Killer who stabbed lover caged for life
Woman knifed by boyfriend in Lapland resort
A FORMER soldier was yesterday jailed for life for the ‘cold-blooded’ murder of his Scottish girlfriend in Lapland.
Rebecca Johnson was stabbed 40 times by Karel Frybl in Finland, where the pair ran Christmas-themed dog sled tours.
The Czech national admitted killing the 26-year-old but denied murder and claimed he had no memory of the incident because of a temporary mental breakdown.
But yesterday at Lapland District Court in Rovaniemi he was convicted of murder.
Miss Johnson’s mother Anne, who was in court, was visibly upset as the horrific attack was described.
Judge Esko Hohti said: ‘The act was determined and deliberate and there was a clear intention of killing.
‘Several injuries were caused during a short period of time, causing an enormous amount of pain and horror.
‘Bloodstains on the walls of the cottage also show that stabbing had continued while the victim was already lying on the floor.
‘This was a very cruel, extremely violent and cold-blooded act.’
Miss Johnson, of Burntisland, Fife, and Frybl, 37, also known as Radek Kovac, had been together since 2015.
They were working for the Santa Safari company in Finland.
She suffered stab wounds to her chest, head, neck, abdomen, back, hands and right leg in the attack in December 2016.
A witness earlier told the court Frybl’s eyes had been ‘blank’ during the incident but he appeared ‘focused’ on what he was doing.
He recalled: ‘I heard Becky screaming and the sound of the impact after the screaming.
‘The screams seemed like the air was being pushed out of her, like a wheeze.’
The witness ran to the cabin where the attack took place and screamed at Frbyl to stop. When asked to describe Frybl he said: ‘He was in a rage, he was wide-eyed. Blank, dead eyes.’
He saw Miss Johnson ‘laid down in the corner’ and went to call an ambulance.
Four members of her family were in court yesterday and her mother burst out crying, held by her husband Henry, as Mr Hohti described the severity of her injuries.
A psychiatric assessment of Frybl by the Finish Institute of Health and Welfare stated: ‘According to the mental health act, the accused was in full mental capacity during the act that he was accused of.
‘The defendant is not in need of treatment as defined in the mental health act and has to be transferred to prison immediately.’
Chief prosecutor Juhani Mäki said: ‘Frybl must be given a life sentence for murder and his imprisonment must continue.’
Katri Mäkinen, defending, said that Frybl, a former chef, deeply regretted what he had done and took full responsibility for the killing.
Under Finnish law, a murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence. In practice this means at least 12 years in prison.
Frybl was immediately returned to prison after the hearing.
‘Cruel, violent and cold-blooded act’