WORLD: Preliminary DNA results from the man Swedish police arrested on suspicion of murdering the country's Foreign Minister, Ms Anna Lindh, are expected today.
Police began questioning the 35-year-old man yesterday after he appointed one of Sweden's most high-profile defence lawyers, Mr Gunnar Falk, to represent him.
Mr Falk has defended some of the country's most well-known and vicious criminals.
Police have until mid-day tomorrow to decide whether they have enough evidence to detain the man further or release him.
While police will not officially say that the man they have arrested is the same one who was photographed in the NK department store minutes before Ms Lindh's murder, legal experts in Sweden believe the likelihood is very strong.
Ms Lindh was fatally stabbed in the store in central Stockholm on Wednesday, September 10th. Photographs released to the media last Sunday showed a man leaving a sports shop within the department store three minutes before Ms Lindh's murder. The photographs matched the description of the murderer.
The arrested man is understood to have a long criminal history of minor crimes tracing back to 1987. The longest prison sentence he served was eight months for fraud, according to the Swedish press. His other convictions include shoplifting, vandalism, disturbing the order of a court, possession of illegal knives and threatening behaviour.
An assessment of the man made in the early stages of his criminal career deemed that he had problems fitting in since his school days but a psychiatrist's report claimed he didn't possess any serious psychological problems.
Swedish newspapers report that the man is a mild-mannered, educated and charming individual with an interest in history. He is known to enjoy the Stockholm nightlife and socialises in the trendy Stureplan area of Stockholm. One Swedish tabloid newspaper Expressen linked him to the same social circles as the Swedish princess Madeleine.
Despite his large social network of friends, most people didn't recognise him from the recently-published photographs.
"He usually dresses posher," a friend told the Aftonbladet newspaper. "We're all surprised. I've seen the pictures from NK but I don't recognize him."
A former school friend to the arrested man told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper that he always carried himself in a very pleasant way.
"Whenever I met him, he was in good humour, always happy and positive. I have never seen him threaten anyone, but I have heard that he goes to football matches to start fights."
The man was arrested at a restaurant outside the Råsunda football stadium in Stockholm on Tuesday night. The arrest was made just after half-time in a derby match in the Swedish football league.
The TT news agency reported that the man has had alcohol problems and has also abused cocaine at times. It's understood that he grew up in the Jönköping area of central Sweden with his parents and a half-brother and a half-sister, who are both at least 10 years older than him.
His relationship with his parents, who are now divorced, has been strained. His mother successfully sought a barring order preventing her son from visiting following several arguments in which she refused to give him money. His father also secured a barring order when he discovered his son had been stealing from him.
The man studied at the prestigious Lund University in southern Sweden for several years, and was known as a person who enjoyed the student party scene.
A former landlord near the university claims he tried to evict him for non-payment of rent, but the man refused and threatened the landlord with a baseball bat.
Since this spring the man has been registered as being resident in western Sweden with his mother, but neighbours claim they have never seen him. Instead, he has been moving from apartment to apartment in the Stockholm area, and has had no permanent residence for long periods of time.