Ilpo Larha

Ilpo Tapio Larha (born July 19, 1968 in Helsinki, Finland; died March 17, 1994 in Lahti, Finland) was a Finnish criminal.

Larha became famous when he committed the contract murder of 77-year-old crippled businessman Wilhelm Högsten in Jollas, a suburb of Helsinki, on April 24, 1992. Larha was hired by Högsten's 47-year-old son Fred. Larha, Högsten and 31-year-old businessman Hannu Ratia, who drove Larha to the site of the murder, were sentenced to life in prison.

On February 25, 1994, Larha escaped from a Helsinki state prison with 37-year-old Kullervo Haikas, alias Pertti Ruokolainen, who had been serving a 13-year sentence for drug crimes.

On March 1, Larha robbed a bank in Pitäjänmäki, nearly killing a cashier. After this, Larha and Haikas barricaded themselves with two hostages in an apartment in Lahti. Police discovered them on March 15. This started a siege that lasted for 55 hours. While Haikas and the hostages were rescued, Larha shot himself on March 17, 1994.

Finland's president Tarja Halonen pardoned Hannu Ratia in the end of 2005 and Fred Högsten in May 2006.

External links

* [http://www.yle.fi/punainenlanka/juttu.php?tunnus=56 Punainen Lanka (Red Yarn) November 27, 2001: Police psychologist Lasse Nurmi speaks about Ilpo Larha] fi icon