Oulu child murders

Last updated

Kaisa Vornanen-Karaduman
Born
Kaisa Emilia Vornanen

1979 (age 44–45)
Finland
Conviction(s) Manslaughter x5
Criminal penalty13 years imprisonment
Details
Victims5
Span of crimes
2005–2013
Country Finland
State(s) North Ostrobothnia
Date apprehended
3 June 2014

The Oulu child murders is a Finnish murder case, referring to the discovery of the bodies of five infants in the basement of an apartment building in Oulu, on 3 June 2014. The mother of the babies, 35-year-old Kaisa Emilia Vornanen-Karaduman, had concealed the pregnancies and abandoned them, after giving birth at home. The Rovaniemi Court of Appeal sentenced her to 13 years imprisonment for five counts of manslaughter, but not for concealing a corpse. According to District Prosecutor Sari Kemppainen, who was the lead prosecutor for the case, there have been no similar cases in Finnish criminal history. [1]

Contents

Discovery

On 3 June 2014, Oulu police received a complaint about some foul-smelling packages found in the basement storage of an apartment block in the centre. When examined, the packages were found to contain the bodies of five infants. [2]

The 35-year-old mother of these children, Kaisa Emilia Vornanen-Karaduman (b. 1979), [3] [4] was arrested and detained on suspicion of manslaughter and concealment of a corpse. [5] During interrogation, the charges were increased to five homicides. [1] The woman claimed that she had given birth at home, and preserved the bodies after death in a freezer. [2] She could not explain the motive for her actions, and denied deliberately killing them. As the latest apartment did not have a freezer, the bodies had been put in a basement storage.

The preliminary investigation determined that the children were born in the years 2005, 2007, at the turn of the year 2011–2012, 2012 and 2013. [6] They were born in apartments on Rommakkokatu and Peltokatu streets. The causes of death could not be determined, because the bodies had been severely degraded by then. [7] According to the prosecutor later at trial, Vornanen-Karaduman had usually given birth in the bathroom or toilet, wrapped the babies up in plastic bags, put them in a bucket, closed it and then took it to the basement. In two instances, she claimed to have used a sauna bucket and a shoe box instead of a normal bucket. [8] According to the prosecutor, the woman had left the children without any care or assistance after they were born. [9]

During the examinations, 28 people were interviewed as witnesses, including relatives, colleagues and acquaintances. [1] Vornanen-Karaduman had hidden her pregnancies from the others, with loose clothing. Her relatives knew about one pregnancy, that the woman claimed had ended in a miscarriage. [10] A former boss of Vornanen-Karaduman suspected that she was pregnant at one time, but she had explained to her manager that her stomach was rounded as a result of all the greasy pizzas that she had eaten the previous night. [11] Vornanen-Karadumanen's father described his daughter as a pathological liar. [12]

Vornanen-Karaduman's lawyer stated in his final statement in the district court hearing that his client was pregnant, yet again, during the summer of 2014, when she was arrested by police. This pregnancy, however, was terminated at her own request. [13]

Trial and imprisonment

The Oulu District Court handled the case in a matter of four days in December 2014. Vornanen-Karaduman was charged with five murders and five counts of concealing a corpse. She denied all charges and insisted on her innocence. However, if found guilty, she claimed that it would at most be negligent homicide or aggravated death. [14] Vornanen-Karaduman said that for every baby she gave birth to, she felt lifeless, because they did not move or cry. According to her, it was only later did she learn that the babies had been alive. [15]

The district court found that Vornanen-Karaduman acted deliberately in the deaths of her babies, and she was ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment. [16] The results were revealed on 1 June 2015, and Vornanen-Karaduman was concluded to be criminally responsible for the acts, [17] though she had a mixed personality disorder. [18]

On 15 June, the District Court sentenced Kaisa Vornanen-Karaduman to life imprisonment for five murders and five counts of concealing a corpse. According to the law, the repetition of the acts almost identically, in five separate instances, showed that the acts had been planned out. [3]

In June 2016, the Rovaniemi Court of Appeal reduced Vornanen-Karaduman's sentence to 13 years imprisonment for five counts of manslaughter. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Laci Peterson</span> 2002 murder of an American woman in California

Laci Denise Peterson was an American woman murdered by her husband, Scott Lee Peterson, while eight months pregnant with their first child. Laci Peterson disappeared on December 24, 2002, from the couple's home in Modesto, California, after which her husband reported her missing. The remains of Laci and her unborn son were discovered in April 2003 on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Subsequently, Scott Peterson was arrested and charged with two counts of murder. In November 2004, he was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Laci Peterson and the second-degree murder of the infant.

Sally Clark was an English solicitor who, in November 1999, became the victim of a miscarriage of justice when she was found guilty of the murder of her two infant sons. Clark's first son died in December 1996 within a few weeks of his birth, and her second son died in similar circumstances in January 1998. A month later, Clark was arrested and tried for both deaths. The defense argued that the children had died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The prosecution case relied on flawed statistical evidence presented by paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadow, who testified that the chance of two children from an affluent family suffering SIDS was 1 in 73 million. He had arrived at this figure by squaring his estimate of a chance of 1 in 8500 of an individual SIDS death in similar circumstances. The Royal Statistical Society later issued a statement arguing that there was no statistical basis for Meadow's claim, and expressed concern at the "misuse of statistics in the courts".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett</span> 2004 murder in Skidmore, Missouri, U.S.

Bobbie Jo Stinnett was an American, 23-year-old, pregnant woman who was murdered in Skidmore, Missouri, in December 2004. The perpetrator, Lisa Marie Montgomery, then aged 36 years old, strangled Stinnett to death and cut her fetus from her womb. Montgomery was arrested in Kansas the next day and charged with kidnapping resulting in death – a federal crime. Stinnett's baby was safely recovered by authorities and returned to the father.

Melissa Drexler, who was nicknamed in the media as "The Prom Mom," is an American woman who, as a teenage high school student in 1997, delivered a baby in a restroom stall during her high school prom dance. The baby was later found dead in a trash bin, and Drexler pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, having put the infant in the trash can and then returned to the dance. She was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. After serving a little over three years, she was released on parole.

Waneta Ethel (Nixon) Hoyt was an American serial killer who was convicted of killing all five of her biological children.

Véronique Courjault is a French citizen who confessed to having killed three of her babies, two of whom she stored in a freezer at her home. Her case has been referred to in the media as the "affaire des bébés congelés," or "frozen babies case".

Dominique Cottrez is a French woman who admitted to killing 8 of her newborn infants.

Keli Lane, an Australian former water polo player and teacher, was convicted of the 1996 murder of her newborn baby, Tegan, and of three counts of making a false declaration. Lane is serving an 18-year prison sentence and will be eligible for parole on 12 May 2024, after serving a period of 13 years and five months in custody. On 18 April 2011, Lane's lawyers lodged an appeal against her conviction at the same time as a Sydney taxi driver alleged he saw Lane dispose of the child. Her final application for appeal was rejected by the High Court in August 2014.

Infanticide was difficult to assess in 19th-century New Zealand, especially for newborn indigenous Māori infants. Resultantly, many New Zealand women who might otherwise have been sentenced to penal servitude or capital punishment had their sentences commuted to the lesser charge of "concealment of birth" under the Offences Against the Person Act 1867. However, the relative leniency extended only to mothers of concealed or hidden infants who subsequently died. Fathers, grandparents and "baby farmers" like Minnie Dean, the only woman to be executed in New Zealand history, and Daniel Cooper in the 1920s were viewed as more culpable for the death of such infants.

Jenna Lepomäki was an 18-year-old Finnish woman, who was found dead in Fuengirola, Spain, on 6 October 2011.

Jari Seppo Aarnio is the former head of Helsinki's anti-drugs police and a convicted felon. He was given a 13-year prison sentence for drug crimes and other offences.

Susanna Maria Feldmann was a 14-year-old German girl who was raped and killed on the night of 22 May 2018 in Wiesbaden. Ali Bashar Ahmad Zebari, a 21-year-old asylum seeker from Iraqi Kurdistan, confessed to the murder and was found guilty in July 2019 at a trial in Landgericht Wiesbaden.

Mirja Tellervo Vehkaperä is a Finnish politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2018 until 2019. She is a member of the Centre Party, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katja Gauriloff</span> Finnish-Skolt film director

Katja Gauriloff is a Finnish-Skolt filmmaker, director, and one of the owners of the Finnish production company Oktober.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Maria Penttilä</span> Finnish serial killer (born 1965)

Michael Maria Penttilä is a Finnish serial killer. According to Finnish crime magazine Alibi, she is the only Finn that fits FBI's description of a serial killer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuorten Ystävät</span>

Nuorten Ystävät is an organization founded in 1907, working in social and health sectors providing expertise and national social and health services for the young. Nuorten Ystävät owns over 40 units in 18 different towns and cities all over Finland, headquartering in Oulu.

In December 2018, it transpired that adult men, all of whom had arrived in Finland as asylum seekers or refugees, were grooming, and raping and otherwise sexually abusing, girls under 15 years of age in Oulu, Finland. One victim ended up committing suicide. The Oulu Police Department warned young girls and parents, while emphasizing that "not all people with foreign backgrounds are dishonest or criminals".

Harsimrat Kahlon was an Indian-Canadian serial killer who murdered three of her newborn infants between 2005 and 2009 in Calgary. Following her death, a result from complications from her last pregnancy, Kahlon's common-law husband Harnek Mahal found the infants' bodies stuffed in a suitcase and a box, reporting the findings to police, who later determined that the children were likely murdered by their mother.

On May 7, 2017, 18-year-old Brooke Skylar Richardson gave birth at home and buried her newborn daughter in the backyard of her parents' house in Carlisle, Ohio. Two months later she described what had happened to her doctor, who informed police. Richardson was charged with but acquitted of aggravated murder, child endangerment and involuntary manslaughter, and was only found guilty of abuse of a corpse. She was subsequently given three years of probation, which was ended early by the court.

From 1996 to 2006, Megan Huntsman, an American woman, murdered six of her newborn children shortly after giving birth to them in Utah.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mother of dead babies suspected of five murders". Yle Uutiset. 4 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Oulu police investigate deaths of five children and fetuses". Yle Uutiset. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Oulu Baby Deaths: Lifetime of the murderous mother". Iltalehti. 15 June 2014.
  4. ↑ Passi, Minna (16 June 2015). "Court convicted mother of murder of five babies". Helsingin Sanomat. pp. outdated link. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "A woman suspected of killing a baby is imprisoned". Kaleva. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "New information on the Oulu baby deaths: Mother suspected in five murders". Ilta-Sanomat. 4 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Kurki, Tiina-Leena (11 December 2014). "Preliminary investigation report on the infant deaths: Could not determine cause of death at autopsy". Yle Uutiset. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  8. ↑ Mattinen, Johanna (8 December 2014). "Prosecutor: That's how she killed". Iltalehti. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  9. ↑ Mattinen, Johanna (8 December 2014). "Baby deaths in Oulu: Children lived for days before their death". Iltalehti. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  10. ↑ Elonheimo, Petri (24 November 2014). "Oulu baby deaths: Mother accused of five murders". Iltalehti. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Oulu baby deaths: Supervisor suspected pregnancy - she explained that she had eaten greasy pizza". MTV. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Father of the accused of the infant deaths: Daughter is a pathological liar". MTV. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  13. ↑ Kemppainen, Susanna (16 December 2014). "Surprise turn: The accused of killing babies was pregnant again". Kaleva. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  14. ↑ Kemppainen, Susanna (16 December 2014). "The prosecutor for the baby killings: If not murder, aggravated assault and aggravated homicide". Kaleva. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  15. ↑ Leinonen, Anna (8 December 2014). "Mother accused of baby deaths: I did not dare to tell about the pregnancies". Kaleva. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  16. ↑ Kemppainen, Susanna (19 December 2014). "The Right of Infant Deaths: Intential Action". Kaleva. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  17. ↑ Kemppainen, Susanna (1 June 2015). "Accused of baby deaths found irresponsible". Kaleva. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  18. ↑ Hannula, Päivi (15 June 2015). "Baby deaths in Oulu: Life expectancy for mother of five dead infants". MTV. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  19. ↑ "The Court of Appeal's judgment relieved Ouluisian of five baby murders". HS.fi. 10 June 2016. pp. outdated link. Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.