Kidnapping suspect confessed already in first police interrogation

Turunen’s DNA found in victim’s apartment, and on ransom money

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Juha Turunen, who is suspected of hostage taking and extorting money, covered his face with a white t-shirt when he arrived at his remand hearing at Helsinki district Court on Tuesday.
      He did not say a word until outsiders were asked to leave the court. The hearing was held behind closed doors at the suspect’s request.
     
The suspect has confessed to police that he kidnapped 26-year-old Minna Nurminen, who is a member of the Herlin family, the principal owners of the elevator company Kone and the cargo handling equipment manufacturers Cargotec.
      Police say that the first confession came already in the initial interview that took place soon after Turunen’s arrest.
      Juha Rautaheimo, head of the police investigation, says that the suspect has reported on the kidnapping in detail.
      “The story is consistent with what the victim has said.”
     
Other police investigations also back up the defendant’s account of the events.
      Initial DNA tests link Turunen to both Nurminen’s Helsinki apartment, as well as the cash paid for the ransom, which was found in Turku.
      In addition, the apartment where Turunen was arrested contained equipment used during the kidnapping, as well as a sound-proofed room where the victim was kept.
      Ransom money was also found in the apartment. Police have recovered a significant portion of the cash.
     
The investigators have also identified Turunen as the person who received the ransom payment, and carried the money in the trailer of a bicycle into the Louhi parking garage in Turku. It was there that his arrival was recorded by a security camera.
      Identifying Turunen from the picture was made easier by the fact that the suspect dropped his hat when some of the money fell out of the bicycle trailer onto the floor of the garage.
     
Police say that the suspect probably prepared for the crime already in the early part of the year. A lust for money seems to have been the motive.
      Juha Rautaheimo says that there is no indication so far that Turunen would have had any accomplices.
     
Nurminen was kidnapped at her apartment on the Töölö district of Helsinki on May 27th.
      She was released in the early hours of Saturday, after the payment of EUR 8-10 million. Police captured the suspected kidnapper later that same night. Rautaheimo says that the suspect feels remorse over the crime.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Member of Herlin industrial dynasty held hostage for over two weeks (15.6.2009)
  Suspected kidnapper believed to have acted alone (16.6.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat