Björn Pétursson, born around 1555, was the youngest of three children in a farming family nestled in rural Snæfellsnes, Iceland. His upbringing was ordinary for the time—growing up in a harsh, remote environment, he would have learned early the rhythms of work and survival. By his teens, he started helping on a nearby farm belonging to a wealthy landowner, Ormur, in exchange for lodging and food. It was there he befriended Ormur’s son, Guðmundur, whose later kindness would profoundly influence Björn’s fate.

When Ormur eventually died of natural causes, Guðmundur inherited the estate—and in an act of trust and generosity, granted Björn ownership of the farm known as Öxl in the Breiðavík area of Snæfellsnes. Nestled near majestic lava fields, Öxl became home for Björn and his wife, Þórdís Ólafsdóttir. He began, according to legend, offering lodging to travelers.

Between circa 1570 and 1596, Axlar‑Björn carried out his bloody deeds across the windswept Snæfellsnes peninsula. Travelers and job-seeking farmhands seeking shelter at Öxl were lured into a false sense of safety. Some accounts say he ambushed visitors with a stolen axe in his barn; others note drownings in the nearby pond called Íglutjörn, or even the concealment of remains within lava terrain.

As bodies multiplied, locals grew suspicious—though Guðmundur’s earlier support had muted potential alarm. But eventually, one of two siblings who visited Öxl escaped hiding in a barn drain and exposed Björn’s deeds to the authorities. Another account claims his guilt was sealed when he was seen wearing a cloak belonging to one of the missing.

In 1596, he was apprehended and confessed to nine murders, but investigators discovered even more bodies buried across his property. His attempt to dismiss them as “reburying found remains” failed to persuade authorities.

At the Laugarbrekkuþing assembly, he was sentenced to death by hanging, then breaking on the wheel. To prevent any supernatural return, his body was dismembered and each piece placed on stakes—part of Icelandic beliefs to ward off haunting. His wife Þórdís, forced to witness it all while pregnant, was also sentenced but not executed due to her condition.