The Viking Sally Murder | Baltic Sea
Summer nights on the Baltic Sea are enchanting. The ferry crossing from Stockholm to Turku is one of the most popular routes in Scandinavia, carrying thousands of passengers each year through the pristine waters that connect Sweden and Finland. The journey takes about eleven hours, and for many travellers, it's as much about the experience as the destination. Young backpackers especially favour these overnight crossings: they're affordable, comfortable, and offer stunning views of the archipelago.
The MS Viking Sally was a magnificent vessel, launched in 1980 and serving as a floating hotel for passengers crossing the Baltic. With her ten decks, restaurants, bars, and entertainment facilities, she was more than just transportation, she was a destination in herself. But beneath the veneer of luxury and leisure, the Viking Sally would become synonymous with something far more sinister.
On the morning of July 29th, 1987, crew members aboard the Viking Sally made a horrific discovery that would shock the maritime world. Two young German backpackers had been brutally attacked while sleeping on the ship's open-air deck. One was dead, the other clinging to life. The attack was so savage, so random, that it seemed almost impossible to comprehend.
This is the story of a crime that would remain unsolved for over three decades, haunting investigators and the families of the victims. A case that would eventually reveal the dark side of what should have been a peaceful journey across the Baltic Sea. This is the story of the Viking Sally murder.
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Tuesday, July 28th, 1987, was a typical summer evening in Stockholm. The Swedish capital was alive with tourists and locals alike, enjoying the long Nordic summer days. Among the crowds preparing to board the MS Viking Sally were two young German backpackers: 20-year-old Klaus Schelkle and 22-year-old Bettina Taxis.
Klaus and Bettina were typical representatives of the backpacker generation that roamed Europe in the 1980s. They were young, adventurous, and eager to explore the world beyond their homeland. Klaus, a student from West Germany, had met Bettina during their travels, and their shared love of adventure had blossomed into romance. They were both in their early twenties, with their whole lives ahead of them.
The couple had been exploring Scandinavia for several weeks, moving from city to city with their backpacks and a sense of freedom that only comes with youth. They were budget travellers, staying in hostels, camping, and choosing the most economical transportation options. The overnight ferry from Stockholm to Turku was perfect for their needs -- it was affordable, and they could sleep on board, saving money on accommodation.
As the Viking Sally prepared for departure that evening, Klaus and Bettina joined the stream of passengers boarding the impressive vessel. The ship was a marvel of modern engineering, stretching 177 meters in length and capable of carrying over 2,000 passengers. She boasted restaurants, bars, duty-free shops, and entertainment venues that rivalled any land-based hotel.
For budget-conscious travellers like Klaus and Bettina, there was an even more economical option: sleeping on the ship's open-air deck. Many young backpackers chose this option, bringing sleeping bags and camping equipment to spend the night under the stars. It was a popular choice, especially during the warm summer months when the weather was pleasant and the Baltic Sea was calm.
The MS Viking Sally had been in service for seven years by 1987 and had built a reputation as one of the finest ferries on the Baltic Sea. She was owned by Viking Line, a Finnish company that had been operating ferry services since 1959. The ship ran regular services between Stockholm and Turku, and occasionally to other Baltic ports. For most passengers, the journey was routine and peaceful.
But the Viking Sally had already witnessed one tragic incident the previous year. In July 1986, a Finnish man named Reijo Hammar, recently released from prison, was traveling on the ferry when he targeted a fellow passenger, Antti Eljaala, a businessman from Helsinki. Hammar lured him into a cabin, stabbed him in the chest, and stole his wallet. The attack was as cold and calculated as it was brutal. He then dumped Eljaala’s body overboard, leaving little trace behind. Hammar was later arrested and convicted, described by Finnish media as one of the country’s most dangerous and unpredictable criminals. Though justice was served, the incident left a dark stain on the ship’s otherwise polished image.
Despite this previous tragedy, the Viking Sally continued to operate normally, carrying passengers across the Baltic Sea. Security measures were standard for the time, but the ship's size and the freedom of movement it offered, meant that monitoring every passenger was virtually impossible.
As the ship departed Stockholm that evening, Klaus and Bettina made their way to the upper deck. They had chosen to sleep in the open air, a decision that would have tragic consequences. The couple spread out their sleeping bags on the deck, joining other young travellers who had made the same choice. It was a warm summer night, and the gentle motion of the ship crossing the calm Baltic waters should have provided a peaceful night's rest.
The overnight journey from Stockholm to Turku takes approximately eleven hours, with the ship arriving in the Finnish port city early the next morning. For most passengers, the crossing passed without incident. They slept in their cabins, enjoyed the ship's amenities, or simply relaxed as the vessel made its way through the Baltic archipelago.
But sometime during the night, something went terribly wrong…
The attack occurred in the early hours of July 29th, 1987. Klaus and Bettina were sleeping peacefully in their sleeping bags on the open deck when they were suddenly and brutally attacked. The assailant struck without warning, using what prosecutors would later describe as a hammer-type tool. The attack was swift, vicious, and apparently random.
Klaus Schelkle received the brunt of the assault. He was struck multiple times with devastating force, suffering severe head injuries that proved fatal. The young German student died from his wounds, never having the chance to defend himself or his girlfriend.
Bettina Taxis was also attacked, but she survived the ordeal. However, her injuries were severe, and the trauma of the attack would leave her with no memory of what had happened. She would later describe waking up to find Klaus dead beside her, with no recollection of how they had come to be in such a horrific situation.
It was unlikely that this was a premeditated, targeted attack. Klaus and Bettina were not wealthy tourists carrying large amounts of money or valuables. They were simple backpackers, carrying minimal possessions and travelling on a tight budget. There was no apparent motive for the attack, no evidence of robbery, and no indication that they had encountered their attacker before.
When the Viking Sally arrived in Turku the next morning, crew members discovered the scene on the upper deck. Klaus was dead, and Bettina was seriously injured but alive. The Finnish authorities were immediately contacted, and the ship was secured as a crime scene.
The investigation began immediately, but this was not a straightforward case. The attack had occurred in Finnish waters, so Finnish police took charge of the case. However, the victims were German, the ship was Finnish-owned, and it had departed from Sweden. This international dimension complicated the investigation from the beginning.
The crime scene itself presented significant challenges. The upper deck of a ferry is exposed to the elements, and by the time the bodies were discovered, any potential evidence had been compromised by wind, sea spray, and the movement of the ship. The murder weapon, described as a hammer-type tool, was never found. Investigators believed it had been thrown overboard by the perpetrator.
Forensic technology in 1987 was far less advanced than it is today. DNA analysis was in its infancy, and investigators had to rely on traditional methods of evidence collection and analysis. The lack of witnesses also hampered the investigation. Despite carrying hundreds of passengers, no one had seen or heard anything suspicious during the night.
The passenger manifest was examined, and all passengers were questioned. However, the sheer number of people on board made it impossible to conduct a thorough investigation of everyone. Many passengers had already disembarked and returned to their home countries before the full scope of the investigation became clear.
Finnish police worked tirelessly on the case, but leads were scarce. The random nature of the attack, the lack of witnesses, and the challenging crime scene made it one of the most difficult cases they had ever encountered. As weeks turned into months, the investigation began to stagnate.
The families of Klaus and Bettina were devastated by the tragedy. Klaus's death was a senseless loss of a young life full of promise, while Bettina faced a long recovery both physically and emotionally. The lack of answers only added to their suffering.
In the months following the attack, police received numerous tips and leads, but none led to a breakthrough. The case began to take on the characteristics of a cold case, with investigators periodically reviewing the evidence but making no significant progress.
The Viking Sally continued to operate after the murder, but the incident had tarnished its reputation. The ship that had once been a symbol of maritime luxury and comfort was now associated with violence and tragedy. Many passengers, particularly young backpackers, began to avoid the route or choose alternative transportation.
The case remained unsolved for years, but Finnish police never gave up hope. As new forensic techniques became available, they periodically re-examined the evidence, hoping for a breakthrough that would finally bring justice for Klaus and Bettina.
In 1987, a significant clue emerged that would later prove crucial to the investigation. Local fishermen discovered a bag containing bloodied clothing on a small, uninhabited island about 200 meters from the ferry route. The bag was left where it was found, and when the fishermen returned a year later, it was still there. They reported the discovery to police, who collected the evidence.
The bloodied clothing was examined, but with the forensic techniques available at the time, it was impossible to establish a definitive link to the Viking Sally murder. The evidence was preserved, however, and would later prove vital when DNA analysis became more sophisticated.
The case took on an additional tragic turn when the Viking Sally met its own fate. The case took on an additional tragic dimension when the Viking Sally met her own fate. In 1993, she was sold to an Estonian company and renamed the MS Estonia. Just a year later, on a stormy September night in 1994, she vanished into the Baltic Sea.
The Estonia had set sail from Tallinn, bound for Stockholm with 989 souls aboard—passengers and crew. That night, the wind howled, and waves slammed the hull as the ship creaked through the churning darkness. Just after 1 AM, a deep, metallic groan echoed through the decks. Within minutes, the ship began to list. Chaos erupted.
Passengers stumbled through hallways as water rushed in. Lifeboats swung wildly, crew shouted instructions few could hear. In the biting cold and confusion, hundreds never made it out of their cabins. The ferry rolled, then disappeared beneath the surface in less than half an hour.
Only 137 people survived. The rest (852 lives) were lost to the sea, making it the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in European waters since World War II.
For those who knew the ship as the Viking Sally, the tragedy felt eerie, as if a curse had clung to her steel bones. She had already carried death once across the Baltic. Now, she would carry it again - this time, to the bottom.
Memorials were raised in Estonia, Sweden, and Finland, and a treaty was signed to protect the wreck, now a sacred graveyard. The disaster would spur sweeping reforms in maritime safety, but for the victims of 1987, any hope of recovering new evidence from the vessel was lost forever
.
For decades, the case remained cold. Finnish police maintained the investigation as an open case, but no significant progress was made. The families of the victims continued to hope for answers, but as years passed, the possibility of solving the case seemed increasingly remote.
The breakthrough came in 2018, more than thirty years after the attack. Advances in DNA analysis technology allowed investigators to re-examine the evidence collected from the bloodied clothing found by the fishermen. The analysis revealed DNA profiles that could potentially be matched to a suspect.
Finnish police began the painstaking process of comparing the DNA evidence to samples in their database. The work was slow and methodical, but it eventually yielded results. In 2020, investigators announced that they had identified a suspect in the case.
The suspect was a Danish man who had been aboard the Viking Sally on the night of the attack. He was in his early twenties at the time of the murder and had been travelling as a passenger on the ferry. The DNA evidence linked him to the bloodied clothing found on the island, providing the first concrete evidence in the case.
The identification of the suspect was a major breakthrough, but it also raised new questions. Why had he attacked Klaus and Bettina? What was his motive? How had he managed to evade justice for so long?
Finnish prosecutors carefully reviewed the evidence and concluded that there was sufficient grounds to bring charges. In September 2020, they announced that they would be prosecuting the Danish man for the murder of Klaus Schelkle and the attempted murder of Bettina Taxis.
The trial began in May 2021, more than 33 years after the attack. The defendant, now 52 years old, maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings. His lawyers argued that the DNA evidence was circumstantial and that there was no direct proof linking him to the attack.
The prosecution presented their case methodically, explaining how the DNA evidence connected the defendant to the crime. They described the brutal nature of the attack and argued that the defendant had killed Klaus and attempted to kill Bettina in a random act of violence.
The trial attracted significant media attention, both in Finland and internationally. The case had remained unsolved for so long that many had assumed it would never be resolved. The prospect of finally achieving justice for Klaus and Bettina brought hope to their families and friends.
However, the defense team raised important questions about the evidence. They argued that the DNA analysis, while sophisticated, was not infallible, and that the evidence was too circumstantial to support a conviction. They also pointed out that there were no witnesses to the attack and no clear motive for the defendant to have committed the crime.
The trial continued for several weeks, with both sides presenting their arguments. The court heard testimony from forensic experts, investigators, and other witnesses. The case hinged largely on the DNA evidence and the interpretation of the scientific analysis.
On June 30th, 2021, the court delivered its verdict. In a surprising turn of events, the Danish man was acquitted of all charges. The court ruled that while the DNA evidence was compelling, it was not sufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The acquittal was a devastating blow to the families of the victims and to the investigators who had worked tirelessly on the case. After more than three decades of investigation, the case remained unsolved.
The case of the Viking Sally murder remains officially unsolved. Finnish police have indicated that they will continue to investigate if new evidence emerges, but for now, the case has reached an impasse.
Klaus Schelkle and Bettina Taxis were young people pursuing their dreams of adventure and exploration. They should have been able to travel safely and enjoy their journey across the Baltic Sea. Instead, they became victims of a senseless act of violence that destroyed one life and forever changed another. The fact that their attacker has never been brought to justice only adds to the tragedy of their story.
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