Hilkka Saarinen née Pylkkänen is murdered in the so-called "oven homicide" case in Krootila, Kokemäki, Finland.

The oven homicide refers to the homicide of Hilkka Hillevi Saarinen née Pylkkänen, in the village of Krootila in Kokemäki, Finland in December 1960. It is one of Finland's best-known homicide cases, and the killer has never been officially identified.

Kokemäki is a town and municipality in the Satakunta Region of Finland. The town has a population of 6,662 and covers an area of 531.27 square kilometres (205.12 sq mi) of which 50.04 km² (19.32 sq mi) is water. The population density is 13.87 inhabitants per square kilometre (35.9/sq mi).

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, opposite Estonia. Finland has a population of 5.6 million, the majority being ethnic Finns. Its capital and largest city is Helsinki. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish, the mother tongues of 84.1 percent and 5.1 percent of the population, respectively. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. Its land is predominantly covered by boreal forest, with over 180,000 recorded lakes.

December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; eight days remain until the end of the year.