Man accused of murdering ex-partner at McDonald’s in Pitäjänmäki, Finland

A man is accused of murdering his ex-partner in a fast-food restaurant in order to make their child an orphan, prosecutors claim. The case began Monday at the Helsinki District Court. According to the indictment, the 30-year-old man stabbed the woman, in her twenties, 13 times at a McDonald’s in Pitäjänmäki. The attack took place shortly after 10 PM on Saturday, April 6, resulting in the woman’s death from her injuries at the scene. Their child, just three weeks old, was present during the incident.

The man and woman were divorced, and the child lived with the mother. “The accused suddenly began to stab the victim. The act occurred in a public place, with their child present, knowing that the child would be left orphaned, which was the accused’s explicit intention,” prosecutor Vilma Saari stated in court.

The accused denies the murder charge, claiming he is guilty of manslaughter and aggravated assault. Two women are also charged as accomplices to murder and for sheltering the perpetrator. They deny the accusations. The 34-year-old female co-defendant was in a relationship with the primary defendant, while the 23-year-old woman reportedly had only met the couple a few weeks prior and had taken them in because they had nowhere else to stay in Helsinki.

It is undisputed that the trio bought three knives at the Tripla shopping center on Saturday and took a taxi to the Pitäjänmäki McDonald’s, where the man had arranged to meet the victim to discuss matters concerning the child. The defense argues that the killing was not premeditated, stating that a phone call from the mother of the man’s other child triggered a violent outburst. After the stabbing, the trio fled the scene by taxi. Prosecutors noted that the victim feared the man, which influenced her decision to meet in a public place rather than at her home.