During police questioning after being detained on Thursday, the suspect confessed to committing the murder and dumping the body. On Monday his lawyer, Heikki Lampela, confirmed the young man’s background as director of the Helsinki branch of the Union of Youth in the National Coalition Party. According to the tabloid Ilta-Sanomat. he had also served as the organisation's communications director and as a columnist for the online newspaper Uusi Suomi.
The man was remanded in custody on Monday.
“The whole incident is a shock. A person has lost their life – she has been killed – and any such incident is one too many. I would like to express my deep condolences to those close to the deceased,” Stubb said.
According to Stubb, the party has been informed that the suspect served the organisation as a leader of the Coalition’s youth wing.
“In any workplace when something like this happens the shock runs deep,” Stubb added.
The Prime Minister said that this kind of act of violence can neither be accepted nor understood. However, he also emphasized that it falls to the police to establish the facts of the killing.
The crime took place a little over a week ago at Laajasalo. The body of the 58-year-old woman, who was a neighbour in the suspect's building, was found on 12 October in Laajasalo harbour.