Kotka man admits killing wife but denies murder charge

A man from Kotka has admitted killing his wife but denied murder in a case being heard by the Kymenlaakso District Court, Yle reported. The woman, who was under 50, was killed in the couple’s home in the Karhuvuori district of Kotka on 10 May.

The man, born in 1974, allegedly attacked his wife while she was sleeping in a bedroom during the night between Saturday and Sunday. He struck her at least 12 times with a serrated kitchen knife and an axe.

The couple’s child was sleeping in an adjoining room. The accused tied the child’s bedroom door to the bathroom door with the cord of a hanging flower basket, preventing the child from seeing the killing.

He called the emergency services immediately afterwards and confessed. In a recording played in court, he said: “I have killed a person.”

The man told the court that he had thought about killing his wife for a long time. His defence argued that the act was not particularly brutal or cruel.

He was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the killing and cooperated with police during the pre-trial investigation.

The accused has been held in custody since May and took part in the trial by video link from Vantaa Prison. The hearing is scheduled to last one day.