Rovaniemi Court upholds life sentences for murder of 18-year-old in Finland

The Rovaniemi Court of Appeal has upheld a murder conviction initially handed down by the Oulu District Court in October 2022 regarding the killing of an 18-year-old woman. She was suffocated in a sofa’s divan box during a violent debt collection attempt. Tiina Pia Susanna Seppänen, born in 1982, and Ari Ossi Petteri Suorsa, born in 1983, were both sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder. They denied the charges and appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal, where the case was reviewed in August and September 2023.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the District Court’s assessment that Seppänen and Suorsa had indeed committed murder through their actions. The court described the crime as particularly brutal and heinous, recognizing its torturous nature. Additionally, the court ordered the pair to pay €8,000 to the victim’s relatives in compensation for their suffering.

The Rovaniemi Court of Appeal also reinforced sentences for other participants in related crimes. It upheld a three-year and three-month sentence for a man born in the 1980s for aggravated deprivation of liberty and aggravated robbery. Furthermore, the court found a woman, also born in the 1980s, and a man born in the 1990s guilty of aggravated robbery, sentencing both to two years and six months of imprisonment. The Oulu District Court had previously imposed a suspended sentence of one year and eight months for robbery on them, along with a one-year and four-month prison term for the latter individual.