Toivo Harald "Kirves" Koljonen (12 December 1912 – 21 October 1943) was a Finnish

axe murderer An axe murder is a murder in which the victim was struck and killed by an axe or hatchet. List of axe murders The following are some notable cases. *Wenno von Rohrbach, the first Master of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, was killed by t ...

and the last Finn executed for a civilian crime. He was executed by

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...

for a sextuple

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

. Koljonen was born 1912 in

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. He had been sentenced to prison and incarcerated at

Riihimäki Prison Riihimäki Prison (Finnish: ''Riihimäen vankila'') is the main correctional facility in southern Finland, located in Riihimäki. It is a closed prison, with capacity for 223 inmates. Along with Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and ...

, from which he was moved to

Huittinen Huittinen ( sv, Vittis) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Satakunta region, southeast of Pori and southwest of Tampere. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density ...

auxiliary prison. He escaped from prison in 1943 and attempted to hide from the authorities. On 17 March 1943, he found a nearby farmhouse where five family members lived – a mother, two grandparents, and two children. Two additional family members, the father and the eldest son, had been

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

into the army and, consequently, were not present at the time. Koljonen first hid in the

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

, where he killed the daughter of the family with an

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

(''kirves'' in

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 ...

, which became his nickname). He then broke into the living quarters and killed the other four family members, as well as a woman from the neighbourhood who had been visiting. Koljonen escaped, but was caught at

Valkeakoski Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of wh ...

. According to the

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in force during the war, Koljonen was sentenced to death for the six murders. He was shot together with convicted Soviet infiltrators at

Kärsämäki Kärsämäki (; literally meaning "snout hill") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water ...

quarry in

Maaria Maaria (''S:t Marie'' in Swedish) is a former municipality of Finland in what is now the northern part of the city of Turku. The area has been inhabited since the Iron Age, and it became an important village in the 15th century with the construct ...

, near

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

on 21 October 1943. Koljonen was the last Finn to be executed for a civilian crime in Finland. All subsequent executions were for military crimes. After Koljonen, a handful of Finns were sentenced to death for murder. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1945. Capital punishment was abolished for civilian crimes in

Finnish law The law of Finland is based on the civil law tradition, consisting mostly of statutory law promulgated by the Parliament of Finland. The constitution of Finland, originally approved in 1919 and rewritten in 2000, has supreme authority and sets the ...

in 1949. Koljonen remains one of the worst axe murderers in Finnish history, along with Karl Malmelin.

General references

* Veli Junttilan kolumni Turun Sanomissa 19 May 2003 * Library of Congress cataloguing: http://lccn.loc.gov/00337053 * Pohjolan poliisi kertoo (''Nordic police tells''), Police yearbook, 1974 1912 births 1943 deaths 20th-century Finnish criminals Finnish male criminals People from Lahti People from Häme Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) People executed for murder Finnish mass murderers Mass murder in 1943 Massacres in Finland Massacres in 1943 People executed by Finland by firing squad Executed Finnish people Finnish people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Finland Executed mass murderers Axe murder Stabbing attacks in Finland 20th-century executions by Finland Family murders {{Finland-bio-stub