Oulu manslaughter trial begins after victim found dying outdoors

A manslaughter trial involving two men began on Thursday at Oulu District Court over the death of a roughly 40-year-old man found severely injured outdoors last year, Yle reported.

Prosecutors allege that the homicide took place inside a private residence on Tornihaukantie in Oulu’s Kaukovainio district and outdoors nearby on 7 May 2025.

Police were called to the scene shortly after 4 a.m. The victim was found on the ground outside, badly beaten and barely alive. He was taken to hospital but later died from his injuries, prompting a homicide investigation.

The defendants, aged 26 and 34, were remanded in custody during the pre-trial investigation. They were released after the investigation was completed in August 2025. The prosecutor later charged both men with manslaughter.

The trial was originally scheduled to begin last May but was postponed after one of the defendants could not be located or served with the summons. He has now been found and is attending the trial alongside the other defendant.

Both men deny the charges in full and deny acting together. They claim self-defence.

According to the prosecution, the defendants killed the victim by striking him in the thigh with a knife. Based on the injuries, the victim was stabbed or struck in the thigh seven times.

The prosecutor has also requested convictions for aggravated assault and aggravated causing of death if the court does not convict the men of manslaughter.

The defendants say the victim burst into the apartment armed with, among other things, a bladed weapon, an air gun and a Molotov cocktail. The younger defendant says the victim attacked him with the bladed weapon. He fought back with his fists but was overpowered. The older defendant says he came to help and admits stabbing the victim three or four times in the buttock or thigh area.