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detectives found puzzling, including the keys to the victims' motorcycles, which themselves had been left behind. Gustafsson's shoes were partially hidden approximately 500 meters from the murder site. The police did not cordon off the site nor record the details of the scene (later seen as a major error) and almost immediately allowed a crowd of police officers and other people to trample around and disturb the evidence. The mistake was further exacerbated by calling in soldiers to assist with the search around the lake for the missing items, several of which were never found.
274:
knew
Gyllström was violent, cut down tents, threw rocks at people who came to his street, and some have later said that it was Gyllström they saw coming back from the murder scene but were too afraid to call the police about him. The police never recovered DNA from Gyllström. A book released in 2006 brings up the theory in detail. The book also claims that the police almost immediately ignored much more evidence that was previously unknown to the public because of language barriers, among other things.
286:-born naturalized Finnish citizen, who lived several kilometers from the shore of Lake Bodom. A series of popular books promulgated a theory of Assmann committing the Bodom killings, and other murders. It was not taken seriously by the police, as Assmann had an alibi for the night of the Bodom murders (and was said to have been in Germany during the time of another murder). On the morning of June 6, 1960, however, he had shown up at a hospital in
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them, further injured himself and then went back to the tent where (now barefoot) he pretended to be unconscious. The prosecution attempted to bolster their case by alleging an identification by two birdwatchers of
Gustafsson as the tall blond man at the scene of the crime, an assertion that he had been overheard making an incriminating remark, and also that a decade after the event he had boasted to a woman about his guilt.
213:) during the early morning hours of Sunday, June 5, 1960, Mäki, Björklund and Boisman were all stabbed and bludgeoned to death by an unknown assailant. Gustafsson, the only survivor of the massacre, had fractured facial bones that appeared to confirm his story of being a victim. He stated afterwards that he had seen a glimpse of an attacker clothed in black with bright red eyes coming for them.
315:
The trial started on August 4, 2005. Gustafsson's defense lawyer argued that the murders were the work of one or more outsiders and that
Gustafsson would have been incapable of killing three people given the extent of his injuries. It had always been known that the shoes worn by the killer and hidden
181:
to their heads while sleeping inside a tent. The fourth youth, Nils
Gustafsson, then aged 18, was found outside the tent with broken facial bones and stab wounds. Despite extensive investigations, the perpetrator was never identified and various theories on the killer's identity have been presented
323:
The prosecution said it followed from the lack of
Gustafsson's blood on the shoes, that his injuries had occurred at a different time to the attack on the murdered victims, and that the only explanation of this was that Gustafsson had committed the murders, then faked the theft of items by hiding
273:
known to have been hostile towards campers. Police found no hard evidence to link him to the actual murders. They were skeptical of supposed confessions he was said to have made because they considered him disturbed. He drowned in Lake Bodom in 1969, most likely by suicide. The people in the town
252:
Björklund, Gustafsson's girlfriend, was found undressed from the waist down and was lying on top of the tent, and had suffered the most injuries out of all of the victims. She was stabbed multiple times after her death, whilst the other two teenagers were slain with less brutality. Gustafsson was
248:
The killer had not injured the victims from inside the tent, but instead had attacked the occupants from outside with a knife and an unidentified blunt instrument (possibly a rock) through the sides of the tent. The murder weapons have never been located. The killer had taken several items which
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declared the case was solved based on new forensic analysis. According to the prosecution's interpretation of the bloodstains, Gustafsson had been drunk and excluded from the tent when he attacked the other boy, getting his jaw broken in a fight which escalated into him committing three murders.
298:
During the mid-1960s, an individual named Pentti
Soininen, known for his violent tendencies, claimed to a fellow inmate that he was responsible for the murders that occurred at Lake Bodom. However, he was approximately 14 years old at the time of the murders. Many question whether he could have
331:
of all charges. The court explained the verdict as due to the prosecution’s evidence being inconclusive, failure to show
Gustafsson had a motive appropriate to a crime of such extreme seriousness, and certainty about the facts now being impossible given the time that had elapsed. The State of
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44,900 for the mental suffering caused by the long remand time, but the public prosecutor refused to sue
Finnish newspapers for defamation. Gustafsson did not use his right to bring charges against the newspapers as an injured party.
739:
206:'s Oittaa Manor. Maila Irmeli Björklund and Anja Tuulikki Mäki were both aged 15 at the time; accompanying them were their boyfriends, Seppo Antero Boisman and Nils Wilhelm Gustafsson, both aged 18.
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some distance away had reportedly seen the tent collapsed and a blond man walking away from the site. The bodies of the victims were discovered at about 11:00 a.m. by a
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with bloody clothes. He moved to Sweden, where he also died in the late 1990s. Assmann was also a suspect in five other cases, even confessing to one on his death bed.
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analysis was significant for the prosecution as it showed that the three murdered victims' blood was on
Gustafsson's shoes, but Gustafsson's was completely absent.
705:"Bodomin murhatragediasta 60 vuotta: Poliisi avasi salatut arkistot 15 vuotta sitten – useasti murhaajaksi väitetyn Hans Assmanin täydellinen alibi paljastui"
389:
This case was covered by
Georgia in the true crime/comedy podcast My Favorite Murder on June 28, 2018, who also cited and heavily utilized this very article.
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over the years. Gustafsson was unexpectedly arrested on suspicion of committing the murders in 2004, but he was found not guilty the following year.
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There have been numerous suspects over the course of the investigation of the Lake Bodom murders, but the following are the most notable.
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by him 450 metres (500 yards) away from the tent belonged to Gustafsson, who was found barefoot on top of the tent. Modern
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In late March 2004, almost 44 years after the event, Gustafsson was arrested. In early 2005, the Finnish
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177:, Maila Björklund and Anja Mäki (both 15) and Seppo Boisman (18) were killed by stabbing and
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On Saturday, June 4, 1960, four Finnish teenagers had decided to camp along the shore of
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single-handedly overpowered four older teenagers, casting doubt on his involvement.
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in Finnish criminal history. Sometime between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (
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The case was covered by the Heart Starts Pounding podcast on July 12, 2023.
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Many local people suspected Karl Valdemar Gyllström, a kiosk keeper from
513:"The Lake Bodom Murders: Finland's Most Famous Unsolved Triple Homicide"
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Man remanded on suspicion of infamous unsolved triple murder from 1960
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Court finds Gustafsson not guilty of 1960 Bodom Lake triple murder
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Jorma Palo and Matti Paloaro wrote three books about the murders.
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557:"Lake Bodom Murders – We visited where everything happened |..."
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650:"Esbopolitiker är säker på att han vet vem Bodommördaren var"
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88:
53:
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229:
756:"Murder on the Lake: Finland's Greatest Unsolved Mystery"
317:
44:
The tent being investigated immediately after the murders
486:, 2004 (Assurance or death! The mystery of Hans Assmann)
445:– unsolved murder case from 1987, on board the ferry MS
302:
493:
WSOY, 2006 (Nils Gustafsson and the shadow of Bodom)
209:
Sometime between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (
282:Most public suspicion focused on Hans Assmann, a
911:
481:Luottamus tai kuolema! Hans Assmannin arvoitus.
904:https://anymystery.com/lake-bodom-murders/
224:named Esko Oiva Johansson. He alerted the
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638:Bodomin ruumiit löysi Esko Oiva Johansson
253:also found lying on the top of the tent.
216:At about 6:00 a.m., a group of boys
732:
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728:
454:– unsolved Finnish murder case from 2006
439:– unsolved Finnish murder case from 1960
433:– unsolved Finnish murder case from 1953
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27:1960 unsolved homicide in Espoo, Finland
14:
912:
510:
895:Finland’s Unsolved Lake Bodom Murders
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940:20th-century mass murder in Finland
327:On October 7, 2005, Gustafsson was
303:Arrest and trial of Nils Gustafsson
24:
883: (archived 10 December 2008) (
797:Episode 16: The Lake Bodom Murders
581:
479:Palo, Jorma & Paloaro, Matti:
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422:band that is named after the lake.
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25:
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819:Episode 7: The Lake Bodom Murders
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535:. Helsinki: WSOY, 2003. - p.8. -
491:Nils Gustafsson ja Bodomin varjo.
309:National Bureau of Investigation
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228:, who arrived on the scene at
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970:Deaths by stabbing in Finland
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674:Koski, Sami (5 August 2023).
656:(in Swedish). 28 October 2016
476:, 2003 (The mystery of Bodom)
774:Casefile: True Crime Podcast
511:Serena, Katie (2019-01-09).
363:Morbid: A True Crime Podcast
358:podcast on October 30, 2021.
354:The case was covered by the
157:is one of the most infamous
7:
965:Stabbing attacks in Finland
960:Deaths by beating in Europe
935:Unsolved murders in Finland
703:Mölsä, Mika (24 May 2020).
588:lakebodommurders.tumblr.com
443:Viking Sally murder mystery
393:
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10:
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925:June 1960 events in Europe
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382:This case was covered by
375:This case was covered by
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49:
37:
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676:"Totuuden tuolla puolen"
619:"The Lake Bodom murders"
584:"The Lake Bodom Murders"
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431:Murder of Kyllikki Saari
426:List of unsolved murders
412:based on the murder case
368:The case was covered by
361:The case was covered by
244:Lake Bodom in April 2004
955:Knife attacks in Europe
930:Child murder in Finland
920:1960 murders in Finland
159:unsolved homicide cases
770:"Case 194: Lake Bodom"
742:June 28, 2007, at the
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950:Unsolved mass murders
897:(Historic Mysteries)
243:
236:Initial investigation
165:) on 5 June 1960, at
139:60.24167°N 24.67500°E
202:), near the city of
68:Sunday, June 5, 1960
945:Mass murder in 1960
420:melodic death metal
379:on March 17, 2024.
365:on August 28, 2018.
356:Casefile True Crime
135: /
776:. October 30, 2021
437:Oven homicide case
341:In popular culture
265:Valdemar Gyllström
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179:blunt-force trauma
155:Lake Bodom murders
144:60.24167; 24.67500
91:, blunt instrument
33:Lake Bodom murders
885:Helsingin Sanomat
541:978-951-0-27893-2
471:Bodomin arvoitus.
416:Children of Bodom
405:– a 2016 Finnish
332:Finland paid him
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16:(Redirected from
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887:, 5 April 2004)
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372:in August, 2017.
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889:(in English)
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802:, retrieved
800:, 2018-08-28
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778:. Retrieved
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713:(in Finnish)
710:Ilta-Sanomat
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684:(in Finnish)
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447:Viking Sally
446:
418:– a Finnish
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384:De Volksjury
326:
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278:Hans Assmann
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218:birdwatching
215:
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196:Bodominjärvi
195:
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154:
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120:
112:Perpetrators
18:Hans Assmann
780:November 2,
717:9 September
688:9 September
410:horror film
200:Bodom träsk
198:, Swedish:
142: /
74:Attack type
914:Categories
871:References
804:2022-02-05
660:2019-10-21
624:2016-09-05
593:2016-09-05
563:2016-09-05
559:2015-02-13
518:2020-07-28
401:Lake Bodom
194:(Finnish:
192:Lake Bodom
167:Lake Bodom
130:24°40′30″E
127:60°14′30″N
854:"Spotify"
834:"Spotify"
681:Iltalehti
370:RedHanded
329:acquitted
222:carpenter
60:, Finland
740:Archived
394:See also
377:MrBallen
346:Podcasts
288:Helsinki
257:Suspects
50:Location
879:at the
859:Spotify
839:Spotify
407:slasher
186:Murders
175:Uusimaa
115:Unknown
104:Injured
85:Weapons
58:Uusimaa
539:
403:(film)
284:German
271:Oittaa
226:police
96:Deaths
79:Murder
498:Notes
484:Tammi
204:Espoo
171:Espoo
89:Knife
54:Espoo
782:2021
719:2024
690:2024
537:ISBN
474:WSOY
230:noon
153:The
65:Date
318:DNA
211:EET
169:in
163:EET
916::
856:.
836:.
772:.
727:^
707:.
678:.
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602:^
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572:^
548:^
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173:,
56:,
862:.
842:.
784:.
758:.
721:.
692:.
663:.
627:.
596:.
566:.
543:.
521:.
334:€
107:1
99:3
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
