Murderer: Ilpo Tapio Larha

Scandinavian Crimes (w/ Devante & Delila)

Year(s) of Incident: April 20th, 1992
Location: Finland
Murderer: Ilpo Tapio Larha
Victim(s):  1
Method: Murder, Fraud

On April 20, 1992, Wilhelm Högsten (Will-helm Hurg-sten), an elderly businessman owner of the Finnish Silk Mill in Jollas (Yoh-las), was shot dead in his bed. Initial suspicion pointed to a burglary gone wrong, but the lack of stolen items and the use of a rare weapon suggested a planned murder.

As investigators delved deeper, they uncovered family tensions, financial troubles, and ties to criminal activity. The investigation spanned into Russia, ultimately leading to life sentences for those involved in the crime.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): 
https://uppbeat.io/t/adi-goldstein/blank-light 
License code: A1C1SZ12UFNPUARU 

Music from #Uppbeat ( free for Creators!): 
https://uppbeat.io/t/clemens-ruh/this-place-has-never-known-some-love 
License code: DZOFU4ELCVA6ZWEE 

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): 
https: //uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/lightless-dawn 
License code: SNWCDIJUOPTFEHMK

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:15 Story - The Murder and Investigation
• 5:24 Story - Assistance from Russia
• 6:43 Story - The New Suspect
• 10:19 Story - The Truth and Sentence
• 12:05 Story - Aftermath
• 13:34 Discussion Section
• 22:28 Conclusion/Outro

Transcript

Welcome to Scandinavian Crimes. My name is Devante and say hello to my lovely co-host, Delila.

Hi.

And on this podcast, we talk about famous Scandinavian criminals who made their marks throughout Scandinavian history.(...) So welcome to another episode.(...) Once again, we're having an episode related to murder. I guess a lot of people seem to be interested in murder cases, but this one, unlike the other ones we've done that are based in Sweden and a lot of Norway cases, this one actually takes place in Finland.(...) So on April 20th, 1992,(...) Wilhelm Herksten, an elderly business owner of a finished silk mill in Jollas was shot dead in his bed. Initial suspicion pointed to a burglary gone wrong, but the lack of stolen items in the use of a rare weapon suggested a planned murder.

(...)

Now as investigators delve deeper into the case, they uncovered family tensions, financial troubles, and ties to criminal activity. The investigation spanned into Russia, ultimately leading to life sentences for all of those who were involved in the crime. So this case is a little different because this can apparently be a situation where maybe the person who was a victim wasn't so clean themselves. You never know. So you already know what I'm about to say.

(...)

Grab your tea, grab your snacks. If you're on your way to work, tuck yourself into that nice little corner and then go on the bus to train, pop in your headphone, because this is the story of the Jollas murder case.

(...)

On April 20th, 1992, in Halinsky's Jollas neighborhood, a housekeeper was awakened by four gunshots.

(...)

Rushing upstairs in the two-story villa, she discovered a harrowing scene.(...) The elderly retired businessman, Wilhelme Herksten, shot dead in his bed.

(...)

Police investigators arrived promptly and it quickly became evident that this was far more than a routine case. Police initially suspected a burglary gone wrong as the villa showed signs of forced entry and a severed phone line. The shooting was carried out with a rare 7.65 caliber weapon suggesting a deliberate and premeditated act. Despite valuable items in the villa, nothing was stolen.

(...)

Leading investigators to conclude the attack was purely intended to kill.

(...)

A thorough search of the area and questioning of locals soon followed.

(...)

The technical investigation at the crime scene produced little evidence to advance the case. As a result, efforts shifted to intelligence gathering and extensive interviews. The housekeeper who lived in the villa with Wilhelme was awakened by gunshots.

(...)

She hurried upstairs, noticing the smell of gunpowder in the air, but found no one in sight.(...) Panicked and unable to use the cut phone line, it took her 20 minutes to reach a neighbor, wake them and call for help.

(...)

The delay gave the perpetrator enough time to escape.

(...)

During the investigation, one of Wilhelme's sons pointed to his brother, Fred Christian Herksten, as a suspect.(...) Fred had ongoing conflicts with their father and connections to Russia. He was living a reckless lifestyle, squandering money on failed business ventures and demanding his father's financial support. When his father refused, Fred resorted to threats. A few years prior, Fred had even assaulted his father physically.

(...)

At the time of the murder, Fred was over a million marks in debt. When this and a similar incident came to light, investigators brought Fred in for questioning. Despite days of interrogation, they made little progress and he was released after a week due to lack of evidence. Days later, Fred's sister called investigators reporting that he had visited her and asked about the inheritance.

(...)

She told them it couldn't be distributed until the case was solved, to which Fred replied he needed to take certain actions.(...) Investigators quickly moved and showed up at Fred's door.

(...)

At his apartment, Fred was found writing letters to his Russian contact, Slava, in V-board and an associate in Tallinn, instructing them to find someone willing to confess to the crime in exchange for money.

(...)

The letters were confiscated and Fred was arrested again.

(...)

With this new evidence, a second round of interrogations began. The letters exposed Fred's deeper involvement, forcing him to talk. He admitted speaking to two men from V-board, Vika and Dima, about his father's inheritance. He claimed they offered to kill his father for 60,000 marks and that he sent them photos of his father, the house and the bedroom via a mutual acquaintance, a V-board doctor named Slava. The investigation moved to Russia where the suspects were believed to be. Finnish authorities worked closely with Russian officials meeting at Valima to discuss cooperation and divide responsibilities.(...) With this groundwork, the investigation extended into Russia. Three weeks after the murder, Finnish investigators traveled to St. Petersburg.(...) Despite extensive searches, Vika and Dima were not found.

(...)

St. Petersburg police questioned Fred's doctor contact Slava, but gained no new insights.

(...)

The Finnish investigators also handed over gunpowder residue due to the crime scene for analysis.

(...)

The next day, Russian authorities confirmed it was almost certainly of Russian origin.(...) Back in Finland, Fred stuck to his story about Vika and Dima during interrogations.

(...)

Investigators believed they were the perpetrators, but despite having clear names and addresses, Russian authorities failed to locate them. With Vika and Dima still untraceable, the investigation remained at a standstill until a breakthrough happened.

(...)

Finnish investigators received a fax from St. Petersburg reporting that V-board doctor Slava had been arrested.(...) During interrogation, Slava claimed that Wilhelm was killed by a Finnish person and mentioned Fred knew a man named Ilpultapi Olaha, who was skilled with firearms. At the same time, investigators found the letter Fred wrote to Slava while in custody, urging him to deny knowing any other person from Finland.

(...)

In the letter, Fred mentioned that he had worked as a taxi driver for about a year.(...) As investigators examined Ilpult's background, they found he also had worked as a taxi driver before his arrest.

(...)

Surprisingly, Ilpult had no serious criminal record, just minor fines.(...) Though he was a firearm enthusiast, there was no clear link to the crime. At his home, police discovered a security trap designed to fire a shotgun if triggered by an intruder.(...) However, upon seeing the uniform officers through the people, Ilpult opened the door without incident, avoiding any harm.

(...)

Brought to the police station for questioning, Ilpult denied involvement in the murder. He admitted to visiting V-board three times and meeting the doctor, but claimed ignorance of the crime. With no concrete evidence linking Ilpult to the murder, investigators had no choice but to release him.(...) Meanwhile, investigators made progress in the case against Fred.(...) Russian investigators suggested that the two men Fred had mentioned, Vika and Dima,(...) might not exist.

(...)

Fred grew uneasy during questioning, eventually admitting he had known Ilpult through a taxi stand. He confessed to seeking someone in Russia to kill his father and claimed Ilpult learned of the plan during the trip to V-board.(...) Upon returning, Ilpult allegedly offered to carry out the murder himself, saying he didn't want the Russians to get the money. Fred admitted to inventing the story about Vika and Dima to protect Ilpult.(...) Ilpult was rearrested and the confrontation interview was arranged,

(...)

bringing both men into the same room.

(...)

Fred was asked a single question during the confrontation interview. Did Ilpult offer to shoot your father? He simply replied, yes.(...) Ilpult remained silent, staring at everyone in the room with a serious expression, but denying any involvement in the murder.

(...)

Further investigation revealed Ilpult had guaranteed a loan for a man named Hanu Sakadiratia, who had defaulted on over 100,000 marks. Officers sent to question Hanu at his girlfriend's residence found a revolver, a bag containing a loaded submachine gun and assault of shotgun and cash.(...) Hanu admitted the weapons and the money were his, explaining the cash came from a bank robbery in Vanta. While confronting Ilpult had guaranteed his loan, Haratia denied knowing anything about the murder.

(...)

In early August, Finnish investigators interrogated Dr. Salava and St. Petersburg.(...) Over 10 hours, Salava revealed Fred had often discussed killing his father during visits and had sought a hitman in V-board. He claimed Fred had interrogated with Ilpult to carry the murder about a month before it occurred.

(...)

Salava mentioned a man named Kadi, a friend of both Hanu and Ilpult. Back in Halinsky, investigators questioned Kadi, who revealed surprising knowledge.(...) Days before the murder, Hanu had bragged to Kadi about the job that was soon shock Finland.

(...)

Confronted with this, Hanu admitted his role as a driver during the murder and acknowledged knowing what would happen at the villa. He revealed that the pliers used to cut the phone line had been thrown in the sea. Divers later recovered the pliers from the spot Hanu indicated.

(...)

A Coast Guard diver retrieved the pliers, which were placed in a black plastic bag during the interrogation. While Ilpult entered the room, his gaze shifted toward the bag. Without any prompting, Ilpult eventually remarked, "Looks like the boys found the pliers." After a prolonged interrogation, Ilpult finally admitted his involvement three months after the murder. When confronted with key facts, Ilpult admitted, "The old man deserves to die."(...) After some silence, he asked, "Do you have four hours?" and offered to tell the full story.

(...)

Ilpult revealed that Fred had promised Hanu to take half a million marks for his help and had drawn a fore plan to the villa, marking where his father had slept.

(...)

Hanu acted as a driver while Ilpult cut the phone line with the bolt cutters before entering the house, breaking a window and shooting the businessman four times. They later discarded the gun's barrel and bolt cutters in the sea, cleaned the car, changed his tires, and Ilpult destroyed his clothes.(...) The crime was meticulously planned to avoid detection. Ilpult also admitted to other crimes, including constructing a bomb for the tax office, involvement in two large bank robberies, and smuggling large sums of money abroad.(...) He seemed eager to come clean, eventually documenting his admissions in writing.

(...)

All three defendants underwent mental evaluations during the trial, which confirmed they had acted with full understanding and intent. On April 29th, 1993, Ilpult and Hanu were convicted of murder and Fred of incitement of murder by the Halinsky Court and sentenced to life imprisonment.

(...)

The Halinsky Court of Appeals upheld the sentence on February 24th, 1994.

(...)

Hanu was granted leave to appeal by the Supreme Court in June 1994, with the court upheld the life sentence and its decision on June 26th, 1995.

(...)

Hanu was pardoned in late 2005 and Fred followed in May 2006. On February 25th, 1994, Ilpult escaped from Halinsky County Prison with Coolivot Heika, an inmate serving 13 years for drug-related crimes. They took a guard hostage at the gate, stole a car from a woman, and later released the guard.(...) Ilpult's escape caused widespread fear due to his reputation for danger.

(...)

On March 1st, 1994,(...) Ilpult robbed the S.Y.P. bank, firing a shot that narrowly missed a bank teller.(...) Ilpult and Coolivot had a head in an apartment in Latte, rented by acquaintances. Police acting on the tip surrounded the apartment. During the raid attempt, Ilpult fired up police officers with two revolvers, injuring one and prompting a standoff.

(...)

The siege lasted 55 hours, drawing significant media attention, hundreds of onlookers, and over 100 police and emergency personnel.

(...)

Ilpult fired multiple shots at the police and nearby buildings, and called a radio station during the standoff, claiming that he would blow up the building using C4 explosives.

(...)

While Ilpult slept, Coolivot and the tenants escaped via the balcony. On March 17th, 1994, after tear gas was deployed, Ilpult shot himself with two revolvers. The police later discovered a revenge list that he had compiled targeting officers and a prosecutor involved in the Yolas case.

(...)

(Soft Music)

So there were a lot of names and people involved in this case and also different stories. And like, it was like a very investigative, trying to find pieces and put it together.

(...)

And eventually then Ilpult just spilled the tea, I would say, and just confessed to everything. And even cases that they didn't even have any evidence of.(...) But so that everybody's clear,

(...)

the other two people that were mentioned in the first story,

(...)

they were fake.

(...)

So it was, I think it was Vera and...

(...) There was so many names.

There was so many names, but I just like wanna make sure that everything...

I don't know if it's off my head.

Honestly, it's because Fred was trying to, it was Vika and Dima, there we go.

(...)

There we go.

(...)

He was trying to redirect the police.

There were so many stories, so many names, but like just to make everything clear, they were fake. Fred was making up that story. And the true culprit was the Finnish people, Hanu and Ilpult.

(...)

And the only reason, honestly, the only reason Ilpult(...) or they got caught was because I would say

(...)

Hanu was kind of talking to Kari and spoiling the whole, not spoiling, but basically telling about the whole case to this guy.

(...)

Which is like, okay, that's dumb, but I guess he just wanted to show off or something. I don't know.(...) And also Fred made the mistake of kind of half confessing and then kind of misleading them to Russia. And then the doctor was like, yeah, I'm not gonna be involved in this. And it was like, no, this actually Finnish people.

(...)

And then Fred wrote a letter. He and his letters, he was, his letters,

(...)

oh my God, he was writing letters and like they took all of them.

(...)

And it just like, there was so many things in this story where I was like,

(...)

how can you like fail so horribly? Because Ilpult wasn't the one failing.

(...)

He kept it cool.

Truthfully, it really was the son.

The son was- Because honestly,

they could have gotten away with it. The problem was even before the murder took place, the problem was he couldn't stop running his mouth.

(...)

He always had a problem with the father and was very open about it. So even before the murder, of course you're a suspect.

And also he was like, okay, when do we get the inherent?

(...)

Right, inherent, like you're doing everything to make yourself look bad.

Your siblings even is telling on you. It's just kind of, I don't know.

(...) So I'm like, he was the problem. Truthfully, I'm not saying you should ever commit murder to get, whatever the case may be.

I mean, he was the contractor. The point is- He was the one who, sorry, he was the one hiring people.

(...) So I'm like, if you're gonna do all that, be smart at least, he was a moron. This is probably why his dad was like, you're a disappointment, because he was stupid. This was the dumbest way to get caught, honestly, because the police said on what, two or three occasions, they actually had no evidence for some of these people, period, because they had to dig deeper. And it wasn't until people started admitting where things were that they got caught. So if he would have just been smart and just not did dumb things and just chilled out for a while, he probably either wouldn't have gotten caught or it would have taken way longer for them to catch him. But, you know,

(...) not really- Because therefore I feel like he would have, he probably felt like when they found the pliers, is that what this is called? When they found the pliers?

There was pliers that cut the wire, yes.

That's when he was like, you know what? I'm just gonna go out with it. Like now it's over. Cause that's the only thing that tied them. And I feel like in that sense, he was very,(...) I feel like he was a very, like a veteran of something. Cause he felt like he was very good with planning and organizing and making sure that,

(...)

you know, everything was going according to the plan.

(...)

But then he,(...) like, I guess he didn't plan that his friend and Hano would fail so horribly.(...) And that's the only reason he even got caught. But the thing is, I don't know why he confessed to the other things. Like he could have like-

(...) Yeah, that was also dumb. Like why did he, but I guess he figured if I'm gonna confess to this, cause even though he didn't necessarily get them caught, it was,(...) I forgot his name, dumb crazy again. Hano or- It was the fact that Fred, sorry.

(...)

It was the fact that Fred was the one that led to them getting caught. He just figured, well, if they got the pliers, I'm gonna admit it. I'm gonna come clean about the other stuff because he's getting ahead of himself in terms of if he waits to admit what he did and they discover he did something else, then they're probably gonna stack charges on him. But I think they said Fred was, he was released eventually, right?

He was released the first time.(...) And then they took him back.

Sorry, that's not, I made a mistake. I was referring to-

He was released first time and then, because they didn't have any evidence connecting him to anything and he denied everything. They were like, okay, you have to go.

No, I meant like after, I guess after the conviction, I was referring to like, okay, he admitted to the crime.

He escaped.

(...)

So who was the, Hano was the one who actually managed to- He was steady.

Wait, so none of them got out there. The last part, the aftermath, after the sentence, they were life in prison. All of them were in prison.(...) Hano was trying to like, they were trying to get parole or something and it was denied. And then afterward, Okay, so that's- Yeah, and afterward, Ilbo was like, fuck this. And he was able to escape with another inmate and they both were trying to rob a bank and stuff. And then they obviously got caught or like the inmate was like, bye, I'm not gonna deal with this.

(...)

Oh wait, I was, sorry, correction to myself. I was right the first time. Remember they got pardoned in 2005. And so did Fred get pardoned, but Ilbo was the one who escaped.

Yes, Ilbo was the one who escaped.

(...)

Okay, so that was my fault. I was mixing up the names cause there was so many names in this story.

A lot of names. That's why I was trying to like, kind of summarize it ish so that we know what we're doing. So yeah,

(...)

a lot of names. Okay. But yeah, I guess it was very interesting in the way they were, you know, first of all, working with Russia. That's not a very common thing to do. I'm not saying specifically Russia, I mean like communicating and working with other countries in general. It's not like something that does, you do have a lot and often.

(...)

So that's in itself was like a huge thing.

(...)

They were team working.

(...)

And even though it was a bit hard in the beginning, they were able to make sure that, okay,

(...)

these people are fake cause we can't find them.

(...)

Yeah.(...) So I guess also to a restaurant, I just wanted to be like, yeah, we don't wanna, we wanna clear our name cause probably at the time people were not particularly fond. But you know, at the end of the day though, regardless good around police work, cause it's not really much to talk about this case. It was all over the place in terms of names, but the police got the right people.

(...)

They got arrested and it didn't take too long after the murders and it was just good police work all around, but also too, a lot of them had to do with the confession and the fact that Fred was really, he was the brightest.(...) But yeah, it was all around good police work.(...) They did a good job.

(...)

At least we don't have any details of them doing any crazy missteps.

I wanna say something that I think is a bit important. So you know how Fred was always like, he failed in businesses and he was like in a million, sorry, million marks in depth and stuff by the time of the murder.

(...)

He was actually an economic graduate.

(...)

So he had a degree in economics

(...)

and he somehow was failing horribly with money. And I thought that was very ironic in itself.

(...)

It happened a long time.

Really?

(...)

I feel like there's like a, but no, he made constantly the wrong choices in a lot of businesses.

(...)

Yeah, that's normal. Look at Trump.

(...)

Actually, I can't really say anything against that.

(...)

Yeah, that's very typical of- No, but he's still rich.

Oh wait, he's using his family's money. Sorry.

(...)

Yeah, that's the only reason why he's able to do it. That can happen.

I just feel like if you have a degree in economics, I know you can fail in businesses stuff. Like obviously that can happen, but I feel like there should be like, where you fail multiple times. I feel like as somebody who has like a graduate in economics, you have to like learn or realize something is what I feel.(...) That's why I was like-

Yeah, no, it's, cause also too like you can go to school for something, but then in reality, if you're constantly, so for example, and I'm pretty sure this might apply to Fred as well, but obviously since I brought up Trump, the problem with Trump is that he did a lot of people dirty. Not just his workers, the contractors, the people he was in business with,

(...)

he would always do them dirty, which is why he would either go bankrupt, he was always getting sued. It was like the fact that no matter who it was, he always tried to do people dirty. Now, corporations in general, who they try to do dirty is only the employees. They want you to put in more work, and then they pay you less. But the thing is they don't shaft their shareholders.

(...)

So if your shareholders are happy, then your business probably will thrive, even if you underpay your employees.(...) But Trump and people like that would do it to everybody. They would just get every penny they could, and then it just wouldn't work out.(...) So it's entirely, and there's a lot of businesses, I'm using Trump as an example, but there's a lot of businesses and people who do stuff like that, and that's why their businesses just don't work, because they don't know who and who not to shaft, and they just do everybody dirty, so nobody wants to do business with them.

(...)

That's pretty much it.

And that's business and money.

Good job, good job, police work. Yeah, that's business. The only way you can make a ton of money is you have to do everyone dirty.

That's horrible. We shouldn't preach about that.

(...)

Actually, the funny thing is I'm not encouraging. If you can live with that morally,(...) you must suck as a person. But if you wanna do right by people,

(...)

do right by people.

And also by the purchases of the customers, but okay, either way, that's like-

Yeah, put your customers and your employees first. They are the backbone of your business.

(...)

Good job, police,(...) good chat.

(...)

What are we gonna have to eat?

(...)

I've been having a craving for pizza, and I've been eating pizza for two days now.

(...)

Pizza sounds good. I can vibe with some pizza.

(...)

New York pizza is really good. I've been craving that specifically.

Yes, next-door pizza.

(...)

Yummy,(...) delicious.

(...)

I'm gonna agree with you on that one. So no opposition here. Let us know what you guys think. Let us know in your various platforms, whether it be in the comments or the review section. On Spotify, you can actually answer the questions on the Spotify list.(...) And I hope you enjoy the podcast. Please be sure to give us a good rating on whatever platform you're on, and we shall catch you next week.

(...)

Peace out. Bye.