Matti Haapoja (September 16, 1845 in Isokyrö – January 8, 1895 in Turku) was a Finnish serial killer who was covered extensively by the press at the time of the murders.

He can be linked to seven other identified murder cases, but most of those happened during his exile in Siberia and are poorly documented, so his involvement is not certain.

Matti Haapoja was born in 1845, in Isokyrö, Grand duchy of Finland, the son of a farmer.

[1] Haapoja started his criminal career as a brawler, graduating quickly to stealing horses.

His first known murder happened on December 6, 1867, when he stabbed his drinking partner Heikki Impponen in a drunken brawl.

His fame as a robber started to grow after the newspapers reported that he had robbed and shot at Esa Nyrhinen on August 12, 1876.

Folk stories claim that during this time Haapoja killed two other famous Finnish criminals, Juha Antinpoika Leskenantti (aka Anssin Jukka) and Kaappo Sutki, but these tales are likely false as they offer no conclusive proof.