Probable Cause

In January 2012, Henri Airo's little sister was killed in a hit-and-run by a repeat drunk driver. In that instant, his family's life was divided into what was before and after. While the Airo family struggled with the loss, the national media covered the crash and the subsequent police investigation extensively. The police focused on technical details-crash simulations, blood tests-while media narratives reduced the case to a drama between the innocent victim and the malicious perpetrator. The resulting documents and reports examined drunk driving and alcoholism in Finnish society but largely ignored the social circumstances surrounding addiction. In 2018 Airo came across the original police report. It felt incomplete. Together with primary eye-witnesses and actors, Airo began to re-visualise scenes which had been glossed over in the documents. Probable Cause draws on media and police archives, re-enactment and Airo's personal testimony to understand the circumstances of his sister's death. By restructuring existing narratives, the project reveals multiple personal perspectives embedded within the official record. In reconstructing the perpetrator's day, speculation and doubt become entry points for reflecting on how addiction is perceived in Finnish society.