Toivo Harald Koljonen ( Fin. Toivo Harald Koljonen ) (December 12, 1910, Lahti [1] - October 21, 1943, Maaria [2] , Turku) - a criminal who, having escaped from prison in Huittinen , killed in April 1943 with an ax in the village of Karhininiemi a family of five and their neighbor [3] . Known for being the last civilian sentenced to death in Finland. The previous civil death sentence was executed in 1825 [2] . The criminal received the nickname Kolonen-ax .
| Toivo Kolonen | |
|---|---|
| Toivo Harald Koljonen | |
| Birth name | Toivo Harald Kolonen |
| Nickname | "Ax" |
| Date of Birth | December 12, 1910 |
| Place of Birth | Lahti , Tavastgus province , Grand Duchy of Finland , Russia |
| Citizenship |  Russian Empire →  Finland |
| Date of death | October 21, 1943 (32 years old) |
| Place of death | Turku Province of Turku Pori , Finland |
| Cause of death | Execution |
| Occupation | |
| The killings | |
| Number of victims | 6 |
| Kill period | 1943 year |
| The main region of the killings | Huittinen area Satakunta Finland |
| Motive | Revenge, deliverance from witnesses. |
| Punishment | The death penalty |
Content
Biography
In his youth, Kolonen was a laborer , traveling around southern Finland and constantly committing petty crimes. In the late 1930s, Kolonen entered into a short-lived marriage with a certain housekeeper, two children were born in the marriage. In 1941, for numerous thefts, a court in Helsinki sentenced Kolonen to four and a half years of correctional labor .
Escape and kill
In September 1942, Kolonen was transferred from the central prison of Riihimäki to the prison in Huittinen . Kolonen plans to escape in advance, and he succeeds. At the end of March 1943, he escapes from logging with the help of two recently released cellmates [4] .
Two days after the escape, early in the morning, hungry and frozen, he breaks into the Hakanenen house in the village of Karhininiemi. His master drove out Kolonen last night when he asked for an overnight stay. But this time, Kolonen, armed with an ax, went into the kitchen and took bread from a pole (in western Finland, flat bread cakes with a hole in the middle are stored dried on a horizontal pole above the oven). The incoming owner, Kalle Hakanen, took him by surprise. Kolonen killed him with an ax and, after a short skirmish, Kalle's wife, Anna. Then he went to the stable and cut off Anna's daughter, who worked there. Returning to the house, he slaughtered children crying in bed, 6 and 11 years old. Leaving the house, he collided in the doorway with Anna Myakinen, who had come from a neighboring house, which he immediately killed with an ax. Of the Hakanen family, only the eldest son who was at the front survived. The command sent him home from the front. The case was widely publicized - about 4000 people from different parts of the country participated in the funeral of the victims, most of them completely strangers [5] .
After the assassination, Kolonen fled on a stolen bicycle through Vammala to Tampere and from there with a certain person in Valkeakoski . His flight, during which he began to seriously regret his deed, lasted almost two weeks. A police patrol and security corps looking for one deserter accidentally detained Kolonen in a summer house in Sääksmäki [6] .
Sentence and Execution
On April 19, 1943, the Huyttin District Court sentenced Kolonen for escaping to a year of imprisonment; for the theft by six years of corrective labor; for six murders, two of which were committed during the theft, to the death penalty for each of them (martial law allowed this); and the loss of civil rights for life. In addition, he was assigned to pay various compensations to victims in the amount of 22,000 marks . The accused was regarded as sane. The court session lasted 12 hours.
In the court ruling, the killings were considered extremely cruel both on the basis of the number of victims and because the two killed were children. The severity of the sentence was partially influenced by the mood prevailing in the community . The court rejected, at the prosecutor’s request, Kolonen’s request to be examined by a psychologist [5] . The district court and the high court did not change the sentence. [7] The Turku County Guard Corps was ordered to carry out the sentence [8] . Two who helped in the escape of Kolonen, who had nothing to do with the murder, were sentenced to six months in prison [6] .
Kolonen was shot on October 21, 1943 at a shooting range in Kärsämäki . Now this place belongs to the Maaria district of Turku. The sentence was executed by the firing squad of the security corps of Turku . Together with Kolonen the same day a group of Soviet saboteurs was shot, because of which the place of execution and burial became known [8] . In 1972, a granite monument was erected at the burial site by the Soviet-Finnish Friendship Society, on which all those buried, except Kolonen, are listed. The executed are called prisoners of war , which is also not true.
Notes
- ↑ "Poliisi kertoo 1974," s. 409
- ↑ 1 2 Juntti, Pekka: “Viimeinen kuolemaantuomittu”, Satakunnan Kansa 04/19/2014, s. B6-11.
- ↑ SukuForum: Koljosen tappamat Hakaset (Genealogy Forum: those killed by Kolonen Hakanen
- ↑ "Poliisi kertoo 1974," s. 410-412.
- ↑ 1 2 Lindstedt 1999, s. 528.
- ↑ 1 2 “Poliisi kertoo 1974”, s. 422.
- ↑ Lindstedt 1999, s. 275.
- ↑ 1 2 Lindstedt 1999, s. 403 ja 412.
Literature
- Lindstedt, Jukka: Kuolemaan tuomitut: kuolemanrangaistukset Suomessa toisen maailmansodan aikana ( Sentenced to death in Finland during the Second World War ) Oikeustieteen väitöskirja (Legal dissertation); Helsinki, Suomalainen lakimiesyhdistys, 1999. ISBN 9518551766
- Heiman, O. (toim.): Pohjolan poliisi kertoo 1974 Pohjolan Poliisin Urheiluliitto, 1974.