HS Turku The body of a lawyer who disappeared more than 27 years ago was found in good condition on the seabed – The witness told the court what happened at a depth of 44 meters

Over 27 years missing Ilpo Härmäläinen the body was found in early March by Airisto. Today, Tuesday, the court continued the murder trial by hearing a witness who was involved in overseeing the discovery of the body in the icy sea.

Towards the end of last year, the Central Criminal Police asked the Defense Forces for official help to search for Härmäläinen’s body. Police had estimated that Härmäläinen’s body could be found in an area four kilometers long and one kilometer wide.

First, the Navy surveyed the area technically. The survey identified 750 discrete sites on the seabed.

These were further analyzed, leaving 32 targets. 30 items were marked in yellow and two in red. The latter were more likely to be found.

Each search trip was accompanied by a CRP researcher.

“The idea was that if divers make discoveries, they will not be left to the grief of the Defense Forces,” the investigator told the court.

The first body search was made in February. This body turned out to be a missing man in 1979 whose death was not linked to a crime.

Read more: Police: The deceased found in the Airisto area at sea was not a missing lawyer in 1994

A central criminal police investigator was monitoring the dive on March 2. Divers were to explore two yellow sites during the day.

Based on the image taken from the seabed, the first target was a possible garbage bag no more than two meters long.

The sea was so badly above the site in the ice floe that the ice had to be cleared first with the propeller currents of a naval ship. The first dive to the destination began shortly before eleven o’clock.

“On the first dive, the diver located the target and marked it,” the researcher said.

The diver found the target at a depth of 44 meters. The water was at the bottom of 1.5 degrees. Later, the body proved to be well preserved, as the conditions of the base are both cold and oxygen-free. Garbage bags around the body also helped preserve it.

Read more: The Baltic Sea can “preserve” the body – Professor of Forensic Medicine tells us what a rare phenomenon is

The diver photographed an object with a garbage bag pulled over both ends. The diver felt the package and found it to be partly hard and partly soft. The diver also noticed a tentacle can next to the package, but a closer observation showed it had only been in the water for a short time.

Turku resident Ilpo Härmäläinen’s homicide has been heard in the District Court of Southwest Finland since the end of last year. A 68-year-old man has been charged with his murder, with whom Härmäläinen was undergoing criminal economic bullying.

Härmäläinen disappeared in 1994.

Read more: Prosecutor: Lawyer fired lawyer Ilpo Härmälä twice “cowardly in execution style”, wrapped this body and immersed it with an anchor to a depth of more than 40 meters

Another dive was made an hour away. In this case, the diver found an anchor under the object.

“I remember the diver didn’t initially recognize it as an anchor because it was under the target and covered with ground sediment,” the researcher said.

The diver also noticed a metal chain at the bottom. When he pulled it, it was caught in the rope at the foot of the package.

The diver first took the anchor to the lifting basket, which was about six feet away.

The diver then lifted the package with an armpit grip and carried it to the lifting basket. The package was so long that the foot was partially left out of the basket. The diver put on a rubber mat in the lifting basket for protection and weight during lifting.

The package has not yet been picked up. The third dive was done in the afternoon. Initially, the diver was supposed to go through the site of the site, but at that point the visibility on the seabed was so poor that it was not successful.

“Visibility was poor due to the movement of the object. At first, the water had a visibility of about half a meter, but at that point the sea was so hazy that the water was milky. ”

The lifting of the body began in the afternoon. It had to be lifted carefully as part of the package was outside the lifting basket. When the basket was close to the surface, a smaller basket was attached next to it for support.

The lifting basket was lifted from the sea, and the deck of the ship was confirmed to be the deceased.

The hearse was transported by the deceased to a forensic autopsy. The next day, the police announced that the deceased taken from the sea had been identified as Ilpo Härmälä.