Unsolved case · 2006
Also known as 2006 Ulvila homicide case · Ulvila homicide
The short answer
In 2006, social psychologist Jukka S. Lahti was killed at his home in Ulvila, Finland; his widow was tried repeatedly and permanently acquitted in 2015, and the case remains unsolved.
No one's coverage is attached to this file yet.
Know great coverage of this case?
A documentary, a podcast episode, a careful long-form video. Suggest it and an editor will review it before it appears here.
Suggest coverage for Killing of Jukka S. LahtiOn 1 December 2006, 51-year-old Jukka S. Lahti, a social psychologist and father of four, was killed at his family home in Ulvila, Finland. His wife, Anneli Auer (born 1965), telephoned emergency services at 02:43 and reported that a masked assailant had attacked her husband. Lahti had been stabbed multiple times and struck on the head with a blunt object, and Auer had also been wounded.
Investigators initially searched for an outside perpetrator and detained or arrested several people. One police hypothesis held that the killing was revenge connected to Lahti's work as a human-resources director at a company that had carried out large layoffs. In the spring of 2008, police tested the DNA of hundreds of that company's employees, but none matched unidentified DNA recovered from the scene. That unknown DNA was later attributed to a police investigator.
In August 2008 a new chief investigator took over, and attention turned to Auer's emergency call, which police said contained no evidence of an outside attacker; the recording was also examined by the FBI. An undercover officer befriended and dated Auer for seven to eight months, and police monitored her phone and home for three days. A police representative said the operation produced neither incriminating nor exonerating evidence. Auer was arrested on 28 September 2009 on the theory that she had killed Lahti during the call and staged the scene.
Auer was tried before a three-judge panel at the Satakunta District Court and convicted in November 2010, with one judge voting to acquit. The Vaasa Court of Appeal unanimously acquitted her in July 2011. In October 2012 the Supreme Court of Finland returned the case to the district court after prosecutors presented new evidence.
In 2013 it emerged that the crime-scene DNA sample had been contaminated and that the unidentified male DNA belonged to a crime-laboratory examiner. The district court convicted Auer again in December 2013 by a 2-1 vote and imposed a life sentence, but the Vaasa Court of Appeal overturned that conviction in February 2015, finding that the presence of an outside perpetrator could not be ruled out. In December 2015 the Supreme Court dismissed the prosecution's appeal, making the acquittal final. Auer had spent more than 600 days in custody and was awarded roughly 500,000 euros in compensation in 2016. That year, more than 50 police officers were charged for improperly accessing her records in a police database, and most were fined.
Jukka S. Lahti is killed at the family home in Ulvila; Anneli Auer calls emergency services at 02:43 and reports a masked assailant.
Police test the DNA of hundreds of employees of Lahti's former employer; none match unidentified DNA from the scene, later attributed to a police investigator.
A new chief investigator takes over and the inquiry shifts to Auer's emergency call.
Anneli Auer is arrested and charged with the murder.
The Satakunta District Court convicts Auer; one of the three judges votes to acquit.
The Supreme Court of Finland orders the National Bureau of Investigation to disclose information about the undercover operation to Auer.
The Vaasa Court of Appeal unanimously acquits Auer of all charges.
The Supreme Court returns the case to the Satakunta District Court after prosecutors present new evidence.
Reports indicate the crime-scene DNA sample was contaminated; the unidentified male DNA is traced to a crime-laboratory examiner.
The Satakunta District Court convicts Auer again in a 2-1 ruling and imposes a life sentence.
The Vaasa Court of Appeal overturns Auer's second conviction, finding an outside perpetrator could not be ruled out.
The Supreme Court dismisses the prosecution's appeal, making Auer's acquittal permanent.
Auer is awarded about 500,000 euros in compensation for wrongful imprisonment; over 50 police officers are charged for improperly accessing her records.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
51-year-old social psychologist and father of four, killed at his family home in Ulvila on 1 December 2006.[3]
The victim's widow; arrested in September 2009 and charged with the murder. Convicted twice in district court, but both convictions were reversed on appeal, and her acquittal became final when the Supreme Court of Finland dismissed the prosecution's appeal in December 2015.[3]
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Are you family of someone named in this file? Corrections and removal requests from victims’ families are prioritized.
Credit: Huhtala ja BranthinPublic domainSourceUNSOLVEDListenIsojoki, Finland · 1950s
Kyllikki Saari, a 17-year-old Finnish girl, disappeared while cycling home from a prayer meeting in Isojoki on 17 May 1953; her remains were found buried in a bog nearly five months later. Despite decades of investigation into multiple leads, no one was ever charged, and her killing remains one of Finland's most well-known unsolved cases.
Credit: Mona EshaikerCC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenHolmby Hills, Los Angeles, California · 2009
Singer Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, in Los Angeles from acute propofol intoxication administered by his personal physician, Conrad Murray. The Los Angeles County coroner ruled the death a homicide, and Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in November 2011.
Credit: CBS News / Travis Alexander (personal photo)Editorial useSourceSOLVEDListenMesa, Arizona, United States · 2000s
Travis Alexander, 30, was stabbed, slashed, and shot to death in his Mesa, Arizona home on June 4, 2008. His ex-girlfriend, Jodi Arias, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 and sentenced to life without parole in 2015 after two juries deadlocked on the death penalty.
Credit: AuburnPilot at English WikipediaPublic domainSourceUNSOLVEDListenOranjestad, Aruba · 2005
Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old Alabama high school graduate, disappeared during a graduation trip to Aruba on May 30, 2005, and has never been found; Joran van der Sloot, last seen with her that night, was never charged over her disappearance in Aruba but later pleaded guilty to related U.S. extortion and wire-fraud charges and confessed to killing her.
Credit: User:WegeralCC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenJokela High School, Tuusula, Finland · 2007
On 7 November 2007, an 18-year-old gunman killed eight people — six students, a school nurse, and the head teacher — in a shooting at Jokela High School in Tuusula, Finland, before fatally shooting himself.
Credit: valok. Atelier Rembrandt (Suomen Kuvalehti 25.2.1922)Public domainSourceSOLVEDListenEtu-Töölö, Helsinki, Finland · 1922
Heikki Ritavuori, Finland's Minister of the Interior, was shot dead at the door of his Helsinki home on 14 February 1922 after a right-wing press campaign had targeted him over his handling of the East Karelian uprising. The gunman, Ernst Tandefelt, surrendered immediately and was convicted and sentenced to twelve years of hard labor; a later government inquiry found no evidence to support his claims that others had helped plan the killing.
