Sanna Sillanpää

Sanna Riitta Liisa Sillanpää (born April 15 1968) is a Finnish woman, who shot three men to death with a rented pistol on 21 February 1999 in a shooting club on Albertinkatu, Helsinki, and wounded another man, who received lifetime injuries. One man present was not harmed. The dead were the shooting club's 23-year-old supervisor, a 25-year-old car mechanic and a 37-year-old car driver.

As Sillanpää was leaving the club, she said: "This is what they taught us at the FBI academy, isn't it?". She then travelled from the Helsinki centre to the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in a city bus, carrying a gun and ammunition. At the airport she was trying to buy a ticket to a nondescript place somewhere. Sillanpää was caught after four hours as she was boarding a plane to London. Before boarding the plane she left the murder weapon in a trash can in the airport terminal. It was discovered by a cleaner.

At the trials and hearings Sillanpää did not speak at all. No motive for the act was found.

Sillanpää was sent to a mental health examinations on 2 June 1999. She was found to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. In district court, the state prosecutor Maarit Loimukoski demanded Sillanpää be imprisoned for three acts of manslaughter without full understanding (partially insane) and for two attempted acts of manslaughter, but on 11 October 1999, the district court found Sillanpää to be without understanding (legally insane).

Loimukoski complained about the verdict to the Helsinki Court of Appeal, but the verdict was upheld on 11 October 2000. Loimukoski explained that the reason for her demand for punishment was that Sillanpää had acted with premeditation in attempting to flee Finland and hiding the gun after the act. Sillanpää was sent to the Niuvanniemi mental hospital in Kuopio.

Sillanpää, 30 years old at the time, has a Master's degree in computer science and is an IT expert.Fact|date=December 2007

After the incident, a public discussion about renting firearms on shooting ranges started in Finland. Many wanted to tighten the availability of weapons. New propositions were made by the authorities and in shooting clubs.Fact|date=December 2007

External links

* [http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/arkisto/9902/990221/9902210157.html MTV3 News archive 21 February 1999: Shooting club manslaughter suspect has not confessed] fi icon
* [http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/arkisto/9902/990223/9902230176.html MTV3 News archive 23 February 1999: Weapon allegedly used in triple manslaughter found] fi icon
* [http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/arkisto/9902/990224/9902240186.html MTV3 News archive 24 February 1999: Triple manslaughter suspect: "The bullets are personal mementos"] fi icon
* [http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/arkisto/9905/990531/9905310110.html MTV3 News archive 31 May 1999: Key witness certain about Sillanpää's guilt] fi icon
* [http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/arkisto/9906/990602/9906020148.html MTV3 News archive 31 May 1999: Sillanpää sent to mental health examination] fi icon
* [http://www.turunsanomat.fi/kotimaa/?ts=1,3:1002:0:0,4:2:0:1:2000-10-11,104:2:57070,1:0:0:0:0:0: Turun Sanomat 11 October 2000: Court of Appeal upheld triple killer's sentence] fi icon
* [http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/today/121099-04.html "Helsingin Sanomat", 12 October 1999: Sillanpää guilty of three counts of manslaughter] en icon
* [http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/kuvat/kotimaa/naamat/sillanpaasanna.jpgA picture of Sillanpää]

Books

* "Pohjolan poliisi kertoo" 2001 (article: "Ampumaratasurmat")