Cleaner recounts bloodstains in Minna Suominen murder appeal

The appeal hearing in the 14-year-old killing of Minna Suominen continued in Turku, where a cleaner told the court she had washed fresh blood from a stairwell. Yle reported that the defendant, Emmi Pietilä, is appealing her manslaughter conviction and denies the charge.

The killing took place in a private apartment in Turku in January 2012. Three people were there at the time. Suominen’s boyfriend died a few days later for health reasons, and her body has never been found.

The district court ruled last spring that Pietilä was responsible for the killing and sentenced her to 10 years in prison, citing especially reprehensible features of the crime. Suominen was assaulted over an extended period, and after her death her body was dismembered and disposed of somewhere in the Turku region.

The cleaner told the appeal court that a resident had asked her to look at a lower floor, where she found a large pool of blood beside the stair railing and an apartment door standing open. She fetched water and cleaning fluid and washed it away. She said the blood was fresh and that she had also seen smaller amounts on another cleaning visit. She did not recall the timeline, but agreed that her memory may have been clearer when she spoke to police in 2012.

Suominen’s child, who did not live with her, also testified. The child said they became worried and reported her missing with a care home worker. Authorities told the child in May 2012 that Suominen had probably been the victim of a homicide; her father had told the child about her death earlier that spring.

The prosecution argues that Pietilä committed the killing because Suominen’s boyfriend was too physically unwell to do so. The child described him as calm, sickly and “fragile as an eggshell.” The defence has criticised the evidence as relying too heavily on hearsay.

The court is also reviewing old investigative material because several witnesses have died. Testimony covers the boyfriend’s physical condition, behaviour and possible violence, as well as Suominen’s possible aggression and what witnesses heard about the killing. Witness hearings are due to continue next week.