In a car incident that killed two police bodyguards and Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, widely known for his 2007 depiction of the prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog, police said they have uncovered no proof of criminal intent so far.

Stefan Sinteus, the head of the Swedish southern regional investigation team, told reporters on Monday, "We want to completely exclude any external act targeting the car in which Lars Vilks found himself." "There's nothing to suggest that, but we want to be sure before ruling it out."

Vilks, 75, died with the two officers on Sunday after their car swerved and crashed through a metal road barrier, colliding with an oncoming truck near Markaryd, 60 miles north-east of Malmö, Sweden's third largest city. Vilks, who had lived under near-constant police protection following death threats and attacks, died with the two officers after their car swerved and crashed through a metal road barrier, colliding with an oncoming truck near Markaryd,

The automobile Vilks was in, according to local media, was speeding. The driver "seemed to lose control," according to a witness, according to the tabloid Aftonbladet. He told the newspaper that the truck didn't have time to swerve and the two cars collided at "incredible speed."

Both vehicles caught fire, and all three occupants in the automobile died at the scene on Sweden's main E4 highway, which Sinteus suggested could have been caused by a tyre burst. The truck driver was injured and transferred to the hospital, where police interrogated him.

Anders Thornberg, Sweden's national police chief, said the investigation's entire outcome could take "a relatively long time," while cultural minister Amanda Lind termed it "an extremely tragic traffic accident."

Vilks' paintings were published in a Swedish regional newspaper to illustrate an editorial upholding free speech a year after the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 caricatures of the prophet, causing worldwide Muslim indignation. Islamic law prohibits any depiction of the prophet, even if it is favorable, and hardline Muslims consider dogs to be filthy.

Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan, as well as the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), condemned the Swedish publication and demanded "punitive actions" against Vilks. To try to alleviate the crisis, then-Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt met with ambassadors from 22 Muslim countries.

Following that, al-Qaida, an Islamist terrorist organisation, placed a $100,000 bounty on the artist's head, sparking a failed 2009 assassination plot by Islamist sympathizers in the United States and Ireland. Vilks was assaulted while giving a lecture on free speech at Uppsala University in May 2010, and his home was firebombed the following year.

Vilks joined a free speech and blasphemy debate in Copenhagen five years later, which was organized in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris. A man with a semi-automatic weapon assaulted the event, killing a 55-year-old Danish film director and a guard at the Copenhagen synagogue before being shot dead by Danish police.

Vilks, who had consistently stated that the cartoons were meant to question political correctness in the art world rather than to anger Muslims, was widely considered to be the intended target.

Vilks was primarily a sculptor, yet he is most recognized internationally for his Muhammad drawing. Nimis, a driftwood sculpture created illegally at a national park that became the focus of a long legal battle with local authorities, is largely regarded as his most significant work.

Thanks to Jon Henley at The Guardian whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.