Prosecutor charges father with four murders and arson in Savonlinna family fire

A 22-year-old man has been formally charged with four counts of murder and arson in connection with a house fire in Savonlinna’s Louhe village that killed his three young children and their mother on Finland’s Independence Day last year, state broadcaster Yle reports.

The suspect, the children’s father, had previously denied responsibility, according to police. Investigators treated the case as four murders and aggravated criminal damage from the outset.

The Etelä-Savo District Court will begin preliminary hearings in June.