Who Killed Karina Holmer? 30 Years Ago...

Anngelle Wood
Jun 23
5 min read

New episodes return in July. We revisit the unsolved murder case that haunts Boston with replay of our 2021 episode with Boston Globe reporter, Emily Sweeney.

Who Killed Karina Holmer? A question we will not stop asking.

Karina Holmer was murdered 30 years ago today. She was 20, barely an adult, and straddling two worlds when she was pulled from a dumpster by someone rummaging for cans. It was a brutal discovery.

On the afternoon of Sunday, June 23, 1996, her remains were found wrapped in trash bags in a dumpster in the Fenway. She was strangled, washed, bisected, discarded. Only part of Karina was returned to her family in Sweden. The other part of her has never been found.

Over the years, so many stories have been told, suspicions raised, misinformation spread. It is inevitable, I'm afraid, to stop people from theorizing and making stuff up.

In this replay, we trace what we knew about those last hours and where the investigation led. In the years since I began researching her case, I have learned more and spoken to people with information about those months, weeks, and days leading up to her murder. I am putting it all together, with the plan to vet and share in future episodes. Until then, I continue to seek information about Karina's story. I continue to advocate for her.

Who Killed Karina Holmer? whokilledkarinaholmer.com

Original recording from 2021 with Emily Sweeney of the Boston Globe: On the evening of June 21, 1996, 20-year-old Karina Holmer went with friends to her favorite Boston club to celebrate the summer solstice — a big holiday in her homeland of Sweden. She was reported missing by friends, and it was discovered that she was the woman found mutilated in the trash. Her gruesome murder remains unsolved. What happened from the last time she was seen in the early morning of June 22 until she was discovered by a man collecting bottles and cans from a dumpster behind an apartment building remains a mystery. I’ve been planning on doing this case for a long time. It has been at the top of my list of those that have most impacted me, one that troubles me. Her story is particularly sensitive because it remains unsolved.

June 22 marked 25 years since Karina was seen alive. She has been gone longer than she lived. I always remember her because June 22 is my birthday, and it was the summer before I started college in Boston. Karina's identity was pushed in the press as "The Swedish Nanny," she was the girl in the dumpster. It is a terrifying story.

Today, we are no closer to learning who did this and why. I’d settle for whom. The why. Who knows. Motive is far less important now. We would like to know. Of course. But 25 years in, the likelihood that her case is cracked is slim. June 22, 1996. The last time Karina Holmer was seen alive. I want to see her case solved. And I have a plan to try.

The Boston Police Department Unsolved Homicide Unit continues to review the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident and is asking anyone with information relative to this investigation to contact (617) 343-4470.

Community members wishing to assist this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463). The Boston Police Department will stringently guard and protect the identities of all those who wish to assist this investigation in an anonymous manner.

Anngelle will be appearing at Crimestery Festival in Danvers, Mass October 9-11, 2026

Anngelle will be a panelist at Crime Bake 2026 in Dedham November 6-8

Passes for both are on sale now

SOURCES

Boston Globe - Who Killed Karina Holmer? Twenty-five Years Later, Swedish Nanny’s Grisly Murder Remains Unsolved by Emily Sweeney, June 22, 2021

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/22/metro/who-killed-karina-holmer-twenty-five-years-later-swedish-nannys-grisly-murder-remains-unsolved

Front Page Detectives - 25 Years Later, The Gruesome 'Swedish Nanny's' Murder In Boston Remains A Mystery by Nate Homan, June 15, 2021 frontpagedetectives.Com/P/Boston-swedish-nanny-karina-holmer-killed

Boston Herald Editorial: Time to solve ’96 murder of Karina Holmer June 16, 2021

https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/06/16/editorial-time-to-solve-96-murder-of-karina-holmer

Caught In Dot - Community Alert in Karina Holmer Murder https://caughtindot.com/community-alert-bpd-investigators-seek-the-publics-help-to-solve-the-murder-of-karina-holmer/

WBUR Boston - Remembering Karina Holmer By Name by Philip Martin, June 24, 2019

https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2019/06/24/remembering-karina-holmer-by-name-not-just-by-the-crime-that-killed-her

Billy Jensen - Karina Holmer and Elizabeth Short by Billy Jensen (who I had NO Idea worked for the Boston Phoenix!), October 17th, 2013

http://billyjensen.com/black-blonde-hideous-sorority-hollywoods-black-dahlia-bostons-swedish-nanny

True Crime Daily - The Brutal Unsolved Murder of Karina Holmer

https://truecrimedaily.com/2015/08/07/the-brutal-unsolved-murder-of-karina-holmer

Murder In New England - Karina Holmer, The Swedish Au Pair Case -unsolved

Https://murderinnewengland.Org/2021/01/25/Karina-holmer-the-swedish-au-pair-case-unsolved

AP - Swedish Nanny Killed In Boston, Body Cut In Half, By Carolyn Thompson, June 26, 1996

Https://Apnews.Com/Article/7e59b03dc3452d9998087d7f440a0e2b

South Coast Today - Swedish Teen Found Slain In Boston Trash, by Carolyn Thompson, Associated Press, Jun 26, 1996 https://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/19960626/news/306269941

https://apps.bostonglobe.com/true-crime/half-a-body/