There were four murders in Iceland this year – twice the usual maximum annual homicide rate for the country.
Albanian Klevis Sula was the last victim of murder in Iceland in 2017. With a memorial service to be held for him this Sunday, it bears mentioning that this is the fourth murder this year, as Vísir reports.
The first murder of 2017 was that of Birna Brjánsdóttir. In addition, Arnar Jónsson Aspar died from an assault last June, and Sanita Brauna was killed in her home last September.
Rannveig Þórisdóttir, a criminologist with the Capital Area Police, told reporters that on average from the start of the 21st century, there have been two murder cases in Iceland each year.
“Sometimes there are years where no murders are committed,” she said. “Then another year will come up where there are five.” She added that we should not make too much of the numbers. “That’s not something I think we can do over such a short period of time, especially when we have seen such upswings before.”
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