FINNISH MURDERS: The Death of Kyllikki Saari (PART 2)

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 On October 11, 1953, the body of Kyllikki Saari was discovered in a peat bog close to her home. She was missing for over 4 months and her family was desperate for answers. The young teenager went disappeared on Sunday, 17 May 1953, when she was biking home from a church youth event. It would be the last time anyone would see her. 

In Part 1, we left at the point where Kyllikki's body was found. Unfortunately, her father and older brother, Kalevi, were part of the search party that discovered her remains. They were the also the ones that identified it. 

Her body was found buried 193 metres from the road she was cycling on. Police suspected that her death was caused by blunt force trauma to her head as her cheekbones and her nose was broken. Sexual assault was also suspected because she was partially naked. Her face and torso were covered by her own coat, which suggested that the murderer could have been remorseful or ashamed of what he had done.

There was a huge gathering at Kyllikki's funeral

Her funeral was held at the Isojoki Church, on 25 October 1953. It was attended by 25,000 people that wanted to support the family in this awful time. It was even filmed on YLE, which is the Finnish national broadcast service. 

Her coffin was covered in flowers 

She was buried in Isojoki cemetery, where her parents and older brother were also put to rest. 

AUTOPSY

The body was moved to the operating room the same evening that it was found. The autopsy report revealed that the murder weapon could have been something like a club or a stone. Something big and heavy. A gun had not been used as bullets or gun shot wounds were not found. As she was found naked from the waist down, and her breast exposed, they also tested her for rape. It could not conclusively determined if she had been sexually assaulted or not. She was not pregnant. 

The scarf that was found in Kyllikki's shoe, that she was wearing to the devotional that day, was actually Alli's. Her elder sister let her borrow the black and red chiffon scarf because Kyllikki didn't have her own. 

Kyllikki weighed about 62 kilograms at the time of death. Her sister said she had a muscular build and was quite strong. Alli is quoted to have said that ''no weak man could have done such a thing to Kyllikki''. 

A criminal profile was made for her murderer. It was said that the suspect was a loner, over 30 years old and possibly a local. He was probably someone who displayed unusual or weird behaviour. According to the way the body was disposed of and buried, it was concluded that the perp received army pioneer training. It was also speculated that this was not his first murder because of the skilful way he handled the crime. 

POLICE INVESTIGATION

The local police did an extensive inquiry into the crime. During the length of the investigation, the police interviewed over 5000 people. Some were witnesses with valuable information or people who were genuinely trying to help, and some were people who were looking for fame or clout. There had also been several confessions, that turned out to be false. There was also several tips from prisoners who were looking for ''day trips to the grave site'' in exchange for information on Kyllikki's death. Clairvoyants and private detectives also added their two cents in. 

By 1972, about 19 years after the murder, there was 370 different lines of investigation. The problem was that police still did not prosecute anyone. 

There was also a ''trial by media'' at the time. This was the first case in Finland that became tabloid news all over the country. Current laws in Finland dictate that suspects' names are not publicised unless they are a politician or public figure, or there is some other compelling reason why to release their names. However, in 1953, there was no such laws. The newspapers were rife with speculations, rumours and mudslinging in many different ways. 

MAIN SUSPECTS

There were several main suspects in this case, each with their own weird and individual tales. 

The Pastor

Kauko Kanervo, worked in Isojoki Church as a pastor from 1952 to 1953. He was Kyllikki's employer. However, he was moved to another pastorage, in Merikarvia, three weeks before her death. They still kept in touch, with the last letter being sent by Kyllikki three days before her disappearance. 

Kauko Kanervo, worked in Isojoki Church as a pastor from 1952 to 1953

Kanervo was also an experienced sexual predator. He had many victims, which included his parishioners, servants and young women. One of them was Kyllikki. She was in contact with the pastor and his family regularly during her work, including their housekeeper, Aulikki. 

Kanervo confessed that Aulikki was his mistress. She spent the night regularly at the vicarage. Kyllikki also slept over in the pastor's home sometimes. Her parents were aware of this, believing that she would get too tired to pedal back home on her bicycle. Unfortunately, some people suspect that she was involved in a sexual relationship with Kanervo. He vehemently denied these allegations in interrogations. However, in 1956, he confessed that they had sexual relations five or six times. The last time they had intercourse together was at the end of April, three weeks before Saari disappeared. 

He did not attend Kyllikki's funeral, even though he was invited. 

Kauko Kanervo, at the police station with a local police officer 

Kanervo was interrogated by police several times. He gave a few different version of the events over the years. However, his alibi was considered watertight by the police. He lived 60 kilometres away in Merikarva and did not own a car. He was attending a church event on that evening, where witnesses confirmed they saw him. For the other parts of the evening, he spent time with his maid and ten year old daughter. There was only a twenty minute gap in his whole alibi, which was not a viable window of time to meet Kyllikki, murder her and dispose of the bike and body. 

Three years after Saari's death, Kanervo was prosecuted for having sex with a fifteen year old girl.

Vihtori Lehmusviita 

Lehmusviita was a touted as the most likely suspect by investigators. This was because Lehmusviita fitted the criminal profile quite well. He was 38-years-old at the time of the murder, and he worked odd jobs and ditch-digging. Therefore, he was quite fit, strong, and had a good idea how to dig a hole. 

Vihtori Lehmusviita, who suffered mental illnesses was one suspect of the case 

His history was very chequered. In the 1940s, he was convicted of a sexual crime, and he had mental illnesses that appeared during the war. He was also a voyeur, peeping at women through their sauna window. What makes him a strong suspect is the fact that he lived less than 2 kilometres from the crime scene, and had a working field, shared with his brother-in-law, 50 meters from where the body was found. 

The police suspected that that he had his brother-in-law's help when he committed the murder. However, Lehmusviita had a strong alibi on the night of Kyllikki's disappearance. His family said that he was fast asleep by 19.00, in his own bed, due to drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Locals were also surprised that he was accused because he was known as clean man who didn't cause any troubles. He was also not seen to have any interest in the local ladies. 

When he was questioned by police, he made a strange statement that Kyllikki was not alive and nobody will find her. Afterwards, he retracted the statement citing that that he was confused and misunderstood. He was questioned with his brother-in-law in the autumn of 1953. Soon afterwards, he was put in a mental hospital for treatment. When police came to question him there, his behaviour was strange and erratic.

Lehmusviita died in 1972. Police did not have enough evidence to convict him. 

Hans Assman

Assman has a very prolific name in Finland's true crime circles. He has been linked to many murders, with some believing he was amongst the most notorious serial killers in Finland. His story borders on the unbelievable! 

Hans Assman, linked to many Finnish serial murders of that time

He was a German immigrant with ties to the KGB as a foreign agent. He came to Finland in the 1950s to 1960s, after the Second World War.

His wife testified that Assman was around the Isojoki area on the night of the murder. He owned a light brown Opel, that looked similar to the one witnessed at the crime scene. On the night of the crime, his wife said that he came home with wet shoes and one sock missing. She also made claims that he left after a few days with a shovel, but these claims came a very long time after the murder case was open. 

On his deathbed, he confessed to the crime to former police officer Matti Paloaro. Assman took full responsibility for the murder. He said that his driver hit Kyllikki in a car accident. To hide the event, they staged it as a murder. He did this so that the true purpose of his trip to the area would not be found out. 

Assman's mugshots 

Assman had been linked to famous Finnish murders such as the Bodom Lake deaths, the Tulilahti murders, and some other single murders that are not so famous. 

An interesting detail is that authorities determined that Kyllikki's killer was left-handed, which matched Assman as he also was left-handed.  

Other Suspects 

There were a few other leads that police was investigating. One of them was a local, 51-year-old man known for his strong black beard. He was dubbed the ''Black Bearded Man''. This man was known as an eccentric and had a strange reputation in the village. He was ruled to have tendencies towards necrophilia when it was discovered he was touching a woman's intimate area after she died in a car crash. He was castrated by local district court's ruling. His behaviour and answers in the subsequent interrogations led police to believe that he did not have the criminal sophistication to commit this crime. 

Another suspect was a local café owner and former policeman. He was fired from his post due to a bad lifestyle. He owned a cream coloured car, and was reported to have been spotted in the area on the same night as the crime. He had another man in the car. He had a shady reputation as a businessman. However, he had a good alibi for that time of the murder. 

CONCLUSION

Many have tried, and failed, to solve the murder of Kyllikki Saari. Her death was a tragic affair for the community that she lived in. It was covered in the media very much, but the notoriety it gained did not help move the investigation along. Mostly, it helped to sling mud at people that were not involved in this case at all. 

In 2008, the police opened up their files for public scrutiny on this case. Maybe it will help to solve it one day. In 2005, they tried to run DNA tests using the latest technology and tests at the time, but the evidence was either too old or had been harshly handled in the previous investigations. There was no traces of DNA material left. 

References: 

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