Bodom Lake murder trial focuses on mystery of bloody pillowcase

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At Wednesday’s session of the Bodom Lake, the focus of testimony was on the blood-stained pillowcase found at the scene of the killings in June 1960.
      The defence lawyers of defendant Nils Gustafsson say that the pillowcase belongs to an outsider - possibly the real killer of the three teenagers.
      Prosecutors say that it had been used as menstrual protection by one of the victims, Irmeli Björklund, and that Gustafsson had removed it after killing her in a jealous rage.
      The prosecution contends that another indication of extreme rage was that the ten knife wounds in Björklund’s neck did not bleed, suggesting that they were inflicted after her death.
     
The semen stains also found on the pillowcase were, in the view of the prosecution, from an earlier time and irrelevant to the case.
      The defence pointed out that the blood samples taken from the pillowcase in the early 1960s did not match the blood of any of the four.
      This led to a slight debate, because a more recent investigation found no blood at all on the pillowcase.
      Defence Lawyer Riitta Leppiniemi noted that the bloodstains were cut out of the cloth during the investigation that took place in the 1960s.
     
There was also a lengthy debate in court over the injuries sustained by Gustafsson, and his ability to function.
      In the defence’s version of events, Gustafsson most likely sustained a brain injury during the struggle with the unknown assailant, and that "no documents suggest otherwise".
      The prosecutors allege that his injuries were not as serious as the newspaper stories at the time suggested.
      Both sides have expert witnesses to back up their respective versions of the events.
      In the coming days the court will be shown the tent where it all happened.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Prosecution claims Bodom suspect killed friends in jealous rage; defence disagrees (17.8.2004)
  Prosecutors call 45-year-old Bodom triple murder premeditated and brutal (5.8.2005)
  Bodom Lake murder trial begins in Espoo (4.8.2005)

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