The mystery with the twins who were thrown in the middle of a highway before stabbing to death a passer-by

It was May 2008 when the UK authorities were confronted with one of the strangest cases in accident history in highways which evolved into a blind murder that no one has explained how it came about or why it was not avoided.

“Your organs will be stolen!” screams Sabina Erickson, before running in the opposite direction on the M6 ​​motorway, having already been hit head-on by a Volkswagen. Her twin sister, Ursula, with her legs crumpled by the truck that had just dragged her, spits and screams at the injured on the side of the road.

Fourteen years have passed since people learned about them twin sisters Erickson. The point is, the story became known to millions of viewers, first on the BBC Traffic Cops show and later on the BBC documentary Madness in the Fast Lane (2010). It is also a popular topic in Reddit conspiracy and mystery sections. Even though so many years have passed, no one can say for sure why this chaos happened which lasted a total of two days in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom in the spring of 2008.

How it all started – The trip to Liverpool

The authorities have come up with a commonly accepted timetable of events which, however, has not been particularly helpful in clarifying the case. The story begins on Friday, May 16, when Sabina and Ursula Eriksson, two Swedes in their 30s, traveled to Liverpool – believed to be by boat, although no one on board ever showed up to confirm that they had seen them – by Sabina’s house in Mallow, Ireland. Ursula had traveled from her home to the United States to visit her twin sister.

As soon as they arrived in Liverpool (believed to be at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 17), they both went to St. Anne’s Police Station, where Sabina complained that she had concerns for the safety of her children back in Ireland. Police contacted police in Dublin and promised to follow up on the complaint.

At 11:30 a.m., Sabina and Ursula boarded a National Express bus bound for London. Again, no other traveler ever showed up to say he was also on this bus.

The sisters left the bus at the Keele gas station – which is not a scheduled stop – either because they felt unwell, according to the police report that followed, or because, as the bus driver claimed, “they acted irrationally”. The latest story says that they both kept their bags after refusing to put them in the luggage compartment, and that the driver asked them to look for their luggage. When they refused, he ordered them to get out of the vehicle.

As soon as they entered the gas station, they headed to the back of the complex. The person in charge, also alarmed by their behavior, called the police. His concern was that the twins were carrying explosives. The police came to talk to the women. Convinced that they were not a threat, either to the gas station or to themselves, the police let them go.

From the bus to the first contact with the police and into chaos

What happened next was even more strange. Having apparently left the gas station on foot, the two sisters were spotted by a security camera walking in the middle of the M6 ​​motorway.

They tried to cross the road, with Sabina being hit by a red SEAT León sedan. Highway Police officers headed to the scene, as did the Central Highway Police Team, with cameras from the Traffic Police program that were following the unit at the time.

The police stopped the sisters with the situation appearing calm. The sisters stood smoking and chatting politely. But the sequel was chaotic.

Ursula suddenly ran into the street, her coat being pulled by a police officer as she tried to free herself. He escaped and found himself in the middle of the freeway where he hit the side of a truck that was running at 90 km / h. Seconds later, Sabina jumped on the road, entering through the windshield of a Volkswagen Polo. Ursula’s legs were crumpled. Sabina was unconscious for about 15 minutes. Somehow they both survived.

The delusion of organ theft and the hospital

After an ambulance was called, Sabina started coming back and started spitting at the policeman who was trying to help her. She screamed, “I recognize you – you’re not real.” She began to dream that her organs would be stolen. Then, miraculously, she got to her feet and started screaming for help from the police, not realizing that the police were already there. Sabina began to ask, “Why are you killing me?” while punching a police officer in the face and jumping on the next freeway. The police managed to restrain her.

The sisters were taken to hospital. Ursula had both her legs broken. Sabina, without being injured, was taken to the police station for questioning. She was much calmer at this point. He even commented to an officer: “In Sweden we say that an accident rarely happens on its own. “Usually at least one more follows — maybe two.” The next day, Sabina was released from court. She pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting a police officer and trespassing on the highway and was sentenced to one day in jail. Having spent an entire night at the police station, she was judged to have served her sentence. According to Vice, it is noteworthy that the woman was not fully psychiatric evaluated.

Sabina was now trapped in an English town in Stoke, wearing Ursula’s green T-shirt and carrying her belongings – including a laptop and λί 1,000 in cash – in a clear plastic bag provided by police.

The murder of an unrelated person

Around 7 pm, two local men went for a walk with a dog that Sabina stopped. It was Glenn Holinshead, 54, a former RAF pilot and friend of Peter Molly. The woman was visibly upset and asked if there was a hotel nearby. Glenn suggested they go back to his house until he calmed down. Sabina was nervous, but she agreed. Once there, he could not stop looking out the window. He offered the two men a cigarette before grabbing them by the mouth before lighting them, arguing that they might be “poisoned”.

Sabina stayed the night. The next day, around 7:40 p.m., Glenn made some food before going out to ask his neighbor, Frank Booth, if he could borrow tea bags. A little later, staggering outside, he was bleeding, saying to Frank, “He stabbed me.” His last words before he died, according to the allegations, were: “Take care of my dog ​​for me”.

Sabina fled but was found running a few meters below. She was later said to have struck herself with a hammer at regular, albeit irregular, intervals. Eventually, she reached a bridge, where she jumped from a height of 13 meters on the A50 motorway, breaking both her ankles and her skull.

It was the last act of madness that Sabina Erickson would do – though certainly not the end of madness.

The trial and a mystery that remains… mystery

Sabina was arrested on suspicion of murder while recovering at North Staffordshire University Hospital on June 9. Still in a wheelchair, he was released on September 11, charged and detained the same day.

Ursula was released the same month. He returned to America through some time spent in Sweden. She has never been charged with a crime and is now a member of the Sacred Heart Church in Belle Vue, Washington.

On September 2, 2009, Sabina pleaded guilty to reduced liability homicide. There was no explanation. Every question she was asked had the answer “no comment”. The video from the M6 ​​motorway was never shown. The prosecution and the defense argued that I did not have the brakes on at the time of the murder, although not at the time of the trial. The defense claimed that Sabina was a minor victim of Folie à deux, French for “a madness of the two”, continuing to claim that she had “received” paranoia from Ursula’s twin brother. The Nottingham Crown Court prosecutor accepted this and sentenced the woman to 5 years in prison.

It is unlikely we will ever know why Glenn Holinshead was stabbed. Since her release in 2011, Sabina Erickson has disappeared. Where it is located is unknown.