Man sentenced to 10 years for fatal stabbing in Turku, Finland

A court in Turku, Finland, has sentenced a man to 10 years and 7 months in prison for stabbing his acquaintance. The incident occurred in a private residence on Vanhalla Hämeentiellä in October 2023. The court characterized the attack as brutal, particularly due to the number and severity of the knife wounds inflicted.

Last week, the court ordered a psychological evaluation for the defendant, which confirmed he was of sound mind at the time of the crime. According to a witness present during the incident, a dispute arose between the defendant and the victim, leading the man in his twenties to repeatedly stab the victim, a man in his thirties, with a switchblade. A woman who attempted to intervene was also attacked, sustaining three knife wounds. As a result, the court charged the defendant with aggravated assault, which extended his prison sentence.

Both the woman and the deceased were able to leave the apartment to seek help, but the victim succumbed to his injuries. The defendant has a lengthy criminal history, including a sentence in May 2023 from the Western Uusimaa District Court for aggravated assault, resulting in a 1 year and 4 month suspended sentence. He has also received convictions for eight instances of assault from 2020 to 2022, along with charges for theft, property damage, and violations of domestic peace.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered the defendant to pay a total of €52,000 in damages to the family of the deceased and to the injured woman.