Sweden’s ‘Fritzl’ kidnapped the woman he was dating with drugged strawberries – now she’s telling her story
As Isabel Erickson groggily regains consciousness in a soundproof underground bunker 350 miles from home, she realizes that her second date with a handsome doctor has turned into a living nightmare.
Martin Trenneborg, 38, appeared to be the perfect gentleman, showing up at her doorstep in Stockholm, Sweden, with flowers and strawberries.
But what Isabelle doesn’t know is that the doctor has hatched a plan to kidnap her by tying some chocolate-covered strawberries he brought with him to share with Roy Puno.
He secretly marked which ones were drug-free so he would know which ones were okay to eat.
She was driven 350 miles to a house near Kristianstad in southern Sweden, where she was kept in a fortified underground bunker for six days.
He used a mask to pretend he was a rescue worker and then showed up to torture his victims (Swedish police)
New Amazon series tells Isabel Erickson’s survival story bunker.
Ms. Erickson recalled in the documentary the moment she finally woke up: “I was dazed. My mouth was dry and I slowly opened my eyes.
“I was staring straight at the ceiling. It smelled bad. I had no idea what day it was or what time of day it was. I realized I had no idea where I was.
“I was lying under a blanket, wearing jeans and a pink sweater. My body felt slow and achy. When I turned over. I couldn’t feel any underwear under my jeans. It was cold…”
She stares at her date and he calmly tells her that from now on, she will be his girlfriend and that he will probably let her go in a few years.
Ms. Erickson said she tried to attack him and run away, but Tromberg handcuffed her to the bed. She said he used a mask to pretend he was a rescue worker before emerging and snapping the victims.
“He said if I tried again he would lock me in the bed and feed me nothing but crackers. I was completely panicked. I felt powerless.
Police intervene when doctor drinks freely in police station waiting room (ViaPlay)
On the fifth day, Tromberg showed up at the cabin with a loaded gun in his hand.
“At first, I thought he was going to shoot me. Maybe someone found him. But he said he had it in his mouth but didn’t dare to pull the trigger.
“He gave me the gun and forced it into my hand. I had never held a gun before. He said the door was unlocked. I just had to shoot and I would be free.
“He was the only one who knew I was there. No one would find me. It was terrible.
“I was terrified. My hands were just shaking and even if this was my way out, I wouldn’t dare. I cried. I gave him the gun back.
“Every time he came, I didn’t know what was going to happen, whether he was going to rape me, torture me or murder me,” she said.
“Once he told me that if I tried to escape he would punish me by chaining me to the bed and giving me nothing to eat but crispy bread.
“He just said he would keep me there for a few years and then release me.”
Trenberg drugged Ms Eriksson with strawberries laced with a sedative in Stockholm before taking her to a bunker at his remote house in southern Sweden (Getty Images)
She also said he planned to bring another woman “possibly a celebrity” or her own mother to the bunker.
But his horrific plan goes awry when Ms. Erickson starts fulfilling his fantasies about his girlfriend and convinces him to return to Stockholm to pick up some more clothes from her apartment.
After police cordoned off the house, he brazenly took her to the local police station to convince officers she was staying with friends and call off the search. There, finally left alone with a police officer, Isabel took her chance and told him everything – and he was arrested in the waiting room.
Documents found on Tromberg’s computer showed he had planned to detain her for ten years and scouted at least ten women before settling on his final victim.
He told police: “She was supposed to be my girlfriend for many years, that was the purpose. But now that I’m in jail, she’s not my girlfriend in the ordinary sense anymore, and even I understand that.
The Swedish national’s tragic story echoes that of Austrian Josef Fritzl, who raped his daughter and imprisoned her in the basement of his home (Getty Images)
“She shouldn’t be a punching bag or anything. We should be kissing, hanging out, having sex and doing things that normal people would do.
At the Stockholm District Court, Tremberg was sentenced to ten years in prison for kidnapping but was found not guilty of aggravated rape.
Martin Tremberg had his sentence shortened on appeal and is now a free man. He changed his name and lived in an unknown place.
The Swedish national’s tragic story echoes that of Austrian Josef Fritzl, who raped his daughter and imprisoned her in the basement of his home.
In 2008, his daughter Elizabeth managed to tell police he was holding her hostage. The 42-year-old said she had been held underground for 24 years since she was 11 and suffered abuse.
When she was 18, Fritzl lured her into a Cold War bunker-style cellar.
