Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
Once upon a time in Finland, the land of 1,000 lakes, a serial killer named Matti Heikinpoika Haapoja was on the loose. According to some sources, he was responsible for the deaths of over 20 people and was as popular as a rock star at the time. But who was this historical serial killer? To answer this question, we travel back to the year 1845. On September 16 of that year, Matti was born in Isokyrö in western Finland. He went astray at an early age and, instead of learning a decent trade, became a notorious horse thief who loved to get involved in fights. At the age of 22, he committed his first murder on December 6, 1867. In a dispute, he stabbed his drinking buddy Heikki Impponen to death, for which he was sentenced to 12 years in prison in Turk. There he made a name for himself as an escape artist, managing to flee prison four times in 10 years for several months at a time. While on the run, he committed several robberies, which were widely reported in the newspapers, making Matti famous. In particular, Matti’s robbery and murder of Esa Nyrhinen on August 12, 1876, made big headlines. However, it later transpired that Esa Nyrhinen was still alive and had simply given Matti a place to hide in his house, where a violent altercation between the two had taken place. After Matti was recaptured, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1874 for his prison breaks and robberies. He wanted to spend this sentence in exile in Siberia, which was granted. In 1880, he was sent to Omsk, where he allegedly murdered a man in 1886, for which he was banished to Eastern Siberia. It was also said that Matti had killed two legendary criminals named Juha Antinpoika Leskenantti and Kaappo Sutki. After nine years in exile, Matti wanted to return to Finland, from where he planned to emigrate to America. To finance his emigration, he committed further robberies and murders. He also obtained a passport that had belonged to a Russian. In September 1890, he finally returned to Finland. After only two months there, he strangled the prostitute Maria Jemina Salo on October 8, 1890. Shortly afterwards, he was arrested in Porvoo. Matti was put on trial, confessed to the murder of the prostitute and a man in Siberia, and was sentenced to a second life sentence. On October 10, 1894, Matti attempted to escape from prison, killing prison guard Juko Rosted and wounding two others. When he realized he could not escape, he tried to take his own life with a knife, but was saved. After Matti had recovered, he hanged himself in his prison cell on January 8, 1895. After his suicide, his skeleton was exhibited in the Museum of Crime in Vantaa until he found his final resting place in a grave in Ylistaro in 1995. To this day, the exciting life of the murderous bully Matti Haapoja provides plenty of material for films and books.
