Copyright yle
The trial of a 19-year-old man accused of murder and attempted murder began at South Savo District Court on Tuesday morning. He is suspected of murdering a 60-year-old woman in the Otava district of Mikkeli last July, before setting her house on fire and then stealing her car. The woman's body was later recovered from the burned out remains of the house. In addition to the murder charge, he also faces a charge of attempted murder in relation to a suspected attack on a taxi driver in Jyväskylä. Police believe he attacked the driver in the early hours of a Sunday morning, stole his vehicle and then drove it to Mikkeli. The car was later found by investigators abandoned near the burned-out house of the woman in Otava. The male taxi driver sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the incident. The prosecutor in the case has called on the court to hand the defendant a life sentence for the murder and attempted murder charges. He also faces a number of other charges in relation to both incidents, including aggravated robbery and aggravated damage to property. The suspect's defence attorney, Henry Saleva, told Yle that his client has cooperated with police, noting that he has admitted to carrying out the acts. However, the defence will argue that the offences fit the description of the lesser charge of negligent homicide. "He [the defendant] has no criminal record, nor has he been involved with any criminals. For something like this to happen right away [his first offence] is exceptional," Saleva said.
