Prosecutor says Mika Moring killed Saara Arva

Prosecutors say Mika Moring killed Saara Arva and was the only person who could have committed the crime, Yle reports. The trial ended on Friday at the North Savo District Court, where the prosecution sought a prison sentence of 9.5 to 10 years for manslaughter and aggravated deprivation of liberty.

Arva, who was from Helsinki, disappeared in Vesanto around the turn of August and September 2019. Her remains were found in April 2024 on a remote peninsula on the shore of Lake Iso Vesijärvi in Vesanto.

Prosecutor Antti Lampén said Moring killed Arva with a folding knife or through other violence. He said Moring transported her body to the peninsula by boat, either while she was alive or after she had died.

According to the prosecution, it was not credible that Arva had made her way to the difficult-to-reach peninsula herself. An accidental death or suicide was also ruled out, Lampén said.

“The discovery site is one that is suitable for hiding something,” he said.

Arva was wearing men’s padded trousers and her own bra when she died. A hoodie was also found near the remains, while Arva’s bank card was in a pocket of the trousers. The bra had been torn.

The card was used to check the account balance and pay for fuel after 6pm on September 1, 2019. The prosecution said telecommunications data showed Moring had enough time to take the card to the site where Arva’s remains were later found before leaving for Helsinki.

Before returning, Moring bought cleaning equipment and cleaning products. He has also told the court that he washed his car.

“If there is something in the car that someone wants to conceal, it is worth washing the car in Vesanto rather than waiting until reaching Helsinki,” Lampén said in his closing statement.

Moring has given several different accounts of how he and Arva parted ways in Vesanto. He has said they argued in Horonkylä.

“If there are 16 interrogations, of course the account changes in some way. But when a short account produces this many stories, it cannot be considered credible,” Lampén said.

Two missing-person reports were filed for Arva, the last of them in September 2019. Moring had told a close relative that Arva had been seen in Helsinki and Vantaa. The prosecution said this was an attempt to conceal her actual whereabouts.

Prosecution points to earlier convictions

The prosecution said it had shown that no one other than Moring could have killed Arva. Two separate body-detection dogs also indicated the trunk of Moring’s car.

Two witnesses told the court on Tuesday that Arva’s face had appeared beaten.

Lampén also pointed to Moring’s previous convictions for assaults and deprivation of liberty, saying they included features similar to those in Arva’s case.

Moring has been described as a serial predator after being convicted of several violent and sexual offences against women. He is currently serving a years-long prison sentence.

Defence says alternatives were not ruled out

Moring denies the charges. He says Arva was with him voluntarily and has denied using any physical violence against her.

Defence lawyer Kaarle Gummerus said the prosecution had relied heavily on possibilities and probabilities in its evidence.

“If a Savonian prosecutor says ‘it might be’, that does not, in my view, mean the matter has been proven,” Gummerus said.

He argued that the prosecution had failed to rule out alternative accounts of what happened. The charges of manslaughter and aggravated deprivation of liberty should therefore be dismissed, he said.

Gummerus said the prosecution had to prove how events had actually and certainly unfolded, adding that something being possible or probable was not enough. The verdict is expected in September.