Kyllikki Saari
Auli Kyllikki Saari (December 6, 1935 – May 17, 1953) was a 17-year-old Finnish girl whose murder in 1953 is one of the most infamous cases of homicide of all time in Finland. Her murder in Isojoki remains unsolved.[1]
Background information
Saari was last seen alive on May 17, 1953. She was cycling home from a prayer meeting when, it is believed, she was attacked by an unidentified person. Speculation leads authorities to believe the murderer may have had a sexual motive , but no evidence has been produced to support this theory. Although the crime received notable media attention, the murderer has never been identified. Saari's remains were found on October 11, 1953 in a bog. Her bicycle was discovered in a marshy area later the same summer.[2] Funeral services were held at Isojoki Church on October 25, 1953; an estimated 25,000 people attended.
Suspects
Kauko Kanervo
Initially, the prime suspect in the case was Kauko Kanervo, a parish priest who remained under investigation for several years. Kanervo had moved to Merikarvia three weeks before the murder and had been reported as having been in the area on the evening of Saari's disappearance. An investigation determined Kanervo had been dean of the party and spent the late night hours in the parsonage. With all but 20 minutes of his time unaccounted for, the authorities deduced the priest could not have had enough time to go to Isojoki (60 kilometres away from Merikarvia), as he did not have a drivers license or a car.
Hans Assmann
Assmann's wife reported that her husband and his driver were near Isojoki at the time of the murder. Assmann also owned a light-brown Opel, the same type of car several witnesses had seen near the murder scene. In 1997, Assmann reportedly confessed his involvement in the crime to a former police officer, Matti Paloaro, and claimed responsibility for the death of Kyllikki Saari. Assmann's story to the officer claimed the death was caused by an automobile accident when his car, driven by his chauffeur, collided with Saari; to conceal the evidence of the driver's involvement, the two men staged the case as a murder. According to Paloaro, Assmann said on his deathbed, "One thing I can tell right away ... because it is the oldest and the kind of damage that was covered. Otherwise, our trip would have been revealed. While my friend was a good driver, damage was inevitable. Will know what I mean."
Assmann's wife also reported that one of her husband's socks was missing and his shoes were wet when he returned home the evening of the murder. There were also dents in the car. According to Mrs. Assmann, a few days later, Assmann and his driver left again, but this time they had a shovel with them. Later investigators determined that Kyllikki's murderer must have been left-handed, which Assmann was.
Vihtori Lehmusviita
Vihtori Lehmusviita was in a mental hospital for long periods, and died in 1967, following which the case was set aside. The man police generally held as a murderer was, at the time, a 38-year-old local inhabitant. He was living within a 1–2 km radius of the site. In the 1940s, he was found guilty of a sexual offense and had a mental illness. The police suspected that the murderer got help and cover-up from a 37-year-old relative of Lehmusviita who had a criminal background. The suspect's sister gave him an alibi for the evening of the murder.
When Lehmusviita was interrogated, he said that Kyllikki was no longer alive, and her body would never be found. Subsequently, he withdrew his statement, claiming that he had been misunderstood. Prime suspect and assistant were questioned in the autumn of 1953. Shortly after this incident, the alleged assistant moved to Central Ostrobothnia and then to Sweden. Lehmusviita was questioned two times. He was in a mental hospital for treatment, and when the provincial criminal police came there to question him, the interrogation was forced to stop because Lehmusviita's behavior became so strange and confused that the doctor ordered that he could not be questioned in his state.
Both Lehmusviita and his alleged assistant knew the terrain very well, because they had a common working field located 50 meters from where Kyllikki was found. There was a shovel in the field that was used to dig the grave.