Man charged with murder released – arrested again hours later in Seinäjoki
A man charged with the murder of 55-year-old Kai-Pekka Savolainen was free for only a couple of hours before his re-arrest. The court re-detained him on suspicion of illegal threats.
Murder suspect returned to prison hours after release
The South Ostrobothnia District Court has re-detained the 55-year-old man charged with the murder of Kai-Pekka Savolainen, 40. Ilta-Sanomet reported on the unusual twists in the case.
The court released the man from investigative custody on Tuesday following the conclusion of the murder hearing. The release was based on the view that the risk of flight was not sufficient grounds to continue detention.
However, the freedom lasted only a couple of hours. The man is suspected of committing illegal threats in Seinäjoki city centre on Tuesday evening. He was taken into custody, and at the prosecutor's request, the court re-detained him on Thursday – this time on grounds of a danger of reoffending. In the court's assessment, there exists a risk that the man would commit further crimes while at liberty.
Now the man awaits the verdict in the Savolainen murder trial whilst detained. A second man, 35, is also charged in the same murder and remains in custody. The South Ostrobothnia District Court will deliver its verdict on 23 October.
According to the prosecutor, the men violently killed Savolainen in Seinäjoki in November 2020. According to the charge, the victim was kicked and struck multiple times on the head and strangled. After the act, the body was dismembered and stuffed into the crawl space of the apartment building's basement.
Savolainen went missing in the winter of 2020, and was searched for for six months before a building resident found the body in the basement spaces in June 2021.
Both suspects have denied the homicide. However, the younger of the two has admitted to police that he dismembered Savolainen's body. The prosecutor seeks a sentence of life imprisonment for both men for murder.
The 35-year-old suspect is also charged with another murder and attempted manslaughter in Seinäjoki – the trial concerning this charge begins on Friday.
Source: Ilta-Sanomat