The World : Trial Set in Palme Slaying

Christer Pettersson, a 42-year-old Swede with a record of crime and drug abuse, was charged with the premeditated 1986 murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme and will go on trial on June 5. Pettersson, under arrest since Dec. 14, has denied killing Palme, and the material presented by prosecutors to the Stockholm district court made clear their case is based almost entirely on circumstantial evidence. Pettersson was also charged with the attempted murder of Palme’s wife, Lisbet, who was grazed by a bullet. The Palmes were walking home at night from the movies when an assassin opened fire from point-blank range before fleeing up an alley. Lisbet Palme, who said she saw the accused at the scene, is expected to be the key witness. Officials concede no one actually saw Pettersson with a gun in his hand.