Juha Valjakkala
| Nikita Bergenström | |
|---|---|
| Born |
13 June 1965 Pori, Finland |
| Other names | Juha Veikko Valjakkala, Aslak Valdemar Ahonen Nikita Joakim Fouganthine |
| Criminal penalty | Life sentence |
| Criminal status | Escaped |
| Spouse(s) | Minna-Maria Huttunen (divorced) Alexandra Fouganthine (m. 2002) |
| Conviction(s) | Murder (3 counts), escape, theft, parole violation |
Nikita Bergenström (former Juha Veikko Valjakkala, Aslak Valdemar Ahonen, and Nikita Joakim Fouganthine; 13 June 1965 in Pori, Finland) is a Finnish murderer convicted of the triple murder of a family in the northern Swedish community of Åmsele.
The series of events that led to the murders began when the 22-year-old Valjakkala was released from a prison in Turku on 1 May 1988, after which he started wandering through Sweden and Finland with his 21-year-old then-girlfriend Marita Routalammi.
On 3 July they arrived in Åmsele. After nightfall Valjakkala stole a bicycle. He was pursued by the owners, Sten Nilsson and his 15-year-old son Fredrik. The chase ended at a cemetery where Sten and Fredrik Nilsson were both shot by Valjakkala with a shotgun. Later Sten's wife and Fredrik's mother, Ewa Nilsson, went looking for the two, was chased into the woods and had her throat slit by Valjakkala outside the cemetery. Valjakkala and Routalammi were caught in Odense, Denmark just over a week later.
At the trial the two defendants blamed each other for the murders, but the court believed Routalammi's story. A psychiatric evaluation found both to be mentally competent for trial. However, the statement by a forensic psychiatrist found that Valjakkala suffered from a psychopathic personality and was very aggressive. Conviction for the murders was his 12th criminal conviction.
Valjakkala was given a life sentence on three counts of murder, while Routalammi received two years for complicity in assault and battery. Routalammi was released after serving half of her time, and Valjakkala was transferred to Finland to serve out the rest of his sentence.
Valjakkala tried to escape from prison in 1991.
In April 1994 Valjakkala fled the Riihimäki prison in Finland where he was being held. He took a teacher as a hostage, but he was apprehended nearby and the hostage escaped the situation unscathed.
In 2002 he escaped from Pyhäselkä prison and traveled to Sweden with his wife, and was captured after a large police operation in Långträsk. Upon returning to prison after the 2002 escape he tried to commit suicide by hanging himself in his cell.
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