Lake Bodom

Lake Bodom (Finnish: Bodominjärvi, Swedish: Bodom träsk) is a lake in Finland located on the suburbs of the city of Espoo, not far from Helsinki. The lake measures approximately three kilometers in length and one kilometer in width.

The lake is notorious for murders that occurred in the early morning hours of June 5, 1960, when four teenagers (two boys, Nils Gustafsson and Seppo Boisman and two girls, Tuulikki Mäki and Irmeli Björklund) went on a camping trip to the lake and were mysteriously attacked while sleeping in their tent. Three were killed and one survived. This event is commonly referred to as the Lake Bodom murders. In June 2005, the only survivor, Gustafsson, was charged with murdering his friends. On October 7, 2005 the district court found him not guilty of all charges against him.

The Finnish metal band Children of Bodom, who are also from Espoo, derive their name from the lake. All the band members looked for good names in their local phone book. When they stumbled upon Lake Bodom, they felt it was a name with impact and one behind which was a story they found interesting.