Tahvo Putkonen (30 October 1795 in

Suonenjoki Suonenjoki (; literally means "vein's river") is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, southwest of Kuopio. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population d ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

– 8 July 1825 in

Pieksämäki Pieksämäki () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, about north of Mikkeli, east of Jyväskylä and south of Kuopio. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water ...

) was a Finnish farmhand, who killed

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a farmer or farmworker who resides and works on land owned by a landlord, while tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and ma ...

Lasse Hirvonen on 26 December 1822 during the Finnish grand duchy period in

. He was sentenced to death on 30 July 1823. He made numerous appeals all the way to the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

, but was each time denied pardon. On 8 July 1825 Putkonen was

beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

. His execution is believed to be the last example of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

being carried out in

during peacetime.

Background

According to preserved court and church documents from the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

, the killing took place on

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

, 1822 when Putkonen was celebrating his

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, as well as Christian communities elsewhere. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively t ...

in the village of Jauhomäki, Pieksämäki at his landlord's house. He had invited neighbors over, and was serving food and

hard liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. While the w ...

to the guests. Putkonen was drunk, and had apparently been so earlier over the Christmas holidays as well.

Murder

Mr. Lasse Hirvonen, a father of five, had joined Putkonen's party. At some point, apparently angered by Hirvonen's dining manners, Putkonen unexpectedly attacked Hirvonen and shoved him on the floor. Other guests separated Putkonen and pushed him out of the house. There, Putkonen tried to grab an

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

, but Hirvonen's

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling or the sibling of one’s spouse. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred to as a brother-in-law for a male sibling-in-law and a sister-in-law for a female sibling-in-law. Sibling-in-law al ...

managed to tame him. After some time Putkonen was let back into the house. He was still angered, and after noticing Hirvonen, he fetched a meter-long piece of

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...

from outside. Hirvonen was lighting up his pipe at the time of the attack, so he didn't see Putkonen hitting him to the forehead with the log. Unconscious, Hirvonen collapsed on the floor, blood flowing from his ears and nose. He never woke up, and died two days later.

Trial

At first Putkonen admitted his guilt, trying to even offer money in reparation at the scene of the events. Two witnesses testified that they didn't see the actual attack, but heard a noise and saw Hirvonen falling, with Putkonen holding the piece of log in his hand. Putkonen tried to claim later that he had acted in self-defense and that other guests had attacked Hirvonen as well.

Verdict and execution

Tahvo Putkonen was sentenced to death. Additionally, he was fined 24 silver

thaler A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...

s for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

public intoxication Public intoxication, also known as "drunk and disorderly" and "drunk in public", is a summary offense in certain countries related to public cases or displays of drunkenness. Public intoxication laws vary widely by jurisdiction, but usually requ ...

and disturbing the holiday peace. Despite appeals to the Court of Appeals and challenging the witnesses, he was executed with an axe on 8 July 1825, over two and half years after his crime. Although Putkonen was the last person to receive capital punishment, there was such a long period from the crime and his sentencing to the execution, that he is not the last known person to be ''sentenced'' to death during peacetime, nor to commit a peacetime crime that led to a death penalty. Abraham Kaipainen is the last known person to commit a peacetime crime that led to a death penalty (murdering his brother on 31 July 1823 in Pieksämäki) and to be sentenced to death by a non-martial court (27 November 1823). Kaipainen was executed on 30 October 1824.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Putkonen, Tahvo Tahvonpoika 1795 births 1825 deaths People from the Grand Duchy of Finland People from Suonenjoki People executed for murder Executed Finnish people Finnish people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Finland People executed by the Grand Duchy of Finland by decapitation 19th-century Finnish people 19th-century executions by Finland