Sketch Telecast, 10 Questioned in Palme Killing

Police in Denmark and Sweden questioned at least 10 people Wednesday night and Thursday after a drawing of a man believed to be the assassin of Prime Minister Olof Palme was telecast nationwide and transmitted to law enforcement agencies throughout Europe.

Two of those detained were Yugoslav nationals, held at the Danish port of Helsingor. A police spokesman said they left the police station Wednesday night “as free men” and drove away in their car.

Helsingor Police Chief Joergen Nielsen said that after questioning them about their movements in Sweden and Denmark, there was “nothing to indicate” that they were involved in Palme’s killing.

They were detained for three hours after their ferry crossed the narrow sound separating Helsingor from Helsingborg, Sweden.

One From Los Angeles

Authorities said one of the Yugoslavs lived in Hamburg, West Germany, and the other in Los Angeles but did not further identify the pair. They said their ages were 33 and 37.

Stockholm Police Chief Hans Holmer said investigators will hold and question anyone who resembles the drawing depicting a man in his 30s of apparently Mediterranean or Middle Eastern origin with dark hair and a narrow face.

“These things happen and will continue to happen,” he said.

Swedish Television said at least 10 people, including the two Yugoslavs, were questioned after the release of the picture.

The composite picture of the suspect was put together by a West German police team based on a description provided by a draftswoman who saw a man believed to be the killer getting into a car minutes after the killing last Friday.

Copper-Tipped Bullets

Palme and his wife had just left a movie theater and were walking down a street in central Stockholm late last Friday night when the killer struck, firing two shots from behind. The gunman used a .357-magnum revolver loaded with copper-tipped bullets capable of piercing a bulletproof vest, police said.

One shot passed through Palme’s body, severing his main artery and killing him instantly, while the other grazed his wife. Palme was unguarded at the time.

Chief Holmer said his task force has asked the FBI and the West German police to conduct ballistics tests on two bullets found on the street where Palme was assassinated.

Swedish police have said they believe the assassin was a professional killer and that he had help in planning the killing and making his escape. They have offered a $71,000 reward in hopes that an accomplice will come forward.