The strange story of the Eriksson sisters and where they are now

March 2021 · 6 minute read

Nobody ever thought that having a twin could have some disturbing downsides. 

After all, every time the special bond between twins is brought up, it’s always about how they understand each other, and on some occasions, how they seem to communicate telepathically at times. 

In 2008, the bizarre story of the Eriksson twins showed the world that this bond isn’t always as good as it is made out to be.

Identities Of Eriksson Twins

Ursula and Sabina Eriksson were born on 3rd November 1967. The sisters were identical twins. They had an elder sister Mona and an elder brother named Bjorn. By 2000, Ursula had relocated to the USA, and Sabina had moved to Ireland with her husband and two children.

The Erikssons didn’t have any criminal records or mental health issues in the family. It was just like one day they woke up and started behaving oddly.

Events Leading Up to the Tragic Event

On 16th May 2008, Ursula Eriksson visited Sabina, and everything that took place afterward still feels like a fever dream to many. 

The twin sisters secretly left Sabina’s house for unknown reasons and decided to go to Liverpool, England. It was later revealed that they must have taken the ferry to reach English port city. 

After arriving at their destination, Ursula and Sabina went straight to the St Anne Street Police Station to file a report concerning the safety of Sabrina’s children. The sister also told the police that she had fought with her partner a few hours prior. 

Liverpool Police contacted Dublin to verify the information. After this, the sisters decided to board a National Express coach going to London.

After boarding the bus, Sabina and Ursula’s behavior got weirder. They had a bag with them which they were holding really tightly. The bus staff asked them about it, but they didn’t let anyone touch it. 

At one point, the sisters got into an argument with the crew, resulting in them getting booted off the bus. In North Staffordshire, at a service station on M6, the bus stopped, and the driver asked them to get out.

The Motorway Incident

After being thrown off the bus due to odd behavior, the Swedish sisters started walking on the M6 motorway. 

The busy motorway wasn’t exactly suitable for pedestrians. The twins were disrupting the traffic flow, risking their own lives and those of everybody else.

Soon, traffic officers were dispatched to check on them, followed by paramedics. 

In a bizarre turn of events, a reality television show called “Motorway Cops” happened to be filming one of their episodes on location. The crew ended up capturing the actions of the Eriksson Twins on their closed-circuit television cameras. 

Out of nowhere, Ursula started running towards the busy road, with her twin sister quickly following behind. 

Both of them got hit by oncoming traffic. Ursula collided with a Mercedes-Benz Actros 2546, and her legs got crushed. 

Sabina was also badly hurt after getting hit by a sedan that could not stop in time. She somersaulted over the hood and fell in the third lane of traffic.

The health workers and the police officers got the sister back to safety, but their strange behavior continued. 

Ursula Eriksson was in severe pain, but she kept resisting the paramedics.

Sabina was acting similarly, shouting to her sister that they would steal her organs. 

Eventually, they were taken to the hospital – Sabina in an ambulance car and Ursula by helicopter.

After their second attempt at running into the motorway traffic, the cops were sure it was some kind of suicide pact. 

When Sabina reached the hospital, she acted in a much calmer manner and was rather nonchalant about her sister’s condition.

As a result of the incident, the sisters were charged with a fine for trespassing and hitting cops. Sabina even had to spend a night in police custody. After completing her psychiatric evaluation, she was set free.

The Murder Of Glenn Hollinshead

Sabina’s release from court seemed to have ended the strange events. 

Around 7 pm, two men were walking their dog on Christchurch street when they saw Sabina trying to locate her sister in the hospital. 

One was 54-year-old Glenn Hollinshead, and the other was his pal Peter Molloy. Glen was a self-employed welder. When they saw Sabina, she looked very lost and nervous. 

Her erratic behavior made Peter suspicious from the start, but Glenn showed pity for her troubled state.

Sabina then asked them about any decent hotels nearby, but Glen Hollinshead showed compassion and offered her to stay at his place. 

The three of them then went to Glenn’s home, and as hours went by, Sabina’s action got more bizarre. She kept going to the windows and checking outside. Initially, Peter thought she was running away from an abusive partner, acting paranoid.

The next day around 7:30 pm, Glenn went to the neighbor’s house to ask for teabags. After getting them, he went inside his own house, and a few seconds later, he came outside again, this time with stab wounds. Before falling to the ground, he just said,” She stabbed me.”

Sabina fled the premises quickly after killing Glenn with a kitchen knife. The security footage showed her carrying a hammer in her hand and even hitting herself with the tool while running. 

A motorcyclist spotted her running. As soon as the man realized what was happening, he tried to tackle her. Sabina hit him with a roof tile, but soon police arrived and apprehended her.

Sabina Eriksson’s Trial

Sabina’s trial had to be one of the most famous court cases of the decade. 

It not only got attention across Europe but it was also being watched globally. 

She only responded with “no comment” to all the extensive police questioning. During the criminal proceedings, it became evident that she suffered from “folie à deux.”

Further, experts determined her degree of delusional disorder as secondary, making sister Ursula the primary patient.

The defense revealed that the sisters suffered from a shared psychosis. That meant Ursula’s persona heavily influenced Sabrina’s. 

In addition to this rare psychiatric disorder, Sabina also had another mental disorder, acute polymorphic delusion. 

She could hear voices in her head but couldn’t understand what they were saying.

On 2nd September 2010, Justice Saunders gave his final verdict in which he acknowledged the Eriksson twins’ mental condition. 

Sabina was sentenced to five years behind bars because her delusional beliefs caused her to act this way. She got sent to Bronzefield Women’s Prison. 

After going to jail, no news ever surfaced about Sabina’s erratic behavior.

After some time, multiple media outlets reported that she had found faith in prison and returned to her Christian roots.

Current News About The Swedish Twins

When Sabina Eriksson was sentenced, many people weren’t happy with her mild punishment. 

One of them was the brother of the 54-year-old Mr. Hollinshead, Gary.

He questioned the legal system that was going easy on a murderer. 

Many people showed outrage at the short duration of her sentence, while some understood that, in a way, she was a victim of a mental disorder.

It has been a decade since Sabina’s trial ended, and some questions still haven’t found their answers to this day. After their notorious incident, investigators tried to find anything in the sisters’ past that would hint at them being mentally unfit, but nothing was found. 

Following their strange events, the Eriksson sisters made no news. Even their whereabouts aren’t exactly known. 

It is rumored that Ursula still lives somewhere in the USA, and nobody knows where Sabina is now. Last we heard, she returned to Sweden after her parole.

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