Story highlights Then-PM Olof Palme was gunned down in a Stockholm street

The man initially convicted in the assassination was released in 1989

(CNN) Sweden has named a new chief prosecutor to lead the inquiry into the 1986 unsolved murder of the country's then-Prime Minister Olof Palme.

Palme was gunned down as he took a late-night walk after visiting a local cinema with his wife, Lisbet on February 28, 1986. Despite eyewitness accounts and numerous leads over the last three decades, the identity of the killer remains a mystery.

Now Krister Petersson, Stockholm's chief prosecutor, has been brought in to oversee the case. He's set to begin on February 1, according to the Swedish Prosecution Service.

"I feel honored and I accept the mission with a great amount of energy," Petersson said in a statement reported by local media. "It is an interesting and important task."

Petersson is one of Sweden's most distinguished prosecutors, specializing in organized crime. He has been involved in a number of high-profile cases during his career including the 2003 murder of Anna Lindh , the then-foreign minister.

People placed flowers at the site where Palme was shot in the back on February 28, 1986.

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