Swedish ‘Laser Man’ Given Second Life Sentence Over Holocaust Survivor Murder
John Ausonius, also known as “laser man.” Image by Getty
A Swedish man who has already served two decades of a life sentence in Sweden for racially motivated killings was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for murdering a Holocaust survivor, the Telegraph reported.
John Ausonius, also known as “laser man” for the laser telescope he used in his sniper shootings, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Sweden for killing an Iranian man and injuring ten others between 1991 and 1992. Ausonius was sentenced in Germany for killing Blanka Smigrod, a 68-year-old Holocaust survivor, near her Frankfurt home in 1992.
Ausonius is thought to be the inspiration for Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in a shooting spree in Norway in 2011.
Police determined that Ausonius killed Zmigrod after he argued with her in a restaurant where she was the coatcheck attendant in Frankfurt, where Ausonius was staying while he was on the run from Swedish authorities. Police initially closed the case in 1996, but reopened it in 2014 and had Ausonius extradited to Germany in late 2016 to stand trial.
It is not clear in which country Ausonius will spend the rest of his life sentence.
Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO