15-year-old convicted of murder in Iiti – 10 years' imprisonment and €18,500 in damages
Päijät-Häme District Court sentenced a 15-year-old boy to 10 years' imprisonment for murder on Tuesday. The victim, a 52-year-old man, was killed in his own home in Kausalahti, Iiti.
District Court: 15-year-old murdered man in particularly brutal manner
Päijät-Häme District Court sentenced on Tuesday afternoon an Iiti boy, who was 15 years old at the time of the act, of murder as a young person. The sentence imposed was 10 years' imprisonment. According to Google News FI — Crime (fi), the case has attracted widespread attention, as homicides committed by minors are rare in Finland.
The convicted person must also pay damages totalling approximately €18,500. The sum includes €5,500 in pain and suffering compensation to the victim's spouse.
Events from bar to flat
The homicide took place in August 2025 in Kausalahti, Iiti. The boy and the 52-year-old victim did not know each other beforehand — they met only a few hours before the crime at a local bar, which the young man had entered using a false identity document.
Based on surveillance camera recordings, the pair spent time drinking and smoking. At the bar, they discussed various matters including politics. The boy complained to the restaurant owner about the man's behaviour and was later aggressive and intoxicated — he threatened, amongst other things, to rob the restaurant owner's bank card. Eventually both the boy and the man left the bar together to the man's flat.
Violence escalated quickly
At the flat, events unfolded rapidly according to the boy's own account. The boy stated during the preliminary investigation that he first struck the man with a glass, after which he knocked the victim to the ground and strangled him with a shoelace. The victim struggled. According to the interim judgment, the boy then subjected the victim to violence using a fork and scissors as well. The victim was found to have at least 16 stab wounds in total.
The boy spent approximately 30–45 minutes in the flat. Before leaving, he placed the instruments used in the sink and washed his hands and feet. The victim's spouse found the man dead in the flat and called the emergency services.
Court's assessment: the act was deliberate and serious
Based on the evidence, the district court found that this was not a case of self-defence or an excess thereof. The convicted person himself admitted in district court only to manslaughter committed as an excess of self-defence, but the court rejected this interpretation. Based on a mental state examination, the boy was criminally responsible at the time of the act. The district court assessed that the act was carried out in a particularly brutal and cruel manner and was serious when considered as a whole.
The case was heard in Lahti with closed doors. The judgment is not yet final.
Boy suspected of aggravated assault as well
Police detained the young man in Lahti, from premises which his mother had rented. During the detention, drugs were found on the premises. The mother also has a criminal record.
The boy was at liberty whilst awaiting sentencing for the homicide, but has been remanded in custody on probable cause since the end of August. Yle reported last week that the same boy is now suspected of aggravated assault, which took place in the latter part of August in Helsinki.
Source: Google News FI — Crime (fi)