Sanna Sillanpää

Case record: Sanna Sillanpää

Background

Sanna Riitta Liisa Sillanpää (born April 15, 1968) was 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.

Sillanpää was later found to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia and was sent to the Niuvanniemi mental hospital in Kuopio.

Sillanpää did not speak at trials and hearings. At her original arraignment, her only words were a compulsory “Not guilty”.

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.

The offence

On 21 February 1999, Sillanpää shot three men to death with a rented pistol in an indoor shooting club on Albertinkatu, Helsinki. She also wounded another man, who received lifetime injuries.

The dead were:

• a 23-year-old supervisor of the shooting club
• a 25-year-old car mechanic
• 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?”.

Sillanpää attempted to shoot two other men who were present as she was leaving the firing range.

After the shootings, Sillanpää escaped from the building where the shootings took place. 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 “somewhere”.

Before boarding the plane she left the murder weapon in a trash can in the airport terminal, where it was discovered by a cleaner.

Investigation

No motive for the act was found.

Sillanpää was initially charged with murder after she opened fire and killed three men at close quarters in an indoor firing range in downtown Helsinki. She attempted to shoot two other men who were present as she was leaving the firing range.

Arrest

Sillanpää was caught after four hours as she was boarding a plane to London.

She had travelled to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport from the Helsinki centre by city bus while carrying a gun and ammunition.

Trial

Sillanpää was sent to mental health examinations on 2 June 1999.

At the 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.

On 11 October 1999, the district court found Sillanpää to be without understanding (legally insane).

During the trials and hearings, Sillanpää did not speak at all.

Appeals

Maarit Loimukoski appealed the district court decision to the Helsinki Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal upheld the decision 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.

Sentencing

Sillanpää was found legally insane on October 11, 1999 and was sent to the Niuvanniemi mental hospital in Kuopio.

Sillanpää was 30 years old at the time of being sent to the hospital, and she had a Master’s degree in computer science and was an IT expert.

A public discussion about renting firearms on shooting ranges in Finland followed the incident.

Outcome

The district court and the Helsinki Court of Appeal determined that Sillanpää was without understanding (legally insane).

Aftermath

A compensation order was mentioned: the court ordered compensation to be paid by Sillanpää in the sum of around FIM 900,000 (EUR 150,000), described as roughly equivalent to the property confiscated from her shortly after her arrest.

It was also stated that the payments in damages were much reduced from those requested by the plaintiffs, leading their counsel to complain that the sufferings of dependents who had lost a husband, father, or son were being undervalued. The counsel noted that the sums were conspicuously smaller than the hefty sums paid out to Finnish Ski Federation officials after a libel case involving the Finnish News Agency earlier this year.