Finland’s most infamous unsolved murders | Forensic Files

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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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our website [Music] nestled in the center of a clearing hidden amongst tall birch and pine trees
was a small light-coloured a-frame tent ruth colley had spotted it as she wandered through the glade with her
five-year-old daughter the secluded campsite overlooked lake buddham's clear and tranquil waters from
a vantage point along the eastern peninsula the tent itself was not an unusual find
located in southern finland lake budam was a hive of activity on the morning of sunday june 5 1960
with the ice and snow blanketing the countryside having long since melted away outdoor enthusiasts had flocked to
the lake to swim sunbathe and go fishing some opted to camp throughout the patch
of forest framing the three kilometer long waterfront when ruth colley stumbled across one
such campsite it was far from surprising yet something drew her closer into the quiet clearing
its centerpiece the a-frame tent had collapsed in on itself there were several people seemingly
asleep amid the disarray it was difficult to distinguish what was what in the tangle of limbs hair and
belongings but ruth could see two teenage girls lying more or less side by side a boy about the same age lay slightly
apart from them then there was a second adolescent male who was more exposed than his friends
he was lying on his back directly on top of the tent with his legs bent his face was smeared with blood and
flies buzzed around his head bottles of alcohol scattered around the area led ruth to suspect she was looking
at the fallout of a drunken and violent argument between some young campers who were now sleeping off their hangovers
she moved away and continued along the peninsula with her daughter to meet up with the rest of their family
soon ruth spotted her husband marty and their son in their fishing boat about 200 metres offshore
she waved them over marty colley rode over to where his wife and daughter were waiting
ruth informed him about the four teenagers camping nearby and marty decided to check on them
he strode up the ridge and was confronted by the same confusing scene that had troubled his wife
marty recognized the teens he had seen them arrive the previous day at around 5 pm the group of four had
roared up to the south side of the lake on two motorcycles the boys were driving and each had a
girl clinging to his back they'd seemed like a happy group all smiles and laughter
marty leaned in closer to inspect the mess before him as he gazed at the tense filthy and
collapsed canvas he realized that large swaths of it had been slashed open with a knife
[Music] [Music] nils gustavsson and sippl boyzman had been best friends since they were 12
years old with just four months between them the pair were inseparable and frequently had
sleepovers at each other's homes as they grew older their lives followed similar paths
they became electricians after graduating school and gained employment at the same electromechanical plant
[Music] by may of 1960 seppo had turned 18 and was dating 15 year old high school
student anya maki who went by her middle name of tuliki tuliki introduced seppo and niels to her
own best friend myla bjerklund she was also 15 and was known by her middle name irmeli
iremeli was charmed by nils with his slicked back brown hair and rockabilly fashion sense inspired by the king of
rock and roll elvis presley [Music] the pair officially became a couple just after nilsa's 18th birthday
[Music] about two weeks later the four teenagers decided that an overnight camping trip
to lake boredom would be a great way to celebrate the start of the holidays early was particularly excited about the
upcoming break as it was the first summer where she wasn't needed to look after her two younger brothers
despite the girl's excitement their parents were reluctant to give their blessing for the trip
although they had always found seppo and nils respectful and trustworthy the idea
of their young daughters staying out overnight didn't sit right eventually both irmali and tuliki's
parents relented and they were permitted to go the boys fared much easier seppol convinced his mother and father
that the trip would be safe as the lake was only a 30 minute drive northwest from their home city of helsinki
it wasn't as though they would be camping in some remote wilderness nils's parents had no problem with him
camping and fishing with seppo for the night although nils failed to mention that the
girls would be with them and so it was settled on saturday june 4 1960 seppo niels tuliki and irmly would
venture to lake borum the timing was perfect for the young couples as they would wake up together
on the morning of the christian holiday known as pentecost in finland there was a saying
if you don't have a sweetheart on pentecost you won't have one all summer seppo borrowed a canvas tent from work
and got his hands on some alcohol a half liter bottle of salmisari liquor a 370 milliliter bottle of citrus liquor
and a couple of pale lagers the boys packed bread sausages snacks and fishing equipment as well as various
knives and a pair of pliers to use as tools by saturday afternoon nils and seppo
were cruising to lake boredom on their motorcycles their girlfriends clinging tightly to their respective backs
at about 5 p.m they pulled up to the south side of the lake and found the ideal camping spot at the tip of a small
peninsula it was a short walk east from the lake's main swimming area but was screened off
from the beach by another small peninsula in between they unloaded their bags in a clearing
that overlooked the lake rather than setting up camp right away they fired up the motorbikes again and
headed back about a kilometer down the road to a kiosk they had passed on the way in
there the boys bought several packets of chewing gum and a few bottles of soft drink as mixers for their liquors
by the time the group arrived back at their campsite it was about 7 15 pm there were still a few swimmers in the
water but their numbers were dwindling nils and seppo unrolled the tent with the opening facing east away from the
swimming beach they cut some thick birch sticks from the trees and sharpened them into
makeshift tent poles one of the boys found a decent sized rock down by the shore and used it to
hammer the stakes into the ground then they tied off the guidelines and stepped back to admire their handiwork
it was a typical a-frame tent which stood at 113 centimeters at its highest point through the middle
not tall enough for any of them to stand inside at 138 centimeters wide it barely had
room for two but the four teams would make it work it was just going to be a very tight fit
early the next morning two teenage friends were strolling along the southern shore of lake boredom
just before 6 am the boys reached the eastern peninsula when they heard a voice drawn to the sound they climbed up a
ridge and into the surrounding woodland to investigate there they spotted two motorcycles
leaning up against some birch trees behind them in a clearing was a collapsed tent
the boys were certain that a man was lying on top of it they couldn't see his face but they
spotted a pair of legs in dark trousers it looked like he was stirring slightly then some activity a little further away
caught their attention another man was heading away from the tent into the trees
the boys didn't see his face but he looked to be an adult wearing a light-coloured shirt
they couldn't tell which direction he headed after reaching the trees perhaps he'd stopped walking once he was
hidden from view the boys wanted to take a closer look at the motorcycles but decided they
shouldn't risk disturbing the campers and the left fourteen-year-old olivier kivilati was
perched on a rocky outcropping overlooking lake buddham waiting for his fishing buddy
the sun had already risen by the time he'd arrived and the morning was calm and quiet
then at about 6 a.m solitude was broken by a man emerging from some trees near the base of the
eastern peninsula about 80 metres away he looked to be in his 20s was of average height and had brown hair combed
backwards he was wearing a light top and a dark pants the man moved quickly and purposefully
down to the peninsula's base and continued south before disappearing out of olivey's site
it was several hours later when ruth colley discovered the collapsed tent and pointed it out to her husband
by 10 am more people had noticed the tent including a group of teenagers who had been swimming in the lake
they too thought it looked as though the young campers had been in a fight and carried on with their morning
[Music] then at 11 15 am a passerby realised something far more sinister had taken
place and rushed to a nearby construction site using the phone in its office to call
the police he informed them that there had been a slaughter at lake budam upon observing the campsite for
themselves local officers immediately contacted the central criminal police special investigators arrived and
examined the bodies bundled close together seppo boyzman was lying under the folds
at the edge of the tent his legs dressed in blue jeans that were unbuttoned at the fly were outstretched
he also wore a colored shirt and his hands rested on his chest almost as if he was sleeping
but seppo was not asleep he had been hit with a blunt object multiple times in the head and jaw
producing four fractures to the left side of his skull curious onlookers watched as a police
officer lifted one of the tent folds that covered seppo's head revealing that he had also been stabbed
through the tent's canvas there were wounds in his neck and trachea the fatal strike was another stab wound
that had punctured seppo's chest cavity he would not have been able to move before he bled out into his lungs
his girlfriend tuligi mackie was curled up face down and partially covered with a blanket
her blue jeans were fastened but her yellow blouse had ridden up her torso exposing her midriff
she too had suffered severe blunt force trauma to her head which caused the multiple fractures to her skull
iremeli bierklund was near the tense doorway her left leg parallel to tuliki's back and her right leg bent
around tulicki's head ear milly's light green jeans were down below her knees with the right pant leg
pulled off entirely exposing her lower half her beige blouse and a light blue sweater had also been pulled up to her
shoulders exposing her torso and bra at least three powerful strikes with a blunt heavy object had shattered
eerimelli's skull across her forehead and produced further fractures along her jaw and the side of her face
these blows were enough to cause severe swelling and bleeding of the brain resulting in almost immediate death
but the killer had also stabbed earmeli 15 times in her neck and shoulders she had clearly borne the brunt of the
attack nils gustavsson was lying on top of the tent dressed in a gray sweater dark
jeans and socks the entire left side of his face was swollen and bruised including his eye
which was sealed shut nils had suffered a fracture to the left side of his lower jaw and another to the
temporal bone otherwise known as the ear canal the left side of his upper jaw and his
cheekbone were also fractured nils had been slashed multiple times with a knife he had a gash on the back of his left
forearm and another along his left cheek this second wound was so deep it had cut
through the entire depth of skin and muscle exposing his teeth police determined that the killer had
intentionally cut the tent's guidelines before the attack as the tent collapsed onto the sleeping
teens the exact location of each of their heads would have become obvious the four victims were effectively
trapped confused and disoriented with no means of escape the killer would not have known the
order in which they were sleeping so he likely unleashed the violent blitz attack indiscriminately
items recovered at the crime scene correlated with what the teens had packed for their weekend getaway
bags clothing cigarette boxes makeup bread and a red leather songbook that belonged to tuliki were catalogued
two table knives and two pocket knives were found but none were the bladed weapon wielded by the killer
the pale lager bottles were found one empty one full along with multiple bottles of soda
some of the soda bottles were empty but one still contained a mix of soft drinks
and the citrus liquor a foreign fingerprint not belonging to any of the teens was found on one bottle
the bottle of saumisari liquor was never located other more crucial items were also
missing notably each of the teenager's wallets and ids another knife they had packed
seppol's leather jacket and the keys to the motorcycles the girls hadn't brought any watches but
the boys had and they were missing too over the next day or two community volunteers joined police and military
personnel in an extensive search of the entire lake boredom area metal detectors were used and sniffer
dogs were deployed while divers searched the depths of the lake items as small as a piece of iron wire
were collected the weapons used in the attack were not located [Music] about 500 metres from the crime scene
just off the road that led to the campsite a pair of worn brown leather slip-on loafers were found hidden under
a rock they were covered in flecks of blood and were identified as belonging to victim
nils gustavsson seppel boyzman's shoes were also unearthed nearby discarded more carelessly in the scrub
on the other side of the road an appeal was made to identify the man seen walking away from the campsite the
morning the bodies were discovered while this particular individual wasn't identified sightings of other suspicious
persons were called in given the brutality and shocking nature of the murders the provincial government
ordered police teams to apprehend all suspects immediately dozens of people were brought into
police stations across the county for interrogations one man was arrested based on the
suspicions of a bishop a soldier was also detained after his parents tipped off the police
both were eventually released in one more promising lead a man was arrested when a bloody knife was found
in boredom village after tests proved that the blood didn't match any of the victim's blood types he
was let go a bearded dirty man spotted hiding out in the bulldog forest area was found to
be a fugitive named paulie luma luma had received a mandatory labor order likely for vagrancy which was then
a crime in finland but had deserted his sentence a large-scale manhunt began the police managed to locate luma but he
was so drunk that they had to keep him in a holding cell overnight to sober up before they could interrogate him
when luma was interviewed the next morning he was able to name nearly a dozen witnesses who confirmed he had
been in a hut outside of helsinki at the time of the murders although the police investigation seemed
to be stalling locals were working on theories of their own 51 year old carl gilstrom ran the kiosk
near the southern part of the lake where visitors often stopped for refreshments
and supplies he also lived in a house a short distance up the road gillstrom was of average height and had
dark hair that he wore slicked back across his head but the most notable thing about him was
his temper although he could be friendly and polite especially when authority figures were
around sometimes his mood would flick like a switch suddenly he'd turn aggressive and cruel
locals said that he hid razor blades in the apples that grew from his tree to deter children from picking the fruit
a heavy drinker with a known hatred of the campers who stayed at the lake gillstrom was also prone to attacking
others a man who owned land near the lake once caught gillstrom hunting illegally and
asked him to leave gilstrom raised his shotgun took aim then fired at the man he wasn't seriously hurt but he had to
have the shot pellets removed at a hospital the road leading to his home seemed to
be a particular fixation for gillstrom one time a truck driver had been heading along the road only to hear a loud crack
followed by the shattering of glass sharp shards lodged in the driver's face and he realized that someone had shot at
him breaking one of the truck's windows when carl gilstrom was found to be responsible he claimed he'd only fired
at the vehicle to discourage drivers from hooning down the road too fast sometimes gillstrom lined the road with
makeshift spike strips consisting of wooden planks with nails jutting out gillstrom kept the length of iron pipe
in his car and was known to carry a curved and hunting knife on his belt he was also renowned for something else
he had a history of cutting the guidelines of camper's tents when nils gustafsson seppo
[Music] arrived at lake bordem on june 4 they headed to gillstrom's kiosk shortly
after choosing a campsite gilstrom's wife was working by herself behind the counter that day and served
the four teens as they purchased soft drinks and chewing gum they hung around the kiosk for a little
while longer chatting laughing and enjoying ice cream in the sun afterwards they took off on their
motorbikes back down the road towards their campsite passing gilstrom's home along the way
gillstrom's wife closed the kiosk at around nine that night and later told her husband about the four teenagers
camping nearby as investigators examined at the grizzly crime scene the next morning
one onlooker rushed to the kiosk to inform gilstrom of the terrible crime to his surprise
gilstrom took the information in his stride in fact he seemed utterly nonchalant
not long after the murders locals learned that gilstrom had filled in a well located on his property
aware of his violent temper and dislike of campers some speculated that gilstrom
was the killer and had disposed of the murder weapons and or the teenager's missing belongings down the well
their suspicions were strengthened by the discovery of nils and seppo's shoes along the road that led to gillstrom's
house investigators eventually interviewed gilstrom and his wife both said that he was at home asleep on
the evening in question gilstrom's wife explained that she and the children slept in the bedroom while
gillstrom slept in the kitchen but the door between the two rooms was kept open and her husband never left the
house police searched the gillstrom premises though nothing of significance was uncovered
yet many locals felt that the police search was far from exhaustive they hadn't even examined the filled in
well at 10 45 pm the day after the murders an ambulance arrived at helsinki surgical
hospital with an unconscious adult inside the patient a german-born man by the name of hans asman was wearing dirty
overalls covered in red stains the same stains could be seen all over his hands according to his wife who had
accompanied him asman had collapsed as a result of severe stomach pains when the doctor poked him during a
responsiveness test asman giggled apparently he had been faking his unconsciousness
after assman's ruse was discovered he exhibited no remorse or shame instead he began threatening hospital
staff and demanding that he be treated right away a medical intern was struck by
asman's strange behavior and kept a close eye on him during his stay at one stage asman was visited by a
woman who was not his wife the pair spoke at length in hushed tones asman also spent hours vigorously
washing his hands with paint thinner to remove the red stains according to asman's own claims he had
been a nazi prison guard at auschwitz during world war ii before being captured in 1943 by the russians
after two years in a prisoner of war camp he supposedly switched sides to join the soviet union's security agency
the kgb asman remained in hospital for several days but that wasn't the last the staff saw
of him after he was discharged he returned numerous times for further treatment on one occasion he showed a doctor a
german magazine article about an unsolved murder another time he joked to one of the
surgeons that he too was skilled with a knife but unlike the surgeon's patients those
on the other end of assman's knife never survived by july the doctors at the hospital had
grown so suspicious of han's ass men that they reported him to the police the medical intern that initially
treated asmen had been so convinced that the man was somehow connected to the lake buddha murders that he'd bagged his
stained overalls so that police could analyze them yet the authorities didn't seem to share
their concerns there was one other thing that further convinced the hospital staff they were
right about hans asman a month after the crimes a composite sketch of the lake buddha murders
suspect was released it depicted a man with large eyes a straight nose and a thick lips
he had long pale hair combed backward his face was round but he had a strong jaw and slightly protruding red cheeks
that were dotted with pimples the man's forehead was high and was also pimply with uneven horizontal wrinkles
to hospital staff the sketch looked remarkably like hans assman [Music] when the sketch was made public about 50
tips were received as a result while none yielded anything promising the sketch was still considered one of
the most important leads investigators had it was based on a description provided
by a crucial eyewitness none other than nils gustafsson [Music] case file will be back shortly thank you
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[Music] on thursday june 9 1960 four days after the lake bulldog murders nils gustavson woke with a pounding
headache strange faint noises accompanied each thump to his brain leading the 18 year old to wonder where
he was he tried to look and see but struggled to bring his surroundings into focus
the problem was his left eye it was almost swollen shut eventually he managed to force his eyes
open the room took shape and anils realized that he was lying in a hospital bed [Music]
he saw his mother by his side and an unfamiliar man who looked to be a doctor nils tried to speak but found it
difficult to move his mouth he strained his eyes downward and saw bandages and a brace of some kind
wrapped around his jaw with great effort he carefully opened his mouth and asked his mother if he had
been in a motorcycle accident she hesitated to answer nils racked his brain trying to remember
what had happened he recalled being at lake budam with his friends seppo and tuliki and his
girlfriend irmeli they all went asleep in their shared tent sometime after sunset
before dawn seppo headed off alone to go fishing only to return a short while later without a catch
he resettled in the tent and all four of them went back asleep try as he might nils could not remember anything that
happened thereafter when police arrived at the lake boredom crime scene they found nils gustavsson
lying on top of the tent slightly apart from his companions unlike the others nils was clearly alive
though barely conscious he'd sustained a number of head injuries but none were life-threatening
the left side of his face was swollen and beaten he had been badly cut along his left
cheek and there was a two inch cut on the back of his left forearm a police officer peppered nils with
questions as he was rushed to hospital but only received a series of unintelligible noises in response
the questions continued as physicians worked to stitch up nils's wounds how was he able to survive the attack
had he somehow managed to squeeze out of one of the gaping slashes in the tent perhaps he tried to escape or fight back
it was also possible that the two boys who had stumbled across the crime scene early that morning had disturbed the
attacker maybe just before nils was about to receive a fatal blow police were hopeful that the sole
survivor of the brutal attack could provide them with some answers but nils only responded with the
occasional faint moan [Music] nils was monitored in the traumatology ward for two days before being
transferred to the hospital's neurosurgical wing it wasn't until june 9 4 days after the
attack that he regained full consciousness one of his first requests was to see his
best friend seppo despite some slight swelling that remained on the left side of his face
the doctors determined that nils was well enough to be discharged on june 23. the police didn't waste any time
at noon that day they ushered nils out of back exit to avoid the crowds of reporters lingering outside the hospital
he was then driven to the police station and once settled began his story after he and seppo set up the tent
between 7 30 and 8 on the evening of saturday june 4 the girls went swimming in the lake
the boys remained at the campsite sharing a lager and fashioning fishing rods out of birch branches
they also mixed some liquor with the soda but didn't finish it because it didn't taste very nice
when the girls returned from their swim they declined to have a drink after the sunset at about 9 30 pm nils
and irmeli kissed and cuddled for a little while about an hour later they decided to go
to sleep somehow the group of four managed to squeeze into the tent's small confines
tuliki took position on the far right of the tent facing inwards with her back to
the wall seppo was next in line facing tuliki iremeli lay on the tent's left side also
with her back to the wall nils entered last and zipped up the tent door then lay down on his right side
facing iremeli he used his leather jacket as a makeshift pillow hours later nils woke to the sound of
seppel rustling in the tent for his fishing tackle the sun hadn't yet risen and nils
estimated it was just before 3 am he felt like going for a swim so he joined seppo while the girls continued
to sleep once they were down at the lake seppo perched himself on a rock while nils
tested the water it was too cold so he left seppel fishing and wandered back to the tent
the girls were still inside but were now awake a little while later seppol returned as
well having had no luck fishing all four then went back to sleep so far nils's story made sense
tullicky's read songbook that had been found at the crime scene had contained a diary style entry that corroborated his
version of events the entry referred to the excursion to lake budum and contained three brief
lines the first read seppo and nils were drunk the second that they were up at two am
and the third that seppo was in the woods the police urged nils to continue but nils said the next thing he
remembered was waking up in the hospital investigators were dismayed to hear that
he had no recollection of the attack they were certain he held the key to solving the case
despite continued prodding nils was insistent he remembered nothing else investigators escorted nils back to lake
boredom in the hopes that visiting the crime scene would prompt a repressed memory to resurface
the visit didn't seem to provoke anything new in nils's mind there was however one other option that
could be explored dr asa stenbeck a professor of psychiatry who lectured at the university of helsinki believed he could
access nils's repressed memories through hypnosis after having previously attended a short
course on psychotherapy and having had some success with other patients dr stenbeck felt he was capable enough
for the task [Music] in the month after the murders dr stenbeck conducted three hypnotherapy
sessions with nils each lasting around 30 minutes nils shared no new information in the
first two during the third dr stenbeck asked the hypnotised nils if he'd heard any
screams that night nils replied that he'd faintly heard the girls screaming crying out that someone
had attacked them dr stenbeck asked nils what he then saw nils said that the roof of the tent was
on top of them a man started hitting them with a sharp weapon maybe a knife and also a hard
weapon like an iron pipe dr stenbeck asked if nils had seen the man before nils didn't know
then he described seeing blood all over irmelli's head look closely do you see the man now
asked to dr stenbeck nils replied that yes he could say he described a man who was about 30
years old with long fair hair his face was round and pimply the man was of average height and size
but looked strong as though his work involved heavy labor he wore a thick dark plaid sweater with
green and black present in the pattern a sketch of the man nils described was widely circulated and by the second
month of the investigation nine men had been arrested on suspicion of being the perpetrator
each was subjected to intense interrogations but all had solid alibis and were ruled out
as were friends family and acquaintances of the victims the summer of 1960 soon turned to autumn
and the newspapers were no longer filled with near daily articles on the lake bulldog
murders eventually snow replaced the fallen leaves and as the air turned cold so did the case
years then decades passed with no new viable leads police continued combing through
tip-offs from the public yet they seemed to become more and more outlandish as time went on
it wasn't until 2003 that the case's new lead investigator decided to utilize advances in dna technology in the hopes
to uncover previously undetectable evidence were exhumed for additional forensic
examination though failed to reveal anything of significance however the preliminary dna testing of
several key items from the crime scene including the tent did yield new information
it was enough for investigators to narrow in on a suspect finally almost 44 years after the
murders police released a statement that a person of interest in the lake buddha
murders had been detained by this point the suspect was a semi-retired bus driver aged in his
early 60s but in 1960 he was an 18 year old who lived in the metropolitan area police interviewed him nearly a dozen
times throughout march 2004 before arresting him on the 29th to the shock of many the man they had
arrested was sole survivor nils gustafsson the police alleged that nils had been
intoxicated on the night of the murders he had packed a condom for the trip and investigators believed he had intended
to use it until iremeli rejected his advances seppa was then forced to step up in
order to protect the girls from an angry nils their argument escalated culminating in
nils being banished from the tent fueled by alcohol resentment and adrenaline nils then waited for his
three friends to fall asleep before cutting the tent's guidelines to trap them inside
then knowing seppo's position inside the tent nils began to attack him with a rock
seppo defended himself by kicking nils in the chin causing his jaw to break further enraged by this injury nils took
out his knife and stabbed seppo in the chest and neck by this time the girls had woken in a
panic as too licky tried to escape the confines of the fallen tent nils beat her in the head with the rock until she
was no longer moving then he focused his attention on the true object of his rage
his girlfriend irmali before iremeli could escape the tent nils smashed the rock down on her head
then stabbed her 15 times in the neck and shoulders at some point during the attack nils
sustained a deep gash to his arm and the side of his face with each of his friends now dead
nils got to work first he gathered up all the wallets and ids and other items of some value such
as the keys to the motorcycles and seppo's leather jacket and shoes then he disposed of them either by
digging a hole somewhere in the forest or throwing them into the lake far from where the slaughter took place
nils tossed seppo's shoes into the forest scrub just off the road to the kiosk he then carefully concealed his own
blood-spattered shoes under a rock on the other side of the road the man seen leaving the campsite early
in the morning was in fact nils after disposing of everything nils returned to the campsite to continue his
forensic countermeasures he slashed the tent's canvas to give the impression of a more frenzied attack
then in either a final show of contempt or to fool the police into thinking the murders were sexually motivated he
stripped iremeli naked from the waist to down his staging of the crime scene complete
nils settled down on top of his murdered friends and waited to be discovered the year nils gustavsson was arrested
for the lake borden murders a 61 year old woman named tarya fronted a television crew to break an oath she had
held since 1960. revealed that she had been at lake budam the night nils and his group were
present 17 years old at the time tarya had been camping with friends at a public site on
the shores of the lake when nils and his group appeared nils was drunk and tarya recalled a
growing animosity between him and his companions as to why she never told police of this
key sighting talia claimed she had been sworn to secrecy by her group of friends
while damning tardia's story didn't add up she couldn't remember the names of the
friends she was with that night other than one who was already deceased the public campsite where she said nils
and the others had arrived didn't exist she also claimed she was amongst the crowd when the injured nils was
stretched away from the collapsed ten adding that there were no police officers present
however one of the people who helped carry nils was a police officer in full uniform
tarya also couldn't describe anything about nils seppo tuliki or irmeli from 1960
including basic physical characteristics like their hair color nils himself denied ever seeing tarya
that night and rejected claims that there was tension between his group during their trip
tuliki's writings in her songbook supported his assertions she had made no reference to an argument
despite this tardier's recollections played a large part in the prosecution's case when 62 year old nils gustafsson
faced trial for the murders of seppo boyzman tulikimaki and iremeli bjerklund in august 2005.
as did a confession nils had allegedly made while in custody awaiting trial a police officer observed a seemingly
frustrated nils throw himself on the bed in his cell and exclaim what's done is done
i'll get 15 years for it yet there was no official record of this confession and nils himself denied
making the statement he claimed that if he had ever said words to that effect he would have just
been venting about the situation he found himself in the defense's interpretation of the
crime scene was vastly different to that of police blood spatter was only found on the
exterior of nils's shoes investigators took this to assume he must have been wearing them when he went on his violent
rampage yet analysis showed that the blood on the shoes matched spatter found at the
tense entrance meaning they were by the door during the attack something else might have been blocking
the insoles such as clothing or tent fabric the defense pointed out that it was unlikely nils had walked 500 meters
barefoot or in his socks back to the tent after hiding his shoes both his feet and socks were clean
in a macabre display the tent that the three victims had been slain in was displayed in the middle of the courtroom
held up in place with string the filthy yellowed canvas showed huge slash marks and was stained with blood
the prosecution stated that nils had cut up the tent after the murders to embellish the attack
yet blood spatter once again suggested a different scenario analysis showed they were made
beforehand furthermore seven of seppo's stab wounds were found to have been made through the tent
only the blood belonging to the four teens was present on the tent leading investigators to conclude that no other
party was involved however only 20 samples taken from 11 locations had been tested
therefore it was not possible to conclusively determine that a fifth person's dna was not present somewhere
else additionally many of the samples tested failed to yield any dna information
given the degradation of the evidence over 45 years tests did reveal that nils gustavson's
blood was present in the exact spot where he claimed to have been sleeping during the trial a disagreement arose
between the testimony provided by neurology experts those speaking on behalf of the
prosecution claimed nils had suffered nothing more than a mild concussion meaning he could have easily doctored
the crime scene after the murders and that his claims of memory loss were unlikely
in contrast experts for the defense stated that while nils's injuries were not life-threatening they were not minor
either he struggled with balance in the weeks after the attack during which time he
was unable to walk unaided they concluded that nils unquestionably received significant head trauma capable
of causing brain injury and memory loss the trial of nils gustavson for the murders of seppo boyzman tulikimaki and
iremeli bjerklund concluded in october 2005 the panel of six district court judges
retired to consider their verdict while nils awaited his fate days later nils was sitting at home when
he received a phone call from his lawyer he had been acquitted the lack of motive and the fact that
witnesses had seen another unknown man leaving the crime scene convinced all of the judges that nils was innocent
moreover the blood evidence confirmed that nils was inside the tent when the attack occurred
and his injuries would have prevented him from hiding the missing items after the verdict was handed down the
prosecution had seven days in which to appeal they declined to do so and on october 14
2005 nils gustafsson's innocence was final with the sole survivor of the attack at
lake boredom officially cleared the crucial question still remained who was responsible for one of finland's
most notorious unsolved crimes for many armchair detectives there was still a question mark around one of the
earliest suspects carl gilstrom dubbed at the kiosk man because he ran a lake bulldogs kiosk
from the outset gillstrom's violent temper and attacks against people passing through the area had made him
highly suspicious to many in the local community even though he didn't really resemble
the police sketch of the suspect one individual convinced of gillstrom's guilt was all for johansen
ulf was 18 years old at the time of the murders and had visited the lake the very same day
as a young man who was around the same age as the victims and who always saw lake budam as a safe place to spend time
with friends ulf had been horrified by the slayings he'd also had his own run-in with carl
gilstrom on the road leading by the man's house ulf was cycling along when gilstrom
threw rocks at him ulf grew up to become a local politician and in 2016 he published a book about
the case titled the legend of bulldog in it he collated many of the clues that pointed to gillstrom including his habit
of cutting the guidelines of camper's tents this idiosyncrasy was particularly troubling
given whoever had attacked the four teenagers used this exact method to catch his victims unawares
sometime in the late 1960s gilstrom's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer while in hospital she made a startling
admission to a friend her husband was the lake buddha murderer although she had initially told police
that he was at home asleep on the night in question now she claimed that she had only
provided him with an alibi because she was scared gilstrom would attack her and their children
after learning of this admission police attempted to interview her again but she refused to speak with them for
fear of her husband no physical evidence that carl gilstrom was the bulldog lake murderer was ever
found and the police closed their file on him in september 1969 according to finland's evening newspaper
an 80-page police investigation file dedicated to gilstrom came to light in 2005.
unfortunately it shed no further light on his possible involvement suspicions have also remained around the
other key suspect in the case hans assman the german man who sought treatment at a helsinki hospital the day
after the murders he'd raised suspicion amongst hospital staff due to his bizarre behavior
troubling comments and resemblance to the police sketch following the release of this sketch
hans asman suddenly shaved off his long pale hair an act that could have been interpreted as an intentional effort to
avoid comparisons jorama palo who had treated asman as a medical intern at the time was so
convinced of assman's guilt that he authored three books on the subject he and marty paluaro a former crime
commissioner turned a journalist speculated that the police were refusing to investigate asman as a suspect due to
sensitive national security matters in 1997 an ailing asman granted an exclusive bedside interview to marty
paluaro during their conversation mati asked dasman directly if he was responsible
for the lake buddha murders asman replied that he would quote not talk about the details
marty took this as a confession hans aspen died the following year at the age of 74.
for many suspicions that asman may have been the buddha-malay killer were put to
rest in 2005 when police unsealed an investigation file that related to him mika mersa a special reporter for
finland's ilta cinemato newspaper was given access to the entire file and on october 1 2005 published an article on
the findings the file showed that in june 1960 after receiving the tip-off by the helsinki
hospital doctors the police had in fact investigated aspen as a potential suspect
however he was quickly ruled out on the basis of an airtight alibi on the night of june 4 1960
asman had shared a bed with his girlfriend in the same apartment as her sister and her sister's husband
according to witness statements by all three asman arrived at about 6 pm on june 4 and woke up on the morning of the
lake buddha murders at 9. police also interviewed several witnesses who confirmed that asman had
been painting at a construction site on both saturday june 4 and sunday june 5. on monday the construction site's
caretaker gave assman a bottle of wine and the two men indulged according to assman's wife and his
regular doctor he had been suffering from severe stomach pains for some time after drinking the wine these pains
returned and asman called his wife to collect him when she arrived she found him
unconscious and called the paramedics an ambulance delivered them to helsinki surgical hospital where asman was
treated according to the police file the stains that were on his clothes that day were
paint not blood in 1978 police checked the foreign fingerprint on a soda bottle found at
the lake budam crime scene it did not match asman's despite the release of assman's police
file many true crime enthusiasts remain convinced that he could have been the lake boredom killer
one reason for this is his likeness to the police sketch that was produced following nils's hypnosis session
there are only a few photographs of asmen in circulation today one of which bears a striking
resemblance to the composite there is another photograph widely available on the internet that was
supposedly snapped at the funeral of seppo boyzman tulikimaki and iremeli bjerklund on june 13 1960.
the photograph depicts a large group of mourners standing towards the center is a taller
man unlike most of the other attendees he is not looking straight ahead or casting
his gaze downward in a solemn expression instead his somewhat bulbous eyes seem fixated on something to his left
his face is angular with protruding cheeks a straight nose and a strong jaw he looks strikingly similar to the
suspect sketch some believe that this man is also hans assman this speculation relies heavily on the
accuracy of the description given by nils gustavsson while under hypnosis in the decades since 1960 the use of
forensic hypnosis has proven to be unreliable studies have shown that hypnotized
subjects may be more vulnerable to recovering false memories or being overly confident in their recollections
even when such memories are false the six district court judges at nils's trial did not consider his recovered
memories to be reliable in any way nils himself has said that he has no recollection of what he said while
hypnotized consequently the descriptions he provided of the suspect at that time
cannot be verified as of late 2021 61 years have passed since the brutal murders of seppo
boyzman tulikimaki and irmeli birklund all three were laid to rest side by side in the helsinki parish church cemetery
in the decades since the tragedy that claimed the lives of his girlfriend and best friend
nils gustavsson has never had any criminal record nor has he exhibited any signs of being
an angry or violent man many believe that the murder charges brought against the nils were a fumble
in the dark from a police force burdened by one of finland's most infamous unsolved crimes
nils described how after his arrest the police seized his family photo albums some of the private personal pictures
within were splashed across newspapers the following day during the trial salacious headlines
focused on the prosecution's baseless claims of drunkenness sexual jealousy and rage
hounded by the media nils and his family were forced to hide in their home after his acquittal nils was found to
have suffered deprivation of liberty and loss of reputation he was awarded compensation in the form
of 45 000 euros decades later advances in forensic technology tried and failed to shed a
light on the murders so much time has now passed that many believe the identity of the killer will
likely remain an enduring mystery [Music] nine years after the murders the kiosk
man carl gillstrom was drinking with a neighbor named birdier when he suddenly grew extremely angry
then just as quickly his mood switched to one of despair berea couldn't figure out what was wrong
gilstrom blurted out don't you realize i'm boredom's murderer what am i going to do
berea apparently frightened by this outburst told his neighbour if you are the murderer of boredom then
go and drown yourself and do it right away because otherwise they will put you in a
small prison cell for the rest of your life at about six that same evening gillstrom's fifteen-year-old son
couldn't find his father he went out looking for him around to the lake and eventually came across some
people who told him that they'd seen his father swimming just off the eastern peninsula on the south shore
it was a location where he often swam right near where the lake buddha murders occurred
but gillstrom's son saw no sign of his father in the lake when gillstrom failed to reappear
police were summoned to lake boredom to undertake a search a short while later gillstrom's body was found floating just
off the headland [Music] [Music] you

Case 194: Lake Bodom

Saturday, June 4 1960 seemed like the beginning of an idyllic summer break for Finnish teenagers, Nils Gustafsson, Seppo Boisman, Maila Irmeli Björklund and Anja Tuulikki Mäki. The four friends had decided to go camping at Lake Bodom, a picturesque region not far from their homes in Helsinki...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Holly Boyd Editing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-194-lake-bodom

Brief Summary

The Lake Bodom murders in 1960 remain unsolved, with survivor Nils Gustafsson controversially accused but later acquitted.

Key points

Investing in Language Learning. Babel offers 15-minute lessons to help you learn a new language on the go.
A Distressing Discovery. Ruth Colley discovers a collapsed tent with several teenagers seemingly asleep inside.
The Brutal Attack. The four teenagers were found brutally attacked in their tent, leading to a police investigation.
Gilstrom's Nonchalance. Gilstrom's calm demeanor raises suspicions among locals after the murders.
Nils Gustafsson's Awakening. Nils wakes in the hospital with no memory of the attack, raising questions.
Hypnosis Revelation. Under hypnosis, Nils describes a man he saw during the attack.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

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0:53WatchOct 30, 2021

Tension

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