Kevin Dahlgren Sentenced to Life in Prison

After the murders, Dahlgren took a taxi from Brno to Vienna and boarded a plane bound for the United States. Czech police notified the airline and US officials, who immediately detained the 20-year-old after landing in Washington.

Inside his luggage, authorities found blood-spattered shorts that were later matched to the DNA of the victims.

Following extradition proceedings that lasted for more than two years, Dahlgren became the first US citizen to be extradited to the Czech Republic in August 2015.

Dahlgren did not testify during the proceedings.

His defense sought acquittal based on his a mental illness or his mental state at the time of the murders, which was disputed by court psychiatrists and witnesses who interacted with him shortly after the murders.

During the morning of May 22, he collected mail from a postman who came to the door of the family residence, sent away a cleaner, and allegedly sent text messages from one of the victim’s phones.

“If he were affected by a state of psychosis, he would not be able to act in such a rational way,” Brno judge Michal Zámečník read in a statement. “He was able to control his actions and aware of the severity of his conduct. He was sane and is fully accountable for his actions.”

“He committed the act of murder and is sentenced to the exceptional sentence of life imprisonment.”