Out of Thin Air: A True Story of Impossible Murder in Iceland - Softcover

Adeane, Anthony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1443454362 ISBN 13: 9781443454360

Publisher: Collins, 2018

Synopsis

In 1974, two men vanished without a trace under suspicious circumstances, shocking the people of Iceland, where serious crime is almost non-existent. More than a year later there seemed to be a breakthrough when a small-time crook named Erla Bolladottir described a dream to police that they interpreted as a sign of trauma related to the men’s disappearance. After lengthy interrogations, investigations and courtroom dramas, Erla and five acquaintances confessed to killing both men and were given prison sentences ranging from three years to life. But over the years the case against the convicted six began to disintegrate, and one major question remained unanswered: Why had they all confessed to murder if they hadn’t done it?

 

Out of Thin Air joins Erla in the present day as she pursues her exoneration, exploring the many facets of this bizarre and bewildering case and the social and cultural history of Iceland, a country of vast landscapes, extreme weather and strange folklore, where more than eighty per cent of the population believes that elves might exist.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Confessions can’t always be trusted.

In January 1974, a man named Gudmundur went to a nightclub near Reykjavik. He could drink like a fish and never lost an arm-wrestling match. After that night, Gudmundur was never seen again. Ten months later, a man named Geirfinnur drove to a café in Keflavik. The next morning, the police found his car, unlocked and parked outside the café, with the key dangling from the ignition. Geirfinnur had vanished.

These were baffling crimes in a country where baffling crimes didn’t happen. After a six-month investigation, the cases were formally closed. Then a year later, the police arrested a pair of small-time crooks on suspicion of embezzlement. When they said they knew the missing men, the case was reopened. After two years of investigation, six people confessed to the murders and received sentences ranging from three years to life.

It was not until nearly forty years later that the truth started to emerge. Key witnesses withdrew their statements, and evidence against the accused was exposed as flimsy. Moreover, the police’s brutal and unorthodox interrogation techniques, coupled with intense media scrutiny, may have led the suspects to question their memories and confess to murders they didn’t commit.

Out of Thin Air joins Erla Bolladottir in the present day as she pursues her exoneration, exploring the many facets of this bizarre and bewildering case, as well as the social and cultural history of Iceland, a country of vast landscapes, extreme weather, and strange folklore, where more than half the population believes that elves might exist.

About the Author

ANTHONY ADEANE is an award-winning investigative journalist and filmmaker who has been researching the case for over three years and has interviewed over 150 people who were involved, including the convicted, prison guards, police, journalists, family members of the convicted, historians and witnesses. He is producing a full-length documentary that will air on BBC and Netflix. Adeane lives in London, England.

About this edition

• Publisher: Collins
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1443454362
• ISBN 13: 9781443454360
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304