Court to rule on Iitti murder charge against teenager

The Päijät-Häme District Court will rule on Tuesday whether a boy who was 15 at the time committed murder after a 52-year-old man died in Iitti, Yle reports. The verdict is due in Lahti from 1.30pm.

The court previously found in an interim ruling that the boy was responsible for the man’s death. The boy admitted causing the death at the victim’s home in Kausala, Iitti, in August 2025.

The victim died from injuries after the boy strangled him and stabbed him. The prosecution is seeking a murder conviction. The court will now decide which offence the boy committed after receiving a completed report on his mental state.

The hearing will be held behind closed doors. The boy, who is now 17, has been free while awaiting the verdict.

They met at a bar

The boy did not know the man beforehand. They met a few hours before the killing at a local bar, where the boy had entered using false identification.

According to the interim ruling, they discussed politics, drank and smoked together. The boy said the man had touched and approached him inappropriately, but this was not visible in surveillance footage. The boy complained about the man’s conduct to the bar owner, who had been following the situation.

The boy later became aggressive and intoxicated, accused the bar owner of various things and threatened to rob him of his bank card. The bar owner asked him to leave. The boy and the man eventually left the bar together and went to the man’s apartment.

At least 16 stab wounds

According to the boy, events at the apartment unfolded quickly. He said the man had approached and touched him, causing him to lose control.

The boy told the court that he first struck the man with a glass. He then knocked him to the floor and strangled him with a shoelace. After the victim struggled, the boy attacked him with, among other things, a fork and scissors, according to the interim ruling.

The man had at least 16 stab wounds. The boy remained in the apartment for about 30 to 45 minutes before leaving. He put the objects used in the attack in the sink and washed his hands and feet. The victim’s spouse found him dead and called the emergency services.

Police initially investigated manslaughter

Häme Police initially investigated the killing as manslaughter, but changed the suspected offence to murder soon after the investigation began.

Police did not immediately find the boy. They located him in Lahti, at premises rented by his mother. Drugs were found there when he was arrested.

Yle reported last week that the same teenager is also suspected of aggravated assault in Helsinki. The suspected assault took place towards the end of August.