Triple murderer released from jail
A Finnish man sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of three members of the same family in northern Sweden in 1988 was let out of jail on Monday morning.
Nikita Fouganthine, formerly known as Juha Valjakkala, was released on probation from Riihimäki prison in southern Finland.
Fouganthine shot and killed a man and his 15-year-old son and stabbed the man's wife to death in a graveyard in Åmsele, near Skellefteå, in 1988.
The incident took place after the family asked Fouganthine to return a bicycle he had stolen from them.
The Finn and his girlfriend were arrested a week later in Denmark after one the most extensive manhunts in Swedish history. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and deportation. His girlfriend was sentenced to two years in jail for serious assault.
After nineteen years behind bars, Foughanthine was let out of jail in February of last year but was promptly taken back to prison after violating the terms of his supervised conditional release.
Just two months before his supervision was due to end, the prison performed a surveillance check and found that he wasn’t at home. The telephone granted him as a condition of his release remained in his house, and the prison was unable to reach him.
He was arrested the following evening in northern Finland.
Finland's Court of Appeal ruled in June to overturn his supervised probationary release, but the Supreme Court later granted Foughanthine the right to appeal the decision and in December sanctioned a conditional release.
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Nikita Fouganthine, formerly known as Juha Valjakkala, was released on probation from Riihimäki prison in southern Finland.
Fouganthine shot and killed a man and his 15-year-old son and stabbed the man's wife to death in a graveyard in Åmsele, near Skellefteå, in 1988.
The incident took place after the family asked Fouganthine to return a bicycle he had stolen from them.
The Finn and his girlfriend were arrested a week later in Denmark after one the most extensive manhunts in Swedish history. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and deportation. His girlfriend was sentenced to two years in jail for serious assault.
After nineteen years behind bars, Foughanthine was let out of jail in February of last year but was promptly taken back to prison after violating the terms of his supervised conditional release.
Just two months before his supervision was due to end, the prison performed a surveillance check and found that he wasn’t at home. The telephone granted him as a condition of his release remained in his house, and the prison was unable to reach him.
He was arrested the following evening in northern Finland.
Finland's Court of Appeal ruled in June to overturn his supervised probationary release, but the Supreme Court later granted Foughanthine the right to appeal the decision and in December sanctioned a conditional release.
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