The World - News from June 11, 1989

New developments appear to have weakened the prosecution’s case against Christer Pettersson, 42, on trial in Stockholm for the Feb. 28, 1986, murder of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. Police were examining a report from Algot Asell, a 68-year-old janitor, who said he had seen the defendant on the night Palme was fatally shot on a Stockholm street and could provide an alibi for him. Shortly after Asell’s statement, a key prosecution witness, who was not identified, told Swedish television that he would probably not testify against Pettersson, asserting he had been manipulated by police. “They (police) told me I would get $7.5 million,” the witness said.