It was on June 29, summer 2021, that a man was found dead in a village outside Pajala.
A man in his 60s was suspected of forcibly causing the victim to lose consciousness and then move his body, with the help of a woman in her 50s, to a car which was then ignited.
In the district court, the couple was sentenced to long prison terms.
The man was sentenced to 15 years in prison and the woman to eight years.
The couple released on bail
The verdict was appealed and on Tuesday the appeals court hearings ended.
After that, the court decided to release the two suspects.
- A clear indication that my client will not be convicted of murder or arson.
It seems that the Court of Appeal has shared our view, says the man's defender Frida Larsson and continues:
- There is a lot that indicates that everything has been an accident and nothing that indicates that my client has been involved.
With regard to the technical evidence, the Court of Appeal sees the weakness in the prosecutor's evidence.
Admissions made then?
- I have in the Court of Appeal referred to an expert who is very prominent in dementia research who has explained that it has been documented that he is demented and it may be because he has said things that are not true.
He has received information from elsewhere and then started to admit things, says Larsson.
"The worst evidence in a murder case"
Marko Tuhkanen, defense lawyer for the woman, is grateful for the Court of Appeal's decision.
However, he believes that it should have been concluded earlier that it was an accident.
- This is the absolute worst evidence in a murder case I have witnessed where there has been a conviction.
I can feel some bitterness that it has gone this far.
On July 14, the verdict will come.