ÅMSELE — 1988 · Murder
The Åmsele Murders
On 3 July 1988, in the village of Åmsele near Skellefteå in northern Sweden, a father, his wife and their 15-year-old son were killed. The perpetrator was a 22-year-old Finn released from a Finnish prison in May 1988, who had been wandering through Sweden and Finland with his girlfriend. The killings followed the family's request that a stolen bicycle be returned. The couple were caught in Denmark a week later after one of the largest manhunts in Swedish history. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and transferred to Finland to serve it; his girlfriend received a sentence for a lesser offence. He was paroled in 2008 and died in 2023.
- Date
- 1988
- Place
- Västerbotten, Sweden, Åmsele, SE
- Category
- Murder
- Case Status
- Solved
- Coordinates
- 64.5167, 19.3333 ↗
Timeline of Events
- May 1988The perpetrator was released from a Finnish prison.
- 3 July 1988A father, mother and son were killed in Åmsele.
- July 1988After a week-long manhunt he and his girlfriend were caught in Odense, Denmark.
- 1988He was sentenced to life and transferred to Finland.
- 2023The perpetrator died.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Juha Valjakkala en.wikipedia.org ↗
- The Local Sweden — Triple murderer granted pardon thelocal.se ↗
- Wikipedia
- The Local Sweden
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
Related Cases
More cases from the 1980s
Categories
🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.