in the diet. The general development was standard enough, however. From a situation where the executions were central in this story, eventually the rarity and lack of executions took over. The relevant legislations, however, concentrated on executions. First the more general aspects, seen as encouraging the longing to be executed, were addressed, and then the focus moved to some ecclesiastical aspects. 576 Concerning the penalty of death and executions in Sweden from 1867 and forward see e g Seth 1984 p 88 sqq, Jakobsson 1987 p 37 sqq, and Bergman 1996 p 73 sqq. 577 Nilsson 2017 p 26. 164
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