World Notes SWEDEN

The decision left many Swedes more dissatisfied than ever with the bungled investigation of the February 1986 murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme. Last week a panel of judges found Carl Gustaf Christer Pettersson, 42, a former mental patient with a long criminal record, guilty of the slaying and sentenced him to life in prison. The court split 6 to 2, with six lay judges convinced that Pettersson gunned down Palme. But the two professional judges on the panel voted for acquittal.

Throughout the five-week trial, Pettersson, who had previously been convicted of more than 60 offenses, including the 1970 bayonet slaying of a man near the Palme murder scene, maintained his innocence. The key witness against him was Palme's widow Lisbet, who told the court she was absolutely certain that Pettersson was the man she saw when she turned around after her husband fell. An appeals court will decide in September if there was sufficient evidence to convict Pettersson.