An elderly man accused of fatally shooting a man in his 40s earlier this year confessed to the crime during a hearing at Oulu District Court on Tuesday.
The man admitted to shooting the victim at a village hall in Taivalkoski, saying that he was in emotional turmoil. The violent act in March stemmed from an old grudge about a timber deal, as the victim was a buyer for a forestry company.
"He cut down my wife's forest. The forest was a couple of hundred years old. He cut it down," the 85-year-old defendant told the court.
The local prosecutor has demanded that the defendant be handed a life sentence for the crime.
The elderly defendant told the court that he decided to shoot the victim as soon as he saw him.
The two men were at a village hall in Taivalkoski to attend a fishing association meeting. The elderly man had just arrived when he recognised the other man.
"At that moment I went and got the gun from the car and loaded it," the man told the court.
Then, the defendant said he returned to the hall and shot the victim with a shotgun.
A bystander took or pushed the weapon out of the shooter's hands and threw it onto the floor.
Then the elderly man ran back to his car, drove home and called emergency services. The man broke down in tears as he recounted the events.
"There was a calm and businesslike person [who answered]. I tried explaining things," he told the court.
Two criminal charges
According to the defendant's lawyer, the shooting was not planned in advance and the defendant had no previous plans to hurt the victim.
The defence attorney said that while the timber deal had weighed on the defendant's mind, the shooting was not a premeditated act of revenge, but rather an impulsive act.
The elderly defendant told the court that the timber deal had caused him to suffer from insomnia aasnd other issues.
The defendant was asked about how he felt about the fatal shooting.
"I can't say. It's done — it happened. Nothing can be done about it," he said.
In addition to a murder charge, the defendant is also facing a charge of endangering the health or life of others, because there were several people in the hall at the time of the shooting.
The defendant has denied both charges. His defence lawyer has called the act manslaughter rather than murder, which is a less severe offense.
Oulu District Court is expected to hand down a verdict later.
