Oulu court hears case of murder by suffocation with toilet paper

Prosecutors have described the killing of a man in Oulu’s Sairaalarinne district as exceptionally brutal, with the victim suffocated using toilet paper after hours of escalating violence, Yle reports. Three suspects, all in their thirties, deny murder charges and have shifted blame onto each other in court.

Victim bound and beaten for hours

The 20-year-old victim was lured to an apartment on 17 October over an alleged €4,000 debt, according to the prosecution. Once inside, he was assaulted with a golf club and the hammer side of an axe, while his hands, feet, and mouth were bound with tape. The abuse intensified over several hours before he was dragged into a bedroom, where dirty toilet paper was forced into his mouth, causing him to suffocate. His body was discovered days later, wrapped in trash bags and splashed with bleach, after police arrived on 22 October to carry out an eviction order.

Prosecutors argue all three suspects—two residents of the apartment and a third man summoned to collect the debt—participated in the torture and killing. Kari Eriksson, the lawyer representing the victim’s family, called the crime “exceptionally cruel,” noting the victim would have experienced extreme terror. “If this isn’t brutal, then nothing is,” Eriksson stated in court.

Suspects deny responsibility

The female resident claims she played no role in the violence and was unaware of the plan. Her partner admits to minor acts of violence and taping the victim’s limbs but insists he acted under coercion, fearing the third man. That man, described by the other suspects as the primary aggressor, admits striking the victim twice and briefly taping his mouth but denies the prosecution’s version of events. He claims the group spent part of the evening socialising and using substances, and that the victim’s death came as a shock.

A fourth defendant, a woman in her thirties, is accused of inciting the debt collector to use violence against the victim prior to the killing. She allegedly believed the victim had cooperated with police in a separate assault case from August 2025, referring to him as a “snitch” (vasikka, slang for informant). While she admits demanding the €4,000 debt, she denies encouraging violence, claiming her intent was only to intimidate the victim into paying.

The Oulu District Court will continue hearings this week and next, with all four defendants expected to testify.