With an inexplicable four-day delay, the Finnish police reported on Tuesday that the man who was arrested last week in Rovaniemi (Lapland), suspected of double homicide, is a father and the two victims are his small children.
According to the scant information provided on Tuesday by the Lapland Police Department, the murdered children were under school age and the suspected perpetrator is their father, who allegedly killed them both inside their home on 12 August.
The day after the crime, 13 August, the man was arrested and remanded in custody by the Lapland District Court on suspicion of two homicides. However, that day the police only said in a brief statement that the suspect and the two victims "already knew each other."
The police have opened a preliminary investigation into the events that led to the tragic outcome. They say they do not suspect that there are more people involved in the crime.
The police statement says nothing more about the suspect. However, information provided by private citizens on Internet forums indicates that he is a man born in 1984, of Finnish nationality and origin.
Police say relatives of the murdered children have been offered crisis assistance. And they add that, due to the "sensitivity" of the criminal case, they will not provide more information to the public opinion about what happened.
