Friday, Aug. 26, 2011

10. The Eriksson Sisters

Born in 1967, Ursula and Sabina Eriksson, Swedish twins, made headlines in 2008 after video cameras caught them running into oncoming traffic on the M6 motorway in the U.K. Theories linking the Erikssons to folie à deux, a psychiatric syndrome of mutual delusions, have been kicked around as footage of the M6 episode shows one sister following the other into six lanes of speeding traffic. One made it all the way across and the other made similar attempts numerous times. Both were hit by cars, and Sabina was arrested for punching the police officer who attempted to restrain the twins. She was eventually convicted of a much more gruesome crime committed later that year. On May 20, 2008, shortly after Sabina's odd brush with the traffic cops, she killed a father of two by stabbing him repeatedly with a kitchen knife. After the slaying, paramedics who arrived at the scene saw her hitting herself on the head with a hammer before jumping off a 40-ft. bridge. She recovered from the fall and was arrested. During her trial, psychiatrists said Sabina was suffering from disorders that made her hear voices and commit violent acts. After admitting to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility in September 2009, she was sentenced to five years in prison.