Ismo Kullervo Junni (27 June 1943 – 3 November 1995) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

and

arsonist Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

, who carried out several of his killings and arson in the Kivinokka summer camp area in

Herttoniemi Herttoniemi ( sv, Hertonäs) is an East Helsinki neighbourhood and a suburb of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. Geography Located about east of the city centre, Herttoniemi can be reached by the Helsinki Metro in 10 minutes, or by road via the It� ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

.Rikostarinoita Suomesta - Hammasmurhaaja The defining characteristic of Junni's killings was that he removed his victim's teeth. For example, while killing his wife, he pulled out her teeth and later stole his friend's dental prosthesis, which he kept.

Murders

Junni committed his first homicide in August 1980, when he killed his wife in Kontula. He was questioned on the matter, but there was insufficient evidence against him, and the case was recorded as an accident. Junni committed his next murders at the Kivinokka summer camp, in

, in June 1986. In this case, his colleagues Seppo Mäntyniemi and Juha Väre were the victims. He then set fire to the crime scene. In July 1986, Junni killed his friend, Matti Haapanen, and then set fire to his summer home. The last death occurred in 1988 when Junni burned Pauli Sironen alive in his summer home. Junni showed particular interest in

cadavers A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stud ...

, and often visited the

mortuary A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...

Arrest

In 1990 Junni's now grown-up son revealed to the police that the death of his mother had not indeed been an accident. In fact, he had been preparing to leave for school on the morning when he saw his father stomping on his mother's head and dragging her unconscious body into the bathtub. Junni was taken in for interrogation, where he first confessed to his wife's murder. However, police later found out that a man named Matti Haapanen, who they needed for interrogation regarding the killing, had actually burned up with his small summer cottage in Kivinokka a few years earlier. The investigators got suspicious after Matti's wife told them that after her husband's death, Junni had started to tell weird stories about how he had actually been at the scene of the fire that day. After being questioned about the case, Junni slowly cracked and described in every detail how he and Matti had gotten drunk at Matti's cottage that night. This resulted in a brawl between the two men. Junni then bashed his friend over the head with a huge glass bowl, stole his dental prosthesis, and yanked out one of his own teeth before setting the house in flames. When the investigation went on, a number of deaths by house fire in the area were discovered. Junni confessed in detail to all his killings over the years and was able to be connected to the events. In the Municipal Court in Helsinki, Junni recanted his confession and claimed that he was trying to please his examiners. However, he was found guilty of the murder of his wife, Seppo Mäntyniemi, Juha Väre, Matti Haapanen and Pauli Sironen, as well as arson, and sentenced to life imprisonment in February 1992. The Helsinki

Appellate Court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

changed his wife's death from assault to

negligent homicide Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against a person who, through criminal negligence, allows another person to die. Examples include the crash of Aeroperu Flight 603 near Lima, Peru. The accident was caused by a piece of duct tape ...

; however, the penal sanction did not change. Junni killed himself in 1995.

Sources

* Pohjolan poliisi kertoo 1993 (Hammasmurhaaja) * * *

Murders

Arrest

Sources

See also

References

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