Nya Åland: Two bodies found in freezers in Turku. Photo: Vesa Moilanen / Lehtikuva
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An 80-year-old man is facing trial in Finland for allegedly storing the bodies of two deceased relatives in freezers for nearly three decades. The matter was first reported by Nya Åland, a newspaper published in Åland.
Police discovered the remains in 2024 during a search of a detached house in the Turku area. Investigators believe the bodies were placed in separate freezers in 1994 and 1995. The man is accused of two counts of violating the sanctity of the grave, or hautarauhan rikkominen.
The accused has worked as a doctor and served as the managing director of a funeral services company, according to Ilta-Sanomat. The police described him as a relative of the deceased. His medical practice rights are currently restricted by Valvira, the Finnish health supervisory authority.
Lasse Höysti, chief detective inspector at the Southwest Finland Police Department, said in a statement that both individuals had died of natural causes. One had died in hospital and the other after a medical autopsy. Both bodies were later retrieved by the accused and kept in domestic freezers located in an outdoor storage facility on the property.
“The person who died in hospital was most likely taken straight from there to the freezer,” Höysti told Helsingin Sanomat.
The deceased were an elderly couple. One had been a resident of Åland or registered in Mariehamn at the time of death. Police confirmed there is already a shared headstone for the pair in a family burial plot in the Turku region, though the bodies were never buried. There are no plans to exhume the grave.
The tip that led to the discovery was received by emergency services in summer 2024. Officers executed a search warrant at the property, which is located near central Turku. The freezers were found in an outbuilding on the premises.
Police have concluded their investigation. The case is now pending in the District Court of Southwest Finland.
No other crimes are suspected.
Documents reviewed by Helsingin Sanomat show that one of the victims died in 1994 and the other in 1995. The acts for which the man is charged are dated from March and April 1995 and are considered to have continued until June 2024.
Initially, police suspected two relatives in the case. Charges were ultimately filed against only one of them after the prosecutor dropped the case against the second person.
According to Höysti, the accused acted out of personal conviction, citing views that differ from mainstream burial practices. He described the case as involving “no malevolence or anything of that sort”.
The man’s involvement in the funeral business has raised additional questions. Official business registry filings show that the funeral services company he led had no active commercial operations. The firm had been set up during the Covid-19 pandemic, reportedly with the purpose of offering information to the public.
One of the bodies was found wrapped in plastic, the other still in hospital clothing.
According to court records, the man has a previous conviction for unlawful medical practice. In 2017, he was fined for issuing a travel-related medical certificate while not authorised to do so. At the time, he was under restrictions that permitted him to practise only in public healthcare under supervision.
The police have contacted authorities in Mariehamn to facilitate proper burial arrangements for the deceased linked to Åland.
The court proceedings are ongoing.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
