Eastern Finland Court of Appeal convicts man of murder in Hamina death

The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal has convicted a man of murder and a woman of manslaughter following a fatal incident in Hamina in January 2025. The ruling overturns a previous decision by the Kymenlaakso District Court, which had dismissed the charges.

The incident occurred during a gathering at the woman's apartment. According to the prosecution, the man strangled the victim while the woman held the victim's legs. The defendants had argued that their actions were justified as self-defense, claiming the victim had behaved aggressively toward the woman.

While the District Court initially accepted the self-defense argument, the Court of Appeal determined that the prolonged strangulation was the primary cause of death. The court found that the man held the victim in a powerful chokehold for several minutes while pinning him down with his body weight. The court concluded that the man should have recognized that his actions would likely result in the victim's death, thereby qualifying the act as murder.