Kotka man gets life for murdering wife while child slept

A court in Kymenlaakso sentenced a Kotka man to life in prison for murdering his wife while their child was at home, Yle reported.

The man, born in 1974, killed his wife with a serrated kitchen knife and an axe in Kotka in May 2026. She was asleep in a bedroom. He struck her at least 12 times.

After the killing, the man called emergency services and confessed. When police arrived on May 10, he was waiting outside the apartment building. His teenage child was found behind a bedroom door that had been secured with the cord of a hanging flowerpot. The child told police they had heard shouting and blows while partly asleep.

The man admitted killing his wife but denied murder. He said he had thought for a long time about killing her and had also considered suicide. Prosecutors presented evidence that he had searched online in March for information about killing a person.

The court found that the killing was planned and carried out after careful consideration. It described the method as exceptionally brutal, noting that the injuries required considerable force and that the man continued while his wife tried to defend herself. The court also said the killing was cruel because she was asleep and unable to defend herself in her own home, and because it was domestic violence committed while their child was at home.

In addition to the life sentence, the man was ordered to pay 35,000 euros in compensation for suffering. The verdict can be appealed and is not final.