FINNISH MURDERS: The Shocking Case of Inga Mylläri
The brutal case of Inga Mylläri was one of the most talked about cases of its time. Even now it holds the place for one of the most shocking crimes in Finnish history. We have covered some pretty horrific cases that have happened on this blog, but this one really takes the cake. What happened to Inga Mylläri, who was known as a diligent, decent girl? And why did the judge decide to give the criminals responsible very lenient sentences?
This case sparked nation-wide protests and confusion when it was prosecuted, and the judge's verdicts came out.
WHO WAS INGA MYLLÄRI?
Inga Annikki Mylläri was born in Muolaa on May 3rd, 1927. She moved to Helsinki at the age of 30 years old to work as a server. At that time, this was considered a questionable job, this was because any work involving alcohol was looked down upon in those days. But Inga was respectable. According to her roommate, who testified in an interrogation, Mylläri was a stand up girl. She rarely went to parties, and came straight home from work.
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| Inga Mylläri (Source: Unknown) |
On 29 December 1957, she took her friend, another waitress, out for a night of dancing. They decided to go to a nightclub and restaurant in Punavuori called the Polaris Restaurant, and left their home at 8pm. It was located at Pursimiehenkatu 16, on the corner of Kankurinkatu.
At the nightclub, the two women had fun. They met two young men, who decided to join them for the evening. These were Esko Klami, aged 27 years old, and Esa Ahola, aged 31 years old. They were both bus drivers.
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| Polaris Restaurant set up for a "pikkujoulu" party (Source: Helsinki City Museum) |
The foursome spent the evening at the bar until about half past midnight, when they moved the celebrations somewhere else. They ordered a taxi from in front of the restaurant. First, the girls asked to be taken home. Inga lived in Eerikinkatu, that was close to the Kamppi area where the boys had their vehicle parked. However, they first went to Vallila, that is over five kilometres away, to pick up some strong alcohol, 94% spirit.
They returned to the city centre and went to drink their alcohol in the boys' bus, parked in Kampintori. It was quite normal that bus drivers from out of town were not supplied accommodation in those days, they slept in the back of the bus until the next morning, when their shift would start.
THE FIVE BEASTS
Two hours later, after drinking spirit mixed with sugar water, Inga's friend wanted to go home. One of the men, Ahola, agreed to go with her. This meant that Mylläri was left on the bus with the other male friend, Esko Klami. By this point, Inga was severely inebriated as she did not handle alcohol well. She started feeling ill and lost consciousness.
Around three o'clock in the morning, Ahola came back. He was frustrated sexually as his female companion disappointed him. She slammed the door in his face, instead of inviting him in the apartment after she got home. He was aroused and angry. At the same time, he spotted the half-naked figure of Inga Mylläri passed out on the back seat of his bus.
The poor woman had already been raped by Esko Klami. Ahola decided that he could do the same thing. Later, when he described the series of events to police, he used his ''condition'' as an excuse for the rape and said that it was a ''drug in the moment.'' Mylläri came to consciousness long enough to vomit in the middle of the bus floor.
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| The bus that Mylläri was assaulted in (Source: Ilta-Sanomat) |
Somehow, word spread around the parking area about the unconscious woman and a few other men decided that they also wanted to join into raping this poor victim. Inga Mylläri was moved around the other vehicles. Two other bus drivers that just arrived that morning, Leevi Dufva, who was 37 years old, and Teuvo Kinnunen, who was 29 years old, also took turns sexually assaulting Inga.
The last man, Bror Åke Forsström, 24 years old at the time, took her to his vehicle with the very same intentions at the other four men. The problem was that he had to start his bus driving shift from a town called Lohja by 5.15am that morning, and the time was four o'clock when he went to his bus. There were just over sixty kilometres distance between the parking lot and Lohja. Timing was tight. Forsström took the inert girl and threw her in his bus. She was not wearing anything but her under clothes.
From here, we do not have a clear chain of events. What is known is that when Forsström returned from Lohja, he told his colleagues that he left the girl in Munkkiniemi. Inga Mylläri's dress and coat and other outer clothes were taken to the bus station's lost and found office in the morning by the other bus drivers.
A BODY FOUND
Unfortunately, we will never know the true details surrounding Inga's death. Her body was found on 9th January 1958 frozen solid in a field in Leppävaara. Her blue dress, which was torn, and her blue bra were found some distance away. She had been missing for ten days after the horrific last night she had on Earth. Where she was found, there was an old barn and an empty field. The nearest house was several hundred meters away in the direction of Helsinki. She died cold and alone. The weather was minus 30C when the body was discovered.
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| Searchers looking for Inga Mylläri after she was reported missing (Source: Ilta-Sanomat) |
According to Bror Forsström, the woman woke up and demanded she be let out of the bus. He said that he thought that she lived close by, so he let her go. But these details have not been confirmed by the authorities.
There were two other theories floating around. One was that Inga woke up in the middle of the rape attempt by Forsström and she ran away from the bus in the cold. There she froze to death. Another theory is that the bus driver himself took her out of the bus and left her in the field to die.
She was so frozen that the coroner had to let the body defreeze for two days before he could perform the autopsy. No signs of violence were found on the body, but she had a high alcohol level in her blood.
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| The victim found frozen in the snow (Source: murha.net) |
Her funeral was held in Helsinki, at Hietaniemi Cemetery, on 22 January 1958. Around three thousand mourners attended the services. There were so many people that they did not fit in the chapel. Inga's father was not able to attend the funeral. He was a disabled war veteran who lost one leg in the Winter War.
He later wrote a thank you note to the newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat. It was addressed to the mourners of his daughter. In the letter, he wrote: "Who amongst us knows to live a good and proper life and guide his steps. My daughter thought she was amongst people, but they were just human beasts."
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| Her funeral was attended my thousands of mourners (Source: murha.net) |
THE TRIAL
The case of Inga Mylläri was not easy to sentence. The court heard the trial four times during the period of February to May 1958. Eventually, the sentences for the five men were: Klami to three years in a house of correction, Kinnunen to two years, Dufva to nine months and Ahola to one year and nine months. Forsström was charged with manslaughter and put to prison for nine months. This was in the Espoo lower court.
The case was taken to the Helsinki Court of Appeals and some of the sentences were changed. Esko Klami got a reduced sentence to one and a half years. Forsström's prison time was increased to one and a half years.
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| The newspapers ran pictures of the accused (Source: murha.net) |
After this, the five men took their cases to the Supreme Court. There, the sentences were commuted to all the guilty parties. Klami's sentence was reduced to six months. Kinnunen and Ahola was one year in prison. Dufva got six months. And Forsström's sentence was reduced again to nine months.
All these men are dead now. The last one died in 2014. During their lives, they lost their families, jobs and good standings in the community. This was a small price to pay, along with the small sentences they received, for the nightmare that Inga Mylläri went through.
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