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Steen
Viktor CHRISTENSEN
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Palace
Hotel robbery - To
avoid arrest - Convicted rapist
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders:
October 22,
1997
Date of arrest:
4 days after
Date of birth: 1964
Victims profile: Eero Holsti and
Antero Palo
(police officers)
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Helsinki,
Finland
Status: Sentenced to life in prison on May 8,
1998
Steen Viktor
Christensen (born 1964) is a
Danish criminal, who was sentenced in Denmark in 1992 to
twelve years in prison for numerous bank robberies,
hostage taking, and rape.
In autumn 1997
Christensen was allowed to go on an unguarded holiday,
during which he escaped to Finland.
On 22 October 1997 Christensen robbed
the Hotel Palace in Helsinki, and during his escape from
the hotel, he shot two police officers, Eero Holsti and
Antero Palo, on Tehtaankatu. The incident caused a
spectacular chase in Finland.
Christensen was caught in Hämeenlinna,
when he was leaving the Hotel Vaakuna. He had been
living in the hotel under the name Kim Anderssen.
Christensen said the motive for his robbery had been
lack of money.
Christensen was sentenced to life
imprisonment, and is serving it at the Herstedvester
prison in Denmark. He was also sentenced to pay the
families of the police officers he killed, the state
treasury, and the watchman at the Hotel Palace a total
of almost 275 000 Finnish mark (about 46 300 euro) and
to pay a life support of 3873 Finnish mark (about 651.40
euro) per month to one underaged child.
The sum consists mainly of family
pensions and compensation for mental suffering. As well
as the costs for the biggest criminal chase ever in
Finland, the state had to pay the trial costs of over 62
500 Finnish mark (about 10 500 euro).
The incident caused a great deal of
conversation in Denmark about what sort of prisoners can
be allowed to go on holiday from the country's
incarceration facilities and under what grounds.
In prison, Christensen married a
Finnish woman in 2002 who gave birth to their child.
The Finnish rap musician Steen1
originally chose Steen Christensen as his artist name,
but changed it to Steen1 after getting his first record
deal, because of too much controversy.
The offender’s history
Steen Victor Christensen is a Danish career criminal who
now serves a life-sentence forkilling two Finnish
policemen in conjunction with a hotel robbery. His case
is one of the best-known criminal cases in Finnish
history.
Christensen’s criminal career has
been long and violent. It started in 1986 when he was
seriously indebted due to a lavish lifestyle and an
obsession for gambling. Christensen took on a career as
a bank robber, and during a series of ten robberies he
was able to acquire almost 700 000 euros worth of cash.
Although he never killed anyone before, his robberies
have often been violent.
In 1992 Christensen received a 12-year
prison sentence for several robberies, hostage-taking
and rape. In prison, he engaged in drug-dealing and
received a 3-year extension to his sentence.
In September 1997, despite the
objection ofthe Danish police, Christensen was granted a
short leave from prison. He never reportedback and
instead fled to Finland. (TS 26.10.1997)
The double homicide
On October
22nd, 1997, at around two o’clock in the morning,
Christensen ringed the doorbell of an upscale downtown
hotel in Helsinki. Well-dressed and acting like a
regular customer, Christensen did not appear the least
bit suspicious to the concierge, who opened the door and
let the robber in.
Christensen spoke fluent English and
pretended to check into a room he had reserved earlier
by telephone. When Christensen felt the moment was right,
the situation was quickly transformed into armed robbery.
Facing a handgun, the concierge did not resist, and no
excessive violence was used.
The
robber tied the concierge’s hands and legs and left him
lying on the floor of the hotel reception. Christensen
got his hands on some 1000 euros worth of cash and
started walking towards his rented apartment, which was
located only about one kilometer away from the hotel.(TS
23.10.1997, TS 27.10.1997)
As this was
a Tuesday night in a peaceful neighborhood of Helsinki,
escaping the scenes hould not have taken more than 15
minutes. But apparently the concierge was quick lyable
to free himself and call the police.
At the time the police was alerted,
Christensen was already within a couple of blocks from
his apartment. He did not proceed directly, however,
because he saw a police car on his route ahead of him
and didn’t want to risk running into it. Unfortunately,
his minor detour led to an even quicker encounter with
another patrolling car. This happened so soon after the
robbery that the police did not have but very
preliminary information about the robber. Among other
details, the patrol was not aware that the robber was
armed. (TS 23.10.1997, TS 27.10.1997)
The two policemen stopped Christensen and asked him to
identify himself. One of the officers stayed with
Christensen on the street while the other returned to
the patrol car and called on the radio for more
information.
The radio call took longer and longer,
and Christensen became nervous. It started to become
clear, that his chances of getting away with the robbery
were slim. He was within minutes from his apartment, and
this random police patrol was apparently the only thing
that prevented him to succeed with the robbery.
Acting on this conjecture,
Christensen took out his handgun. He told the officer
closer to him to lie down on the ground and the officer
in the car to step out on the street. After forcing both
policemen on the ground face down, Christensen brutally
executed both by shooting them in the neck and in the
back. (TS 23.10.1997, TS 27.10.1997, TS8.5.1998)
A manhunt of unprecedented proportion began. All
available police resources were engaged in finding
Christensen. Major ports were under close supervision
and the general public was alerted through the media.
Approximately 88 hours after the killings Christensen
was found and arrested in another town in Finland. Once
found, Christensen did not resist, and the arrest
proceeding calmly. (TS 26.10.1997, TS 27.10.1997)
In the investigations and trial that followed,
Christensen continuously showed deepremorse and
cooperated in every way he could. He waived his right to
professional legal representation and confessed the
entire course of events. As there was also amplematerial
evidence against Christensen, he eventually received a
life-sentence for both the two murders and the robbery.
(TS 8.5.1998)
Aleksi Grym - Support
Crime and the Rationality of Violence - January 2005
