Jail for drug abuser that murdered Aussie expat Kai Foley in Sweden

A VIOLENT drug user that stabbed an Australian man to death in Sweden has been sentenced to 14 years in jail.

Richardo Lundberg, 28, was convicted of murder over the killing of Kai Foley, 28.

Mr Foley, who had studied nursing in Melbourne, was stabbed in Odinsplatsen just days before Christmas last year.

He had moved to Gothenburg six months earlier to live with his Swedish girlfriend, Sabina Orjenfelt, and took up a job at a local independent cinema, Hagabion, while studying Swedish, Fairfax reports.

Foley was walking home after a night out with work mates when he was attacked by Lundberg in the early hours of December 20.

He was found suffering from deep stab wounds to the abdomen at Odins Square close to the city’s man train station and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

A woman that drove around with Lundberg on the night of the stabbing said he got out of the car when he saw Mr Foley on the footpath and when he returned a few minutes later he told her to ‘drive, drive’ and soon after, ‘I stabbed him’.

Lundberg claimed he could not remember what happened because he was most likely under the influence of drugs and also had severe mental health issues, according to court documents.

But a psychological assessment found Lundberg was not seriously mentally ill and that any health issues were the result of substance abuse.

Lundberg was also convicted of threatening another man with a knife on the same night.

Lundberg was also ordered to pay nearly $10,000 each to Mr Foley’s mother, girlfriend, and brother, about $9000 to Mr Foley’s estate and about $1200 to the man he threatened.

Lundberg’s lawyer Ann Bark said an appeal was planned, Fairfax reports.

“We will read through the sentence thoroughly. But we will appeal. It will absolutely be appealed, both the validity of the evidence and the classification of the crime,” she said.