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Herman H. in the hallway of the court in Turkus
Photo: RONI LEHTI / AFP
A high-profile circumstantial trial of an international murder case ends before the district court in the Finnish city of Turku.
The prosecution has called for a life sentence for Herman H.
Prosecutor Heidi Röblom said that he had confessed to the act several times and revealed the perpetrator's knowledge.
A cold case that is almost 34 years old is being negotiated.
The scene of the crime was the Baltic Sea ferry "Viking Sally", which later sank under the name "Estonia".
The investigators accuse the accused Herman H. of murder and attempted murder of the German tourist couple Klaus S. and Bettina T.
On July 28, 1987, on the crossing from Stockholm to Turku, the two were lying in their sleeping bags on the helicopter deck of the ferry.
Early in the morning she was hit with a heavy object.
Klaus S. died shortly afterwards of his injuries, Bettina T. survived.
The violent crime remained unsolved for decades, and the police followed up all over Europe - without success.
Last December, the public prosecutor's office finally brought charges against Herman H. The suspect was considered the most important witness for years and, in a newspaper interview, portrayed himself as the savior of the seriously injured Bettina T.
In her plea, public prosecutor Röblom stated that Herman H. had confessed to the crime several times and that he had given details of what had happened.
Herman H. stated, for example, that he attacked the couple with a cinder block - information that the police did not have before.
Investigations have shown that the hammer is actually the "most likely" murder weapon.
Defense attorney Martina Kronström, on the other hand, demanded that the accused be acquitted because of a lack of evidence.
To bring charges after so many years, "very strong technical evidence" is required.
This did not exist in 1987 - and not now either.
"A feeling and a will to judge someone is not enough," said Kronström.
No witness had seen Herman H. on the helicopter deck before the crime.
In addition, it cannot be proven that his clothes were bloody when he came onto the helicopter deck after the crime.
An "uncontrollable habit"?
Regarding the murder weapon, she said that it could not be ruled out that something else was used instead of a slag hammer.
In 1987, for example, the coroner spoke of an iron pipe.
Kronström said her client confessed to the crime to strengthen his position there.
Over the years it has become an "uncontrollable habit" to talk about it.
The attorney for the secondary prosecution, who also represents the surviving Bettina T., joined the public prosecutor's pleading.
Timo Engels said there was a "very coherent chain of circumstantial evidence" that made a different course appear unlikely.
Herman H. had known about a slag hammer and so showed that he had knowledge of the perpetrators.
Engels demanded damages, compensation for pain and suffering and the reimbursement of court costs for his clients.
The prosecution suffered a major defeat on the very first day: the central evidence was declared null and void.
Herman H. confessed to the police in August 2016.
However, the interrogation was not held in his mother tongue, Danish, but in English.
In addition, the three investigators Herman H. had not sufficiently instructed about his rights, as the court decided.
Therefore, it did not accept the confession as evidence.
Unlike in Germany, Finnish criminal proceedings do not always end with an oral verdict.
The court's verdict is expected in the next few weeks.
rgr / jpz
