FINNISH MURDERS: The Famous Lake Bodom Murders (PART 2)

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In the summer of 1960, four teenagers were brutally attacked while enjoying a camping weekend. Police never figured out who the killer was. However, they had many suspects over the years. One such suspect even went to trial.

In the first part of the Bodom Lake murders, we looked in-depth at the victims murder scene and subsequent police investigation. In Part 2, we will explore who the suspects were and why police were never able to this anyone to the crime.

 SUSPECTS

There has been many suspects in the Bodom Lake murders. The first one was a local shop owner by the name of Karl Valdermar Gyllström. His kiosk, located by the lake, was very popular with the campers. Gyllström was also known as "Kiosk man" or "Kioskimies". 

Karl Gyllström, the "Kioskimies"

Gyllström was very hostile towards the campers. He was known to cut down tents or throw rocks at them. There were some reports of witnesses seeing him leave the campsite, and the witnesses were too afraid to approach him. Apparently, he confessed several times with intimate knowledge of the crime, while he was both drunk and sober. However, the police ignored all of the rumours. Nine years later, he committed suicide in Lake Bodom. 

Another hot suspect was Hans Assman. The very same one we had in the Kyllikki Saari and Tulilahti murders. Assman was suspected because the day after the crime, he went to Helsinki General Hospital with black fingernails and clothes covered in red stains that were suspected to be blood. The staff reported him to be aggressive and nervous at the hospital. Police left him off the suspect list soon after because he supposedly had a solid alibi. Assman was spending the night at his lover's house. 

In the home, located at Inarintie in the district of Vallila, there was also present the mistress' sister and the sister's husband. The three testified that it was impossible for Assman to have left the apartment at any point during the night of 4th to 5th June 1960. 

Assman was working as a painter in a location close by the  home. He dropped by the apartment at around 6:00pm on the 4th of June. He complained of suffering from heartburn. The two couples went to sleep that evening in separate rooms. However, the doors were left open. 

The sister's husband said he woke up around 6:00am on the 5th June and he saw his sister-in-law and her lover fast asleep at that time. Assman woke up around 9:00am that morning. If he were to leave the apartment at any point in the night, the others insisted that they would have been disturbed and would have noticed. 

Hans Assman

The police never tested the stained clothes that Assman had. He also fitted the description of the blond man that was seen at the crime scene. 

Another interesting thing about Assman was the fact that a similar looking man was seen in the crowd that gathered for the victims' funeral.

In the crowd that gathered for the victims' funeral, an interesting face bearing resemblance to the sketch of the prep, and also Assman. 

NILS GUSTAFSSON ARRESTED 

In March, 2004, the sole survivor of the attack, Nils Gustafsson, was arrested by the police. A trial was held at the Espoo District Court. Police insisted they suspected him all along and had evidence to back it up. Bearing in mind this was 44 years after the murders. 

One piece of evidence that police presented was that Gustafsson's shoes were worn by the killer. They were covered in the blood of the other victims, but not in his own blood. In the trial, prosecution presented that Gustafsson and Boisman had an altercation which culminated in a physical fight. Boisman allegedly won the fight, and left Gustafsson with a broken face and fractured jaw. 

Nils Gustafsson at the trial in 2005 with his defense attorney. In the Espoo District Court 

After this, Gustafsson was left in a white rage, and it made him kill his two friends and girlfriend. Then, to cover up the crime, he inflicted superficial stab wounds onto himself. He also staged the crime scene and hid his shoes. 

The birdwatchers witnessing the man leaving the crime scene early in the morning backed up the prosecution's circumstantial evidence. 

The defense argued that if Gustafsson was injured to such a degree he would not be able to commit such a vicious attack as he would not have the strength. On top of that, if he were to also be the one to hide the shoes that would be a total of 1.60 kilometers, or one full mile, trip to walk to the site and back to the tents. 

Gustafsson was cleared of all charged and acquitted one year after he was charged. He sued the state for wrongly incarcerating him, and was awarded 44,990€ compensation. 

CONCLUSION

No further suspects were named after Gustafsson's trial, and no new evidence was presented. The case is probably closed now and we can officially it call it a cold case. However, interest in it has not waned. It is still one of the most grisly and horrifying crimes in Finnish history. I think at this point we will never know who killed the three teenagers on that dark Helluntai morning. 

References

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