Turku Harittu murder verdict: man accused of killing ex-partner and sexual offences
The District Court of Varsinais-Suomi will deliver its verdict in a homicide case that occurred in Turku's Harittu district. A forty-year-old man is accused of murdering his ex-partner, assault, and sexual offences.
District Court delivers verdict in Harittu homicide – smarttag devices led to victim's whereabouts
The District Court of Varsinais-Suomi delivered its verdict today in a homicide case that occurred in Turku's Harittu district in March, reports ess.fi. A forty-year-old man is accused of murdering his former partner at her home.
According to the prosecution, the man waited in the stairwell of the woman's residential building in the morning and gained entry when the couple's joint child opened the door. The man prevented both the woman and the child from leaving the flat and took their mobile phones. According to the prosecutor, the situation lasted over two and a half hours.
The man hit the child and locked him in the bathroom. He then directed violence towards the woman: strangling her, hitting her in the head several times, and piercing her neck with a kitchen knife.
The woman and child had fled to a refuge in December of the previous year, approximately three months before the homicide. The woman filed for divorce and a restraining order, but the restraining order was not issued — the parties agreed in February that they would not contact each other. According to the prosecutor, the man breached the agreement several times and followed the woman and child to their new flat.
According to the prosecution, the man acquired smarttag tracking devices on the day before the woman moved in order to locate her and the child. He also searched on his mobile phone for information about the victim's new flat before carrying out the act.
In his written response submitted to the court, the man denies the murder and considers himself guilty of manslaughter at most.
In addition to murder and assault, the man is accused of two sexual offences. One of the victims was under 16 years of age based on the offence classification. According to publicly available information from the District Court, the suspected serious sexual assault on a child took place in Turku between June 2024 and December 2025 — a period lasting approximately one and a half years. The man is also being sought punishment for sexual assault and unlawful threats, which occurred between June and December 2025.
Source: Yle Uutiset