Olof Palmes Bodyguards
The roster of the bodyguards in February 1986
What is stopping one or two professional assassins to knock on the door of the Palme’s residence and kill the couple there? Or pick the lock and wait for them till they showed up? They would be much more vulnerable there compared to the street.
The Palme couple was much more vulnerable in their home compared to the street of Sveavägen.
One would naturally believe that he had bodyguards on the front step or in the apartment when he was home. Surveillance would reveal that this was rarely the case. The following is proven by a log book kept by Palme’s secretary, Lisbeth Palme and information from the bodyguards : [1]
Saturday February 1. The bodyguards did not see Palme this day or the next. Palme visited an American friend from the Arms Reduction Commission at 11.15 am. The member of the Commission was in Stockholm and stayed in a nearby hotel. At around 3 pm he drove to the Erstagård Clinic in his own car. No bodyguards.
February 2. The Palme couple went for a walk in Djurgården. No bodyguards.
The pharmacy “The Raven”
February 3. Olof Palme was picked up at 8.10 am by his bodyguards near the pharmacy (= Palme was for practical reasons usually picked up and dropped off by the pharmacy “The Raven” in Västerlånggatan 16. It was ca. 100 yards from his house, PS) and went to Harpsund 8.15 am. The surveillance was handled by the local police after that.
February 4. Olof Palme left Harpsund at 11.30 am and was dropped off by Rosenbad (The Prime Minister’s Department building, PS) at 1.15 pm. After 1.15 pm: No bodyguards.
February 5. Olof Palme was picked up by the pharmacy and dropped off by Rosenad at 9.40 am. The rest of the day: No bodyguards.
February 6. No bodyguards.
The TUC-building.
February 7. The bodyguards picked up Palme by the pharmacy at 9.30 am and dropped him off at the TUC-building at 9.45 am. The bodyguards came back at 12 pm and around 12.50 pm he was taken to Rosenbad. After that: No bodyguards.
February 8. The bodyguards picked him up by the pharmacy. Olof Palme spend the day in Örebro and was dropped off outside his house at 20.20 pm. After that: No bodyguards.
Sunday February 9. Olof Palme was home the entire day due to illness. No bodyguards.
February 10. Olof Palme was home the entire morning. He arrived at Rosenbad at 1 pm, (= there are roughly 0.25 miles between Palme’s residence and Rosenbad. He often walked this stretch, PS) where he attended some meetings till 6 pm. No bodyguards.
Bodyguards
February 11. At 10:30 pm Palme was picked up by his bodyguards at Rosenbad. At 11 am he went to Älvsjö. The bodyguards dropped him off at 2 pm. At 3 pm he walked to the Parliament building and at 6 pm he attended some meetings at Rosenbad. After 2 pm: No bodyguards.
February 12. Palme had a dentist appointment at 8 am. At 10 pm he went to the Parliament and at 2 pm he left the Parliament to go to Bommersvik (= A conference hall south west of Södertälje, PS). He stayed there overnight and so did his bodyguards. This is the first time he had bodyguards throughout the entire evening and night.
February 13. Palme went back to Stockholm at 8:15 am and was dropped off by Rosenbad at 9 am. Palme walked home by 12:25 pm and was noticed by the bodyguards. The bodyguards took him to the Soviet Embassy at 12:50 pm. At 3 pm the bodyguards dropped him off at Rosebad. Palme and his wife had dinner with their son Mattias at Café de la Paix, Tyska Brinken in Old Town. After 3 pm: No bodyguards.
February 14. Palme was picked up by Rosenbad at 9:45 am. At 10 pm he attended a meeting with the management of the Swedish Social Democratic Party at Sveavägen 68. He was picked up by 12 pm and dropped off by Rosenbad 30 minutes after. From 12:30 pm: No bodyguards.
February 15. The bodyguards picked up Palme at 7:40 am by his residence. He went to Kramfors and was later dropped off by the pharmacy at 6 pm. After that: No bodyguards.
A professional hit man would have killed Palme in his apartment.
Sunday February 16. Mr and Mrs Palme were picked up by the lifeguards at 4:40 pm by the pharmacy. They participated in the memorial service in honour of Alva Myrdal at 6 pm. They were both dropped off at home by 7.30 pm. After that: No bodyguards.
February 17. Palme was picked up by his bodyguards at Rosenbad at 1:30 pm and thirty minutes later he participated in the funeral of Alva Myrdal at Solna Church. He returned to Rosenbad at 3 pm and was picked up by his bodyguards at 5:15 pm. He was dropped off at home at 10:15 pm. He had bodyguards till 10:15 pm
The Royal Tennis Hall
February 18. Palme was picked up 8:40 am at the pharmacy and drove to the Royal Tennis hall. He was dropped off by Rosenbad at 10:50 am. He walked to the parliament at 3:15 pm where he spent the rest of the day. After 10:50 am he had No bodyguards.
February 19. Palme arrived at the Parliament (= that is a distance of 250 meters between Palme’s residence and Rigsdagen, PS) and later walked to Rosenbad. Mr & Mrs Palme were picked up at home and had dinner at the Royal Castle 7:30 pm. Palme had no lifeguards during the day but between 7:30 pm – 23:20 pm.
February 20. Palme attended a government meeting at 9 am and spent the rest of the day at Rosebad. Palme gave the bodyguards the day off.
Palme gave the bodyguards the day off.
February 21. Palme had bodyguards till 10:40 pm this day.
February 22. Mr & Mrs Palme were babysitting in Vällingby between 6 pm and 12 am. They drove in their own car and were without bodyguards the entire day and evening.
February 23. The Palme couple were skiing at Djurgården. Palme was later picked up by the pharmacy at 6:15 pm and 7:15 pm he took a plane from Arlanda to Jämtland. He was without bodyguards till 6:15 pm.
February 24. Palme is supervised by his bodyguards the entire day.
February 25. Palme was dropped off by the pharmacy at 9 pm after that: No bodyguards.
February 26. Mr and Mrs Palme had dinner at Restaurant Asia in Old Town. He was without bodyguards the entire day and night.
February 27. The bodyguards had the entire day off.
February 28. Palme was picked up by the bodyguards who took him to the Royal Tennis Hall. He later went to Ströms Menswear, on the corner of Sveavägen and Kungsgaten, to exchange a suit that Lisbeth Palme did not like. This was only 164 yards (150m) away from the murder scene however no one knew this at the time. The bodyguards dropped him off by Rosenbad after this at 11:30 am and Palme gave them the rest of the day off.
The crime scene.
He walked home and arrived at 6:30 pm. The Palme couple left their home at 8:35 pm and Palme was murdered around 11:21 pm.
An overview of January gives more or less the same picture [2]. Usually Palme was without bodyguards when he was off duty or otherwise spent his time in his flat on Västerlånggatan 31. These routines would have been known by a half-decent hit man. If one of the hit men was from the secret service called Säpo the entire organisation who planned this murder would have known this. That is a guarantee.
The bodyguards were from Säpo.
[1] Jvf. The profile of the perpetrator, the English version, p. 49-52 og p. 54.
[2] Jvf. The profile of the perpetrator, the English version, p. 48-49 & p. 53-54