Man who killed girlfriend in Lapland has murder conviction overturned

Finnish Court of Appeal reduces murder to homicide charge

A former soldier who killed his Fife girlfriend in a remote part of northern Finland has had his murder conviction overturned on appeal.

The ruling in Karel Frybl’s favour came in a rare 2-1 split decision from judges yesterday at the Lapland Court of Appeal in the Finnish city of Rovaniemi.

His murder conviction has been downgraded to homicide and he has been given an 11-year prison sentence.

Johannes Ahola, a local lawyer who has been following the case, said: “This means that it has been a difficult case, because it’s rather unusual for the Appeals Court judges to vote. It happens, but not really often.”

Frybl, from the Czech Republic, confessed to killing his girlfriend Rebecca Johnson, originally from Burntisland, at a trial last year.

He says he blacked out during the attack in December 2016 which left then 26-year-old Rebecca with more than 30 stab wounds to her head, chest, back, abdomen and thigh.

The couple had been working as tour guides at a husky ranch and the only other person there at the time was colleague Joseph Pickles, who heard Rebecca’s screams and witnessed Frybl standing over her with a knife in his hands.

Frybl – who used the name Radek Kovac throughout his relationship with Rebecca – was originally convicted by the district court in Rovaniemi of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

In practice this would have meant the killer spent 12 to 14 years behind bars.

The crux of the case rested on whether Frybl murdered Rebecca or whether it was a crime of homicide, which are different legal definitions in Finnish law.

To secure a murder conviction, the prosecution would have to establish a higher threshold. This could include a degree of premeditation, if the violence was particularly cruel or sustained, or if the victim was tortured.

A panel of judges said in their official deliberation that the fact Frybl continued to stab Rebecca Johnson after Pickles had interrupted the attack shows his determination to kill her.

But, the judges also wrote that Frybl didn’t deliberately prolong her death or take actions to increase the pain.

“Although Frybl is undoubtedly considered to be cruel, [the killing] cannot be considered to be particularly cruel” in line with Finnish laws, the judges say.

“When thinking about the case you have to always remember that the court is considering it only on the basis of criminal law, even if you feel as a layman that it has been a very cruel that’s not enough, it has to reach the level of murder according to the law,” said Mr Ahola, who is not connected with the case.

The judges in the Appeals Court being divided on whether Frybl should have his sentence reduced leaves the door open for a possible appeal to Finland’s Supreme Court, by Rebecca’s family or the prosecutor.

In the meantime Frybl will be in jail in Finland.

Karel Frybl attending court, and Rebecca Johnson, who was stabbed to death while working at a husky ranch by her thenboyfriend, Frybl.