Escape attempt leads to deadly incident at Pelso Prison in Finland

It was a beautiful, sunny freezing day when Mari Kivelä-Brotkin, a prison guard, finished her morning shift and headed home before returning to Pelso Prison. During later police interrogations, she could only recall that it was shortly before two o’clock when a white Saab passed her, carrying two men. Unbeknownst to her, a violent incident was about to unfold.

At 2:07 PM, an alarm from Pelso Prison reached the emergency center indicating the escape of two inmates, Toni Heikkilä and Mikko Moilanen, who had violently attacked two prison staff members. An ambulance was urgently required as both employees had sustained serious injuries.

Inside the prison, news of the escape spread slowly. Guard Tapio was instructed to check out a nearby residential building that had been used for inmate woodworking classes. There, he was met with a sight he would never forget: a severely injured instructor fighting for his life and another guard who had died as a result of the violent escape.

The escape ended quickly, just 42 minutes later, as the two men were apprehended by police about 80 kilometers away. The incident would go down in Finnish crime history as the killing of a prison guard while on duty, an extremely rare occurrence.

Years later, current guards Mari and Tapio express concerns about future safety, citing alarming decreases in prison funding and staff, leading to heightened risks of violence. Training sessions have increased, but resources remain insufficient. An operational unit leader acknowledges that the safety situation has worsened due to personnel shortages and prison overcrowding, although violent incidents among staff remain rare.

Heikkilä and Moilanen both received life sentences for the crime but were released in 2022 after serving around 19 years. This has left a lasting impact on those involved, with some former staff members having quit their jobs.