Hausjärvi Gravel Pit Murders

The Hausjärvi Gravel Pit Murders were a series of two or more murders during the 1990s, when the bodies of women were found in gravel pits around Hausjärvi.[1]

According to the National Bureau of Investigation, the three different events were the doing of one murderer, who has been called the Järvenpää Serial Killer.[2]

The crimes

Abduction of Helena Meriläinen

In November 1990, 39-year-old Helena "Hellu" Meriläinen was spending her evening at Järvenpää. She left her friend at midnight and was about to travel home to Riihimäki. She walked to the train station and left waiting for the train on the pier, when she was soon followed by a dark-haired man dressed in a leather jacket. The man asked about her travel plans, and she told him that she was expecting to catch a train to Riihimäki. The man offered Meriläinen a ride home, and because she under the influence of alcohol, she agreed. He then walked her to the his car, which Meriläinen later stated in the interrogations was light, not heavy-duty.[3]

At the start of the trip, the man offered alcoholic beverages and some form of medicine in the form of capsules, to which Meriläinen accepted both. During the trip, she noticed that the man seemed distressed and that he had a child seat at the back. She fell asleep, and when she woke up, Meriläinen noticed that the car was not on the road to Riihimäki, but on a remote forest path. When she asked the man about the route, he assured her that he was still on the right way.

The man drove the car to a dark gravel pit and stopped the car. He tried to persuade Meriläinen to stay in the car for a night, but she refused and said that she wanted to go home. In that case, the man said that he wanted to leave the car, with Meriläinen feeling the same and also leaving. Immediately after she exited, the man quickly approached and struck her neck with the edge of a knife. Despite the injury, Meriläinen managed to flee towards the forest.

She heard the man say "I did not succeed this time". When she started running, the man spoke something to himself and entered his car. After a while, Meriläinen found the road to a house and alerted them for help. An ambulance was called, and she got away with minor physical injuries.

Tuula Lukkarinen

In the spring of 1991, 28-year-old Tuula Lukkarinen left Kellokoski Hospital on vacation, with the purpose of travelling to Tuusula for a custody case for her son. However, she never made it to Tuusula, and was last seen in Järvenpää opening a can of Alko before ten o'clock.

The next day, a landowner discovered her body near a gravel pit, the body being less than 100 metres away from the place where, a few months earlier, Meriläinen was attacked. According to police, Lukkarinen had been killed elsewhere, but was transported to Hausjärvi between the day of disappearance and the day of discovery.

Maarit Haantie

40-year-old Maarit Haantie disappeared in August 1993, and is also suspected of being the victim of a possible serial killer. Her body was searched for by the Hausjärvi authorities to no avail. The NBI began investigating the cases of the three women as the doing of one killer, arguing that many factors, such as the use of alcohol, the dark hair color and being in the same area contributed to the theory.

Disappearance

Haantie was attending a party at the Zapattu restaurant in Järvenpää on August 13, 1993. She was going with a few friends. All of them got in the restaurant, but strangely, except Haantie. She was last seen standing outside the building, and hasn't been seen since.

Investigation

The disappearance of Haantie was initially filed to the Riihimäki Police, who treated the case as a normal disappearance without any indication of homicide. Soon, however, it was discovered that a bag belonging to Haantie had been found in a restaurant called Martinasta Hyvinkää. During interviews with staff, it was apparent that the employees had removed a drunk person who carried the bag and never picked it up.

It soon became clear that in 1991, a woman by the name of Tuula Lukkarinen had been deeply sunken in a Hausjärvi gravel pit. Earlier, in 1990, Helena Meriläinen was attacked in the same area where Lukkarinen's body was discovered six months later. Helena had been hit with a knife, but managed to escape. The police assumed that Meriläinen had been attacked by the same man who had killed Tuula Lukkarinen.

The whole chain of events mentioned above drew the attention of the NBI, and soon the case of Haantie was included in the investigation. A large search was carried out in the woods of Lake Hausjärvi and especially the gravel pits, but nothing was found. The investigation, however, remained active for almost 20 years. In 2007, the television series "Kadonneet" did an episode on Haantie's case, which attracted a lot of attention. In the section, the NBI specifically asked for a hint about a dark-haired man who moved to Järvenpää in the early 90s and offered rides to women, as described by Helena Meriläinen.

Tuula Lukkarista, Helena Meriläistä and Maarit Haantietä combined the use of alcohol, darkness and living environment, with the NBI believing that the same perpetrator is responsible for all three cases. The Kadonneet episode gathered about 30 new tips, which helped with the offender's profiling. 

Accoriding to the NBI, the hints have been very important for the investigation, and have confirmed the results of earlier ones. It is still active, and the Bureau strongly believes that there have been other murder attempts.

Fourth case

In 2017, there was a possible fourth case involving the murders. A 30-year-old drunk woman had just exited a restaurant when a man offered her a ride, giving her alcohol and pills and then driving her to the nearby forest. Although the woman did make it, the victim's mother brought it up.[4]

Offender's profile

Over the years, the perpetrator has been profiled largely based on Meriläinen's story and events, with the description as following:

  • At the time of the events, the man was between 30 and 40, and had dark, curly hair.
  • He is about 1,70 cms tall, and knows the anatomy of a human or a large animal (according to the Lukkarinen murder)
  • He possibly had an infant child at the time, as the car's back seat had a child restraint.
  • The car itself is thought to be a Sedan Mazda or Datsun.
  • The man had spoken about his child and bad news about his wife, and is believed to have been divorced.

A lot of new tips about the killer have been provided due to the Kadonneet episode. According to some, a dark-haired man is believed to have offered rides to a few women in the 21st century. The NBI is still investigating the case, believing that the killer can be found.[5] They have also taken into account that the killer hasn't been found yet because he might be living abroad or is dead.

References

  1. ↑ "One fled, one was killed, the third disappeared" (in Finnish). Central Uusimaa. 21 September 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Malin Jarkko (15 July 2008). "Järvenpää's serial killer perhaps tried new things" (in Finnish). Central Uusimaa. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  3. ↑ YLE - Kadonneet: Perjantai 13. päivä
  4. ↑ "NBI: There are four cases of Hausjärvi's unexplained gravel pit attacks" (in Finnish). MTV News. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "News about Järvenpää's serial killer" (in Finnish). Central Uusimaa. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.

See also

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