Is Netflix’s The Breakthrough Based on a True Story?

There’s a new crime-based series taking over the Netflix charts. The Breakthrough, which focuses on a double murder in a small Swedish town, is a tough show to sit through, leaving many viewers wondering if it’s based on a true story just or a work of fiction.

How Did The Breakthrough Come Up With Its Story?

At the start of The Breakthrough, two residents of Linköping, Adnan Abbas, 8, and Gunilla Pairson, 56, are stabbed to death. Authorities are quick to gather evidence and come up with a profile for their suspect, but the case starts to get complicated. There is a witness, Karin, who sees both murders but is unable to provide solid details about the attacker. It takes her being hypnotized to remember the man’s face and give the police a sketch.

However, even with all of the information from Karin, the case goes cold for years, and the break doesn’t come until ancestral DNA points to David Nilsson. He eventually confesses and admits to having voices in his head, sending chills down the spines of anyone watching. What makes things even more terrifying is that all of the events of The Breakthrough are, in fact, based on a true story.

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The real crime took place in Linköping in 2004, and while the names of the victims and murderer are changed for the show, most of the other details are the same. The cast went unsolved for 16 years, but in June 2020, the police were able to arrest Daniel Nyqvist after getting some help from an ancestor scientist, Peter Sjölund. A few months later, Daniel was found guilty and sent to a psychiatric care facility.

It was the first time in Swedish history that ancestral DNA was used to solve a crime, which was probably how it got on the radar of the show’s creative team. TV executives, especially those running streaming platforms, are always looking for interesting and unique angles, and The Breakthrough certainly has one. And after finding its way onto Netflix’s Top 10, it’s unlikely to be the last time true crime series on the platform focusing on a case that gets solved using unorthodox means.

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And that’s whether Netflix’s The Breakthrough is based on a true story.

The Breakthrough is streaming now on Netflix.