Familicide: Death of The Magnússon Family

Scandinavian Crimes (w/ Devante & Delila)

Year(s) of Incident: 
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Familicide: Death of The Magnússon Family
Victim(s):  4
Method: Poison, Murder/Suicide

In Reykjavik City, a family of five was found dead in their home. A pharmacist had poisoned himself, his wife, and their three young children. Next to their bed was a glass bottle labeled "Poison" and a suicide note from the pharmacist. This heartbreaking case stands out as a unique and tragic event in Icelandic history, the only instance where someone took their own life and that of their entire family. 

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Transcript

Welcome to Scandinavian Crimes. My name is Devante and say hello to my lovely co-host, Delila.

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Hi.

(...) And on this podcast, we talk about Scandinavian criminals who made their mark throughout Scandinavian history. So welcome back for another episode. It's gonna be, you know, I guess different because I feel like lately we've been covering a lot of Swedish criminals,(...) but we're gonna transition

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to a slightly different part of the world, but still within that Nordic, you know, area of the world is gonna take place in Iceland.

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And this is gonna be a very interesting case. So we're gonna dive into the case because it's from 1953.

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In Reykjavík city, a family of five was found dead in their home. A pharmacist had poisoned himself, his wife, and their three children.

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Next to their bed was a glass bottle labeled poison and a suicide note from the pharmacist. This heartbreaking case stands out as a unique and tragic event in Icelandic history. The only instance where someone took their life and that of their entire family as well.

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So you already know what to do when you're listening to this lovely old podcast.

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Grab your tea,(...) grab your snacks.

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If you're on your way to work, tuck yourself into that nice little corner on the bus or the train where you like to listen to your audio books and your podcasts,

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because this is the story of the death of the Magnuson family.

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The year is 1950, February 26.(...) In an old house in Circa dei in downtown Reykjavík city, lives a couple Sigurðr Magnuson, a 35-year-old pharmacist and his wife, Hrudur Cárinn Larsen, a 33-year-old housewife. They are blessed with three healthy children. Their sons Magnus, age six, is an energetic and curious boy.

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Their two daughters Sigurðr Dua, age four, is known for her playful nature and little Enghi Björg Stefania, only three, is a cherished baby of the family. The family seemed to have an idyllic life.(...) Sigurðr was a dedicated pharmacist at Reykjavík Appotek, a reputable pharmacy in the Icelandic capital. His professional life was marked by respect and competence. Hrudur, a devoted mother and wife, managed a household and cared for their three young children, ensuring they were raised in a loving environment. Åsdi's Hrudur sister played an integral role in their lives contributing to the nurturing and supportive atmosphere of the home.

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February 26, 1953, the family had recently moved to a small town in Süðrkata, still in downtown Reykjavík.(...) On this day, Hrudur's mother decided to visit.(...) When she arrived, she knocked on the door, but there was no response.(...) Puzzled, she tried the door and found it unlocked.

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She entered the house, calling out, but receiving no reply.

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The silence was unsettling.

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As she walked through the house, she headed towards the bedroom of her daughter and son-in-law. What she found was beyond comprehension.

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There lying fully clothed on the bed were Sigurðr, Hrudur and their three children. All five family members were lifeless.(...) The scene was devastating. The vibrant family she knew and loved was gone. The mother, in a state of shock and panic, ran to a nearby house where a doctor lived.(...) Breathless, she frantically explained what she had discovered, describing the horrifying scene in her daughter's bedroom.

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The doctor, understanding the urgency, immediately called the police to report the incident.

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He then rushed to the house himself, hoping that he might be able to still save the family or provide some assistance to law enforcement. The police arrived promptly and began their on-site investigation.(...) As they meticulously examined the scene, they found a glass bottle on the bedside table labeled "Poison."

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Alongside the bottle was a letter addressed to "Osthees," written by Sigurðr.

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The contents of the letter, combined with the presence of the poison, led the police to conclude that Sigurðr had poisoned himself and his family. To confirm the cause of death, an autopsy was conducted on all five bodies.(...) The results were definitive.(...) All had died from ingesting a harmful substance.

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This revelation left everyone questioning why such a tragic event had occurred.(...) To understand the motivations behind the incident, it was necessary to dive into Sigurðr's background and the events leading up to this tragic day. Sigurðr was born on March 27th, 1918,(...) into a prominent family.(...) His father was a bank director at a national bank of Iceland, and his grandfather was a significant figure in Icelandic history, adding to the family's distinguished legacy.

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Sigurðr had nine siblings growing up in a household marked by both achievement and tragedy. On October 27th, 1947, his father suddenly passed away from a heart attack while serving as an Icelandic ambassador in Italy.

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Just two years earlier, in 1945, Sigurðr's mother had died at the age of 48. Despite these personal losses, Sigurðr pursued a career in pharmacy. He completed his first half of his studies in 1941, and then traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he successfully passed his final exams.

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Upon returning to Iceland, he secured employment at Reykjavík Apotek, a well-known pharmacy in the capital.

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Sigurðr was described by his colleagues as an easygoing but reserved individual. His intelligence and dedication to his work earned him the respect and admiration of those he worked with, making him a valued member of the pharmacy staff. Despite his professional success and seemingly stable family life, Sigurðr's health began to deteriorate in 1951. He was diagnosed with encephalitis, a severe condition causing inflammation of the brain, which can lead to a range of psychiatric disorders and severe physical complications, including intense and chronic pain. The disease progressed rapidly, causing excruciating pain and severe headaches that eventually prevented him from performing his duties at the pharmacy.

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During this time, Sigurðr's mental health declined. He developed severe depression and suicidal thoughts exacerbated by the chronic pain and the stress of his illness.

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His condition became so serious that he was confined to a medical ward and closely monitored to prevent any attempts at self-harm. Mental health care in the 1950s was not as advanced. Treatments were often rudimentary and sometimes harsh. It is possible that Sigurðr underwent electroshock therapy, a common treatment for severe depression at the time, although this is not confirmed. Despite these medical interventions, his condition did not improve at all, leaving him in a state of despair and hopelessness. A week before the tragic incident, Sigurðr's encephalitis flared up again, suffering from debilitating headaches.

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On February 26, 1953, Sigurðr reached a breaking point.

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Overwhelmed by his illness and feeling that there was no escape from his suffering, Sigurðr decided to end his life. In his deteriorated mental state, he decided to take his family with him.

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Sigurðr was a sole provider for his wife and children, and he was deeply worried that his death would plunge them into poverty.

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In his despair, he believed their lives would be filled with hardship and suffering without him.(...) The thought of leaving them to face an uncertain future was unbearable. On that tragic day, he obtained a poison later identified as a harmful mixture containing cyanide,(...) the exact method he used to administer the poison to his family remains unclear.(...) In his suicide note, Sigurðr expressed his anguish at the prospect of abandoning his family to endure such hardship alone. He indicated his deep attachment to them, revealing that even in his final moments, he could not bear the thought of leaving them behind. It remains unclear how Sigurðr persuaded his family to drink the mixture. Still, the police theorized that his encephalitis compromised his mental state and played a huge role in their deaths. The autopsy confirmed the presence of cyanide identifying the cause of death as a harmful mixture.

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Investigators concluded that Sigurðr likely convinced his family to consume the poison resulting in their deaths. This tragic event is the only recorded case of a family side in Icelandic history. Notably, the term murder was absent from news reports, which refer to the incident as a family tragedy. The community was deeply affected by the laws, struggling to comprehend the events.

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On March 4th, 1953, Sigurðr and his family were buried side by side.

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I would like to start with something that I thought about when I wrote this.(...) And it's like how the mental health situation in the 1950s, obviously it was very different. You know, there was actually very common around this time to do like electroshock therapy and lobotomies, lobotomies, I can't even say this word.(...) Basically they do a surgery in the brain and I think they take out like parts of the brain that they thought was the reason that people had depression.

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Even though there's no proof of him doing these type of aggressive surgeries or treatments,

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it wouldn't have been like impossible for him to have at least received electroshock therapy(...) and other things.

I remember as well when situations like this would pop up in some older cases,(...) that also this was heavily tied into, you know, the idea of well obviously the patriarchal setup of the family dynamic.

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Because even in the story, how you hear, he's very, he feels isolated and being a man who's solely providing for his family, his primary thought is my family can't do this without me. You know, and I have to take them with me. So basically, you know, they're incapable and that is a side effect of unfortunately, like I said, the way that the system was set up during that time in much of the world where the man was the provider, the man was the sole, you know, foundation of the family, not just financially, but also just like when it comes to mental, physical health, you know, everything was circled around the father.

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So this is also like a kind of understanding as well that this kind of system doesn't benefit men who have, one, he has an illness and two, because of that illness, he was suffering from an extension of that illness, which was a mental health crisis, which was I need to take my family with me, which should never be your go-to because, you know, yeah, maybe things were tougher back then, which it was, because this, by the time the family died for sure, this was like the 1950s. So he was literally, he took the wife out on the cusp of, you know, women being able to have rights. You know, it would have been a certain point if he was struggling for sure, but this is literally approaching that time period where things were starting to change in the world and his children also at some point probably could have, you know, told the story of how great of a dad he was and blah, blah, blah, you know, they could have had their own legacy.(...) So it's kind of sad, you know, because this, remember, this is a time when people didn't understand that the, this patriarchal idea of a man being a sole provider and kind of just being the overall rock for his family in every single way can also be very detrimental in situations like this when they need it the most, especially when they're feeling depressed, sick, and it can cause situations like this to happen, which also, as you pretty much have noticed as well, in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, even before, you know, in the 40s, 30s, 20s, abuse and stuff like that of not only just the wife, obviously, but also the children were very high because that patriarchal stuff, like it did a lot of damage, you know, it was very self-isolating and it hurt a lot of men, which then turned them into unfortunately abusers and, you know, or situations like this, you know, so it's like this constant cycle of a system that is not really well-designed for someone in this situation, especially, you know, when it comes to medicine, but also mental health-wise, but also family-wise, so it just goes to show. So, you know, things are changing, you know, it's still not perfect, but things are changing.

(...) And even though, like, because even though most people who have heard about this case can see that, okay, the circumstances led him to, like, kill everybody because he thought it'd be easier for the family, it's still never okay, you can't choose for anybody else,

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and, you know, cases like this still happen till this day in modern times when women have more rights, which is, you know, sad, so, but we, like, still can have an understanding of this case and the circumstances, and I think it's important to discuss that, but also discuss that, you know, it's not okay, obviously, to take other people with you

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in, like, this femilicide in general.

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Yeah, even in the US, there was,(...) in 2020 as well, like, during the pandemic, there was a lot of family sides, people who are killing their mothers, their wives, their daughters, their sons, because they had suicide tendencies or mental health issues,(...) and for the most part, the pattern, I'm not saying this is an absolute across the world, but the one consistent piece of it was that, you know, they had still the patriarchal foundation in the family, which was they were the main provider,(...) they had to deal with the family, making sure they were financially successful, and, you know, making sure they were mentally taken care of, making sure they were fed, and then when they go through illnesses, mental illnesses, they feel alone, they take the family with them, you know, it's unfortunately like a side effect thing, and so it still happens today, this is something that still takes place today in a very present time where mental health, especially in men, especially when it comes to physical illness as well, is important to pay attention to, because this can lead to things like this happening, because it's still happening.

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Yeah.

But that's all I have to say about this, though.

Yeah, me too. It's a tragic case, but I think it's also important to talk about it, because it's still a very prevalent thing that happens today.

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Wait, let's just, oh, I had a stroke right now.

Yeah, I noticed.

But you guys, let us know how you feel about it. It's not a super long case, we don't wanna drag it out any longer than we have to, the case is pretty self-explanatory.

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Let us know what you think about, you know, the case, the proceedings, the way that things happen, and family side in general, you know, let us know if there are any other instances of this taking place where you are, wherever you are in the world, and of course, as you know, on this podcast, we like to end things on a positive note, you know, things that everyone loves, and that is food.(...) Tell me, my dear, what are you craving?

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Well, I had a really good pokeball that I made, which was really good with cooked salmon, because I can't get those fancy uncooked salmon, they're expensive.

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So I did that, and it was really good with some spicy mayo.

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It was really yum, yum.

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You know,(...) even though I had my craving filled from it, it was just good, because I guess I didn't have, I had a lot of it, but I just don't have it frequently enough, that Korean barbecue chicken,(...) oh, I'm gonna say it again,(...) I'm gonna say it again.

You still talking about it?

Yeah, because like, literally, what was it, the episode before last, the episode before last, I got it, and then I had like 10 pieces, and it came with rice, and I was like, hmm, it was good.(...) And then, because I'm not craving it per se, but it was just so, technically I guess I'm craving it, I guess you could say that, it was just so good that I'm just like, I kinda want it again, you know?

You know, I feel like we're in an area of like, Korean cuisine slash like, Asian kind of looking cuisines for some reason, I feel like we've been craving that a lot.

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Maybe our body's telling us that.

(...) Maybe, but sounds good right now. But I hope you guys enjoy the episode. Let us know in the comments of the episodes, or on Spotify you can actually kind of have communication dialogue on the questions, and let us know what you think, and be sure to check out the previous episodes, and be sure to, I guess, follow up with us on Facebook Messenger, Send Cases, and communicate with us, and we shall catch you guys next week.

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Peace out. Peace out.

(Soft Music)