This last year may have been the worst one of my life, but at least I've got the world's two greatest dogs by my side to help me stagger into 2018. Today's post features a letter to Half Pint. Benjamin will be getting a letter later this week--he'd never let me hear the end of it, otherwise. Also, this posts features a lot of short video clips of Half Pint being silly. Since I apparently can't do anything right these days, they are exclusively shot in vertical mode. Please accept my apologies (and cut me some friggin' slack).
Freaky (Factual) Tale Friday: Swedish twins go crazy, developsuperpowers, and kill a man; no drugs or explanation found.
Ursula and Sabina Erickson are twins that were born in western Sweden in 1967. In 2003, the two women left their homeland for different countries; Sabina settled in Ireland with her husband and two children, while Ursula went to the United States.
On May 16, 2008, the twins met up in Ireland and headed to Liverpool, England. Sabina did not leave a note behind for her husband and two children. The two women were concerned about the kids, however, because at 8:30 AM on May 17, they went into a police station in Liverpool to report their "concerns" about the children's well being.
Why they went to a police station in Liverpool about the welfare of Sabina's children in Ireland....or what they were actually concerned about...is unknown. No record exists as to what those concerns actually were.
After the police got done with what was probably a very awkward and confusing conversation, the sisters decided to take a train ride to London. They disembarked during an unscheduled stop and began walking down the M6 motorway.
Inexplicably, the two women began trying to dart over 6 lanes of traffic. CCTV cameras and a small camera crew filming an episode of Motorway Cops captured some bizarre video of the two women causing massive traffic issues and nearly getting themselves killed. Police tried to intervene and talk to the women about the dangers of attempting a real life game of 'Frogger.'
Then this happened:
(Warning: This video is a bit graphic and a little long. There is a handy recap posted below).
Here is a shorter version of the video that should be up if the one above is down (which seems to randomly happen once in a while).
So to recap:
-Ursula runs into an oncoming semi truck and survives (albeit with major injuries)
-Sabina runs in front of a car and is knocked into the air. She also survives, but is knocked unconscious.
-Despite her entire lower body being crushed, Ursula tries to get up. As police tend to her, it becomes evident that she is very pissed off.
"BULL #$&%! I know I moved my joystick in time!
-Ursula screams and spits at the police officers attempting to assist her. She continually declares that she knows "they are not real."
-Sabina wakes up
-A police officer attempts to restrain Sabina from running away and promptly gets punched in the face.
-Sabina runs across even more traffic, but is finally caught by emergency workers and members of the public.
-It takes six people to restrain her, but Sabina still is able to resist (until being sedated). As the group tried keep her restrained, she also yelled that they are "not real" and want to "steal her organs."
It gets weirder
While Ursula was taken to the hospital for her injuries and kept there overnight (and for a few weeks afterwards), Sabina spent a few hours there before heading off with the police.
Unlike her last encounter with officers of the law, however, she was very calm and incredibly friendly...like, creepy friendly. She even tried to flirt with one of the officers.
She and her sister (who she never even asked about while in police custody) were also both tested for drugs. I'm guessing that most of you (like myself) figured that drugs would have been the primary cause for Sabina and Ursula going completely psycho and exhibiting near superhuman levels of strength and pain tolerance
Well not only was it not PCP, but they both tested clean for any sort of drugs or alcohol in their systems. The police said that Sabina appeared to be a "bit odd," but she was deemed harmless. After being charged with trespassing on a motorway and assaulting a police officer, she was released on time already served in custody.
When they called Sabina's husband to inform him of what had happened, he had no idea where she was or why she had left.
In case you want to feel your skin crawl, the clip of Sabina calmly speaking/flirting with police officers and worrying about how her shoes look is embedded below.
Oh wait, it gets even weirder
At around 7:00 that evening, two local men, Glenn Hollinshead and Peter Molloy, noticed Sabina walking down the street and looking very confused. She carried her possessions (a red coat, laptop, and phone) in a clear plastic bag from the police station and was incredibly worried about her sister, who was still in the hospital.
Glenn offered to have her back over to his house to get some food (she hadn't eaten all day). That's when things got a little strange. Sabina continuously looked out the window as if she was hiding from someone. She offered cigarettes to the men, then quickly snatched them away, stating that they may be "poisoned."
Peter decided to go home, while Glenn offered to let Sabina stay that night because he was concerned for her well being...and not at all because she was a blonde Swedish woman.
The next morning, Glenn called the hospital to ask about Ursula. He then went next door to ask his neighbor for some tea. A little over a minute later, he staggered back outside with multiple stab wounds, proclaimed "she's stabbed me," and died very soon afterward from his wounds. Sabina fled the house as Glenn's neighbor called the police.
During extensive police questioning and her trial, Sabina repeatedly answered "no comment" and claimed "diminished responsibility" for her actions due to her mental state at the time of the killing (though she seemed perfectly sane during the trial).
Due to legal complexities involving a person's psychological state at the time of a murder, and the fact that she had been determined to no longer show any signs of mental illness, the sentence ended up being incredibly light.
Sabina was sentenced on September 2, 2010 to 5 years in prison, with 439 days already served. She is currently still in touch with her sister, Ursula. She is also scheduled to be paroled...last year.
So if a deranged Swedish woman asks to stay at your house for the night, ask yourself if you really feel like you could survive an attack from a psychotic with super strength...and where you keep your hammers.
Please feel free to leave a comment below. If you'd like to sing my praises or tell me how much I suck more personally, I can also be found on Twitter.
Here's a story which could make you a believer in demonic possession.
Anonymous said…
LSD doesn't show up in normal drug tests. Not having any pcp, weed, or coke in your system doesn't mean you're sober. I imagine that there are many rarely seen designer drugs that don't show up in tests. There might even be drugs that cause drug tests to give false negatives. Drug tests are chemical reactions and can be manipulated. These women might just be crazy, but people don't tend to go slip into insanity for a few days for no reason then regain their senses just as randomly.
Anonymous said…
Makes me wonder how claiming insanity can get a person off a murder charge without it resulting in that person being put into permanent mental care instead. Apparently they know nothing of why she suddenly went insane and killed someone, but still think it is okay to let her out and assume it wont happen again. Whoever thinks it is okay to let her loose needs to give her a bed at their house.
Anonymous said…
It just lends credence to the rumor that not all blonde jokes are merely jokes.
Anonymous said…
Try this as a man and see how many years you are locked away. Probably forever...
Anonymous said…
Impossibru!
Anonymous said…
That's exactly what I was thinking.
Anonymous said…
There is a six part you tube series on these two that the UK police put together after piecing all the evidence and details together. It took them two years to do this. At the trial, both the defense attorney and the prosecuting attorney agreed that there was something not right in this woman's head. They each had expert psychiatric evaluations done. The psychiatrists agreed that the two twins psychotic episodes were triggered by a little known mechanism that is not well understood. Apparently one twin fed on the psychosis of the other. They each manifested psychosis' that were congruent with the others. Alone, they had no psychotic episodes. Another thing is that the psychiatrists could only find 4 other incidents of twins exhibiting this behavior.
Greatness said…
Holy smokes this was a crazy story. I think she shouldve been ,locked up for 10 years minimum.
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
1. If you really are Glenn's brother, than I am very sorry for your loss. 2. I had heard about them carrying mobile phones and a laptop, but was unable to find a reliable/confirmed source, which leads me to point #3... 3. Everything I wrote about here reported and confirmed by multiple outlets, including the blood tests and Sabina's marriage. 4. If what you say in #7 and #8 is true, that's scary. 5. If you really are Glenn (and can confirm it) and would like to do an interview about this, please contact me at the email on the site.
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said…
Hi, you say there is a six part series into this case, I couldn't find a link, can you supply one. Thanks.
Post deleted at the request of the Hollinshead family.
Anonymous said…
Thanks for the interest in my brother's case. Due to legal and investigatory reasons I am afraid I can no longer comment here. Though be assured that as and when the time is right, you will be informed here on this page as a priority...so please watch this space!!
Anonymous said…
Many drugs and mind-altering substances do not show up on a standard tox screen - there's a lot of them out there and usually they only test for the most common ones. Likewise, diagnosing neurological and psychiatric problems is a very complicated task that takes significant testing and observation in many cases.
The twins were diagnosed with shared psychosis or "folie a deux", a pretty rare condition, usually among a pair of individuals with very close contact and relative isolation from outside stimuli. An initial sufferer of psychosis influences the behavior and thoughts of the other, until they begin to manifest similar delusions and behavior (alternatively, two independent sufferers influence each other until their delusions resemble one another). Unusual and somewhat controversial.
It's not a condition that's restricted to twins, however - it can appear among any two people who happen to be close to one another, though it's usually family members or people who live together. It can also manifest among more than two people as well.
Comments
2. I had heard about them carrying mobile phones and a laptop, but was unable to find a reliable/confirmed source, which leads me to point #3...
3. Everything I wrote about here reported and confirmed by multiple outlets, including the blood tests and Sabina's marriage.
4. If what you say in #7 and #8 is true, that's scary.
5. If you really are Glenn (and can confirm it) and would like to do an interview about this, please contact me at the email on the site.
Though be assured that as and when the time is right, you will be informed here on this page as a priority...so please watch this space!!
The twins were diagnosed with shared psychosis or "folie a deux", a pretty rare condition, usually among a pair of individuals with very close contact and relative isolation from outside stimuli. An initial sufferer of psychosis influences the behavior and thoughts of the other, until they begin to manifest similar delusions and behavior (alternatively, two independent sufferers influence each other until their delusions resemble one another). Unusual and somewhat controversial.
It's not a condition that's restricted to twins, however - it can appear among any two people who happen to be close to one another, though it's usually family members or people who live together. It can also manifest among more than two people as well.