Nils Gustafsson
THE LAKE BODOM MURDERS
A lakeside murder, on June 4th, 1960, known as the Lake Bodom Murders, in tranquil Finland, has, for nearly 60 years, remained an unsolved mystery. Or has it?
HERE’S HOW THE STORY GOES
Four teenage friends were camping on the shores of Lake Bodom. Between 4AM and 6AM, an unknown assailant brutally murdered three of the four with a knife and blunt object. The fourth was badly wounded, but survived. The survivor, 18 year old Nils Gustafsson, sustained a concussion and fractures to his jaw and facial bones. And his face was beat to hell.
The killer never entered the tent. Instead, he attacked 15 year old Maili Björklund and Anja Mäki, also 15, through the roof and walls of the tent. Nils’ best friend, 18 year old Seppo Boisman, was inside the tent with the girls and he too died from the same kind of stab wounds and bludgeonings.
THE KILLER WORE ONE OF THE VICTIM’S SHOES WHILE COMMITTING THE BRUTAL CRIME
The killer stole personal items that belonged to the victims, including their wallets and some clothes. Nils Gustafsson shoes were stolen but were later found about 500 meters from the site. The tracks of blood revealed that the killer was wearing Nils Gustafsson’s shoes as he was committing the murders. Other belongings, such as Seppo’s leather jacket, were never found. The murder weapons, likewise, were never found either.
Two young boys approached the campsite later that morning. They saw the tent on the ground, covered in blood, and a leg protruding from under it. There were, in fact, two of the victims still inside the tent. One of the girls, Nils’ girlfriend, was naked from the waist down and lay outside the tent, on top of the fallen canvas. She had been stabbed multiple times and had taken several blows to her head. Her wounds displayed overkill, while the others had died from far less violence. Nils was also lying on top of the tent, close to his girlfriend. And he was alive.
The boys also said they saw someone leaving the camp site and hurrying toward the lake, but neither saw his face.
THERE WERE SUSPECTS. SEVERAL OF THEM
First there was Hans Assmann. Hans was an alleged KGB spy who lived in Finland in the 50s and 60s. He lived within five kilometres of Bodom, which was just a slight distance from the shore of Lake Bodom, were the murders had occurred. Hans arrived at the Helsinki Surgical Hospital the morning after the killings at Bodom Lake took place. It was stated that he behaved aggressively, nervously, and then he faked unconsciousness. His clothes were covered with red stains, presumably blood. He cut his hair after after details of the murders were revealed on the local news station. And last, but certainly not least, authorities felt certain that Hans was responsible for several, maybe as many as 5, as yet unsolved murders that had been committed ten month earlier in the same vicinity.
The next suspect was a local kiosk keeper, who actually confessed to the triple murders through a suicide note shortly before drowning himself in the Bodom Lake. His confession was dismissed however, due to the fact that his wife had previously provided an air tight alibi for him.
That is, right up until she was about to die. It was then that she told authorities that her husband had threatened her life if she told them the truth about his activities that evening.
Also, there were two young men who were seen on the night of the murders. They were supposedly fishing and indeed several small fish carcasses were found near where they had been seen. They themselves, however, have never been seen again.
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
Then there was the obvious suspect. The sole survivor. Nils himself.
The fact that the killer was wearing HIS (Nils’) shoes and no outsider DNA was ever found on the tent, leads one to consider. Plus, it was his new girlfriend who was killed with the most violence, leading one to think it may have been a crime of passion and one with a personal motive. Some believe that Nils killed his best friends, motivated by jealousy and in an intoxicated rage because he wanted to have sex with his girl friend and, for some reason, whatever the answer, led to mass murder!
Police believe Nils arranged the murder scene, removed his girlfriend’s slacks and inflicted stab wounds to himself to give the impression of a frenzied sex attack by a deranged killer whiling a knife. And then there was his shoes. Always those shoes.
Nils, who is married with two grown children, had been absolved of guilt because he appeared to have suffered serious injuries. Police now believe that Nils wounds were gained via a violent fight with his best friend Seppo, explaining the broken jaw and facial bruises and the stab wounds were self inflicted.
Nils, who swears innocence, also swears he can’t remember a thing!
