Kevin Dahlgren, an American serving life in a Czech prison for killing four of his relatives in the country and trying to burn their bodies, has committed suicide.
The 24-year-old from Palo Alto, California, stabbed his Czech cousin, her husband and their sons to death in the city of Brno on May 22, 2013 before fleeing to the United States.
The CTK news agency said Dahlgren killed himself in a prison in Valdice, northeast of Prague.
Dahlgren, pictured in 2017, was an English teacher in the Czech city of Brno when he carried out the killings
Veronika Harokova was Dahlgren’s cousin but her and her family were brutally murdered by him
Dahlgren was extradited back to the Czech Republic and jailed for life in 2016 for stabbing cousin Veronika Harokova, her husband Martin, 55, and their sons David, 16, and Filip, 25.
The trial heard that Dahlgren stabbed Martin Harok 29 times in his study before stabbing his cousin and their oldest son.
He then attacked the 16-year-old as he returned home from school, hitting him with a rock and stabbing him six times.
Three of the bodies were discovered in the basement of the family house, concealed under smouldering blankets, set on fire by Dahlgren. The fourth body was discovered upstairs.
Earlier that day, a cleaning lady said she arrived at the house to do her job, but was hindered by Dahlgren, who spread his arms in the doorway and told her ‘there would be no cleaning that day’.
He boarded a plane from Vienna, Austria on the day of the killings, and when he arrived in the United States the following day he was carrying in his luggage a blood spattered pair of shorts.
The blood was later found to match the DNA of the victims.
He boarded a plane from Vienna, Austria on the day of the killings, and when he arrived in the United States the following day
Dahlgren was extradited back to the Czech Republic. He is pictured reacting after a judge sentenced him to life in prison
Dahlgren, who was in Brno to teach English, was detained at Washington Dulles International Airport.
He was extradited to the Czech Republic last year – the first American to be extradited to the European Union member state.
Passing sentence Judge Michal Zámečník said Dahlgren had seen his victims as ‘representatives of a frustrating world’.
‘The crime he committed is extraordinarily serious. He was trying to solve problems with his own ego, with his own feelings and he solved those problems by completely wiping out the entire family,’ said the judge.
Dahlgren refused to testify at his trial he said: ‘What happened to the family was a tragedy.’
For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255