According to the source, on January 8, 2023, Alexander Rad took his eight-year-old son Constantine Rad, known as Tin Tin, to an apartment in Luleå during a court-authorized two-hour contact visit. Sanam Gharaee became concerned when neither returned and a GPS watch indicated that Tin Tin remained inside the apartment. Police eventually entered and found Alexander severely stabbed and Tin Tin dead in a bathtub. Alexander survived, confessed to killing his son and then attempting suicide, and said he acted because he believed custody was wrong and his son was being harmed by the custody dispute. The source describes a prolonged divorce and custody conflict, alleged coercive and abusive behavior, repeated warnings to authorities, and later legal advocacy for a proposed child-protection measure called Lex Tin Tin.
Country: Sweden
State/Province: Norrbottens län [SE-25], Sweden
City/Region: Luleå
Incident Type: Domestic Violence Homicide
Relationship Status: Divorced
Relationship Duration:
Incident Date: Jan. 8, 2023
Primary reported outcome: Homicide
Reported self-harm outcome: Attempted suicide; survived
Person(s) reported to have died by or attempted suicide: Alexander Rad
Reported role: Alleged suspect / offender
Reported sequence: Homicide or serious injury, then suicide or attempt
Additional victims reported: 0
Relationship Origins:
Relationship Stages:
Contributing Factors:
Red Flags:
Motives:
Relationship Outcomes:
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How the relationship or connection began.
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
Reported red flags or early concern points.
Contributing factors and possible motives from the available sources.
2023-01-08
Recorded relationship or case outcome.
Custody Conflict
The source describes a marriage that deteriorated into separation, divorce, and a prolonged custody dispute. Sanam reportedly raised repeated concerns about Alexander's behavior toward Tin Tin, while Alexander alleged that Sanam and her family were turning the child against him. The reported homicide occurred during a restricted contact visit after prior disputes, alleged threats, child-welfare referrals, and concern about an attempted foreign passport and possible removal of the child.
Police initially considered whether Alexander had taken Tin Tin to Iran and checked possible transport routes. Sanam's report that Tin Tin wore a GPS watch helped focus attention on the apartment. After delays in obtaining authorization, police and special forces entered the apartment, followed blood through the hallway and kitchen to the bathroom, and found Alexander alive with approximately 140 stab wounds and Tin Tin dead in the bathtub. Forensic examination reportedly concluded that Tin Tin was not drowned but had been suffocated by force with bare hands. Alexander recovered in hospital and confessed within a day. The source says he was evaluated psychologically before an April 2023 trial and held in prison rather than a psychiatric hospital; a final conviction or sentence is not clearly reported in the supplied material.
The initial scene created uncertainty about whether Alexander and Tin Tin had both been killed or whether Tin Tin had drowned. Police initially suspected that Alexander might have taken Tin Tin abroad. The source also presents disputed and unclear claims about alleged mistreatment by Sanam's family, alleged parental alienation, and the interpretation of Alexander's mental state. The translation contains inconsistent names, pronouns, dates, and descriptions of family members, so some secondary relationship details remain uncertain.
Alexander and Sanam reportedly met through a mutual friend, began a long-distance relationship, moved in together after six months, married in 2011, and had Tin Tin in approximately 2013. After the child's birth, the source describes Alexander as increasingly jealous and dissatisfied, followed by separation, divorce proceedings, and a custody dispute. Sanam received custody, while Alexander retained limited visitation despite reported concerns involving threats, alleged physical or psychological harm, and a possible plan to obtain Iranian travel documents for Tin Tin. After an appellate decision restored a short two-hour visit in January 2023, Alexander took Tin Tin to his apartment, did not return him at the expected time, and stopped responding. Police entered after a search authorization was obtained, discovered the homicide scene, and later received Alexander's confession and account of a subsequent suicide attempt.
The reported risk indicators included escalating custody conflict, alleged psychological pressure on the child, alleged physical aggression, verbal threats, repeated contact with police and child services, an alleged attempt to obtain travel documents, separation-related grievance, and later apparent suicide planning. The source also reports a farewell letter, disposal of personal property, and a staged-looking apartment, suggesting elevated risk before the January 8 incident. These are source-based risk indicators and do not independently establish legal responsibility or clinical diagnosis.
The case illustrates how a high-conflict separation and custody dispute can become a vehicle for continued control, grievance, and exposure of a child to escalating conflict. Important reported warning signs included threats, alleged aggression during contact visits, repeated child-service and police referrals, the child's expressed reluctance to attend visits, possible international travel planning, and apparent suicide preparation. The source is also useful for comparison of institutional failure points, but its translated narration contains factual and linguistic inconsistencies that require verification against court and forensic records.
The most important reported early signals were Alexander's disproportionate anger, refusal to engage in family counseling, escalating jealousy after Tin Tin's birth, degrading letters, custody litigation, alleged psychological pressure on Tin Tin, alleged physical aggression, verbal threats, and repeated concerns reported to police and child services. The source also describes a farewell letter and disposal of property shortly before the homicide.
The GPS watch, Sanam's repeated unanswered calls, the child's continued location inside the apartment, the blood trail, the approximately 140 stab wounds, forensic findings concerning suffocation, Alexander's survival, and his hospital confession helped connect the incident to the apartment and reconstruct the sequence.
The source presents the strongest evidence as the apartment crime scene, blood trail, forensic examination, autopsy findings, Alexander's survival and hospital confession, his reported farewell letter, transferred personal computer, and emptied apartment. The source does not provide underlying forensic reports, photographs, court documents, or a verified transcript of the confession.
Sanam reportedly described prior incidents, Tin Tin's fear and reluctance during contact, and the January 8 failure to return him. Sanam's sister and neighbors reportedly witnessed or responded to earlier confrontations and called police. Police and child-service personnel reportedly received repeated complaints. Alexander's family reportedly said he had recently been in a poor mood and had become distant. No independent eyewitness to the fatal act is reported.
Follow-up reporting changed the understanding from a possible missing-child or international-removal incident to a homicide and attempted suicide inside Alexander's apartment. Forensic findings clarified that Tin Tin was reportedly suffocated rather than drowned, and Alexander's confession identified him as the person responsible according to the source. Later coverage focused on the proposed Lex Tin Tin child-protection reform.
The supplied report does not clearly establish the final court verdict, sentence, exact legal charges, or complete forensic chronology. The identities and roles of several unnamed relatives and later partners are unclear. The report's allegations about child abuse, parental alienation, Iranian passport procedures, and institutional failures require independent documentary verification.