Kotka killing sentences become final after body was burned

Prison sentences handed to two men convicted of killing a third man in Kotka in 2024 have become final, Yle reports. No one applied to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal.

The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal upheld the Kymenlaakso District Court’s ruling, sentencing Antti Heikki Kalevi Saarenpää to 12 years in prison and Kristian Juhani Löf to 10 years.

A woman who was also charged in the case received a six-month suspended prison sentence for violating the sanctity of the dead. She helped carry the body to a basement.

Violence followed dispute over amphetamine

The killing came after an argument that began over amphetamine during an evening gathering. The body was found on 19 November 2024 in a burned wooden house on Ajurinkatu in central Kotka.

One of the men told the court that the gathering had escalated into bloody violence after the victim used his amphetamine without permission.

Both men cut the victim with a bladed weapon. They also assaulted him with several objects, including a hammer, and kicked and stamped on his head.

After the assault, the convicted men dragged the body to the basement of another apartment in the same terraced house. They placed rags, paper and other material on top of it and set the pile alight.

Sentences will be carried out

All three defendants had previous criminal records. Saarenpää and Löf have been held in custody and have already served part of their sentences.

A plan will be drawn up with each prisoner for the period of imprisonment, including individual goals to be addressed during the sentence. The final part of a prison sentence is usually served in an open prison to help the prisoner adjust to life outside prison.