The February 2017 killing
In February 2017, a 17-year-old girl was found unresponsive in the Nokia apartment of her 18-year-old boyfriend, Oskari Topias Sylve. She later died in hospital.
Yle's court reporting described a prolonged assault in which Sylve restricted the victim's breathing with duct tape. The criminal proceedings focused on whether the violence met the legal threshold for murder.
District Court conviction
On 18 October 2017, Pirkanmaa District Court convicted Sylve of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The court found that the violence had escalated over time and that the killing, assessed as a whole, was aggravated enough to qualify as murder. Sylve appealed the judgment.
Court of Appeal left the life sentence in force
On 21 September 2018, Turku Court of Appeal upheld both the murder conviction and the life sentence.
The appellate ruling rejected the attempt to reduce the offence to a lesser homicide classification. The judgment could still be challenged only if Finland's Supreme Court granted leave to appeal.
Supreme Court refused leave to appeal
On 22 January 2019, Finland's Supreme Court refused Sylve leave to appeal.
That decision left the appellate judgment in force and made the murder conviction final. The case is therefore classified as adjudicated.