Folie a Deux - The Bizarre Tale of Sabina and Ursula Eriksson
Shared psychosis. Shared delusions. Folie à deux. It is a syndrome that transmits delusional beliefs from one person to someone else, often close loved ones; sometimes multiple people. What makes one’s brain so powerful that they can share the monsters of the mind with someone else? The Tromp family–parents convinced that someone was out to kill them and their adult children without warning, empty-handed–no passports, credit cards, or phones–got in their car and fled the family farm, driving almost 1000 miles. It is suggested that some of the world’s most heinous crimes were committed by folks experiencing this: Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb; sisters Christine and Lea Papin; and more recently, the conception of the Slenderman mythos and the attempted murder of a young girl by her friends. Perhaps one of the most baffling cases of Folie à deux involve twin sisters Sabina and Ursula Eriksson.
On a late May evening in 2008, Swedish twins Ursula and Sabina Eriksson left Sabina’s home in Ireland secretly, heading to Liverpool, England. Upon arrival, the twins go to the local police station to report concerns for Sabina’s child in Ireland. Unsure why the women would come to England to report the incident, local police called in a welfare check to Irish authorities. Learning the child was alright, Sabina and Ursula got on a bus en route to London. During the trip, some of the passengers and the driver witnessed strange behavior from the twins. The women even suggested the driver stop because they weren’t feeling well. Uncertain of their intentions, the driver made an unplanned stop at a service station. The twins’ continued strange behavior worried the driver to the point where he didn’t allow them back on the coach, leaving them at the service station. The driver wasn’t alone in his opinions. The manager of the service station also believed the women were acting in a strange manner, calling the police. When they arrived, the police spoke with the twins and, judging them to be no threat, left shortly thereafter. Once the cops left, Sabina and Ursula followed suit and decided to walk along one of the busiest highways in England, the M6.
Seen on the motorway’s closed-circuit cameras, the Erikssons walked along the M6 down the central reservation or median. Without warning, both sisters ran out into traffic. Cars struck both women and traffic was disrupted. Motorists called the highway patrol and police. Expecting the worst, members of both services arrived, finding the twins with superficial injuries. They talked with the twins on the shoulder and allowed traffic to resume. While the service members continued to chat, Ursula again walked into traffic, getting run over by a 40-ton box truck, crushing her legs. Just as suddenly, Sabina jumped into oncoming traffic and was quickly struck by a car at high speed, smashed into the windshield, thrown into the air, and landed hard on the tarmac. Coincidentally, all of this was caught on camera by England’s version of Real Stories of the Highway Patrol – Motorway Cops. Suffering multiple compound fractures, Ursula screamed for police, even though they were trying to help her. She spit and hissed at them, saying they were fake, she knew who they were, that she knew they weren’t real. After being unconscious for several minutes, Sabina got up and started struggling and fighting with the police, punching one hard in the face. She ran into traffic again on the other side of the motorway, screaming to her sister that the people helping her were trying to steal her organs. The cops said that Sabina had superhuman strength and it required six people-police and motorists-to subdue and restrain her. Finally, the twins were taken to a local hospital, but the story continues to get weirder.
At hospital, the paramedics rushed Ursula to surgery while other staff evaluated Sabina. She exhibited a calm demeanor, answering most questions in a congenial manner, a far cry from the savage behavior she displayed on the motorway. She even joked with the staff. Toxicology screens showed no drugs or alcohol in Ursula’s system, but Sabina was not tested. The bags the twins were so protective only held one passport and several cell phones. After seeing several professionals, they all deemed that Sabina did not exhibit any signs of mental or psychological illness and was released after being charged and sentence to one day of custody, which was considered served while at hospital. The entire time Sabina was questioned, she never gave a reason for being in England, and never once asked about her twin sister Ursula. She was free to leave, not having anywhere to go or anywhere to stay. Unfortunately, a good Samaritan would be the next to get involved with this story’s madness.
Glenn Hollingshead and his friend Peter Molloy walked home from the pub with Glenn’s dog when they saw Sabina standing on the side of the road. She asked to pet the dog and asked if there were any local bed and breakfasts or hotels in the area. Unfortunately, there were none in the area, but after hearing that Sabina was looking for her sister, Glenn offered his place to rest and said he would call around to local hospitals. Peter joined Glenn and Sabina for a while, but left after awhile when she continued to act odd; often standing suddenly, peaking through the curtains looking up and down the street as if looking for someone following her. She would offer both men cigarettes and just before they lit them, Sabina would snatch the smokes from them, putting them back in her pack. When asked why, she said they were probably poisoned and they shouldn’t smoke them, while smoking one of the cigarettes from the pack. While with Glenn and Peter, Sabina never complained about pain and didn’t exhibit any behavior of someone that had just been ran over by a car. When Peter left that evening, it would be the last time he saw his friend alive.
In the morning, Glenn continued to make phone calls trying to locate Sabina’s sister. He recruited his brother in the search as well. Sabina didn’t seem distressed at all. Later that day, Glenn asked his neighbor for some tea bags. In the middle of washing his car, the neighbor told him that he would bring a few bags over after he was finished. Almost immediately after Glenn returned to his home, he staggered outside, pouring blood from four stab wounds. He told the neighbor “she stabbed me” and collapsed. Shortly after, Sabina fled Glenn’s house carrying a hammer. A passing motorist stopped to help her when he noticed she was smashing herself in the head with the hammer. He was repaid for his assistance by a roofing tile being slammed into his head. Sabina fled again and was pursued by responding authorities. They followed her to a bridge, which she immediately jumped from a height of 30 feet, breaking both of her ankles and fracturing her skull. Sabina once again was rushed to the hospital, and it would be months before her and her twin would be released. Ursula was allowed to return to her family in Sweden, Sabina was charged.
Sabina’s trial was postponed for a long time while the authorities tried to get her medical records from Sweden. Eventually, she pled guilty to lesser charges. She was assessed by two different forensic psychiatrists. When questioned, Sabina gave only one answer- “no comment.” She served two and a half years of her five year sentence, after which she returned to Sweden as well. During her incarceration, Sabina never let on about why she and her sister were in England, what had happened that day on the M6, or what happened with Glenn Hollingshead. She never spoke of her sister, and investigation into the twins’ past didn’t show any history of mental illness or psychosis. Some suggest that Ursula’s original psychosis affected Sabina, causing her to do things that ended in the unfortunate murder of Glenn Hollingshead, and one of the most bizarre cases of folie a deux.
(you can watch the bizarre and terrifying footage from the motorway here - proceed with caution, it shows everything)
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