Brit who claimed he 'accidentally' hacked Finnish pensioner to death with an axe after the 75-year-old 'tied him up and raped him' is jailed for 12 years
Garo Jlitakryan, 32, admitted lashing out at his victim, who has not been named, with an axe at least six times on July 29, 2024, in the victim's home town of Seinäjoki.
Jlitakryan had travelled to Finland by bike as part of a charity fundraising event and said he met the elderly man by chance at a spa.
The pair subsequently went back to the man's apartment, where London-based Jlitakryan stayed the night.
The Briton hacked his host to death with an axe he had strapped to his bike the next morning as the pensioner lay in his bed.
He told police who arrested him some three weeks later he did so because he had been drugged tied up and raped by the old man who allegedly refused to let him leave.
Jlitakryan pleaded guilty to manslaughter, according to Southern Finland Newspapers, but police found no evidence of illicit substances or materials that the elderly victim could use to restrain the young and physically fit aggressor.
Investigators also concluded the man was attacked while lying in his bed, and crime scene photos showed blood spattered over the walls, underscoring the violent nature of the attack.
Prosecutors demanded a 10-year sentence for the British citizen after jurors found him to be culpable of murder, according to the outlet.
But the judge in the court of South Ostrobothnia, north-west Finland, delivered a harsher penalty of 12 years today.
Earlier in the trial, Jlitakryan, who was working odd jobs as a gardener, farmer and valet, explained how he had been on a charity ride across Europe for the war veteran's charity Help for Heroes, which took him to Finland.
With the bike ride completed, the Londoner described how he had met his victim at the Härmälä spa in the town of Kauhava.
He claimed the man invited him back to his home in Seinäjoki, a short drive away, and offered him work.
Jlitakryan said in the trial: 'He told me that if I helped him, he could give me sexual favours, but I didn't want sexual favours. I just wanted to rest and charge my phone.
'We ate lunch together, which tasted terrible, then I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was tied with bandages, I couldn't move properly.
'He then committed sexual acts on me and I couldn't escape. The ordeal was horrible. When it was over, he rolled next to me.
'Then he started snoring and I decided to escape. I went to the kitchen and cut my ties there.'
Jlitakryan told the court the man then prevented him from leaving and threatened him with an axe saying 'no one would believe' him.
He added: 'The man had an axe in his hand, I had no choice but to defend myself. It was either him or me.
'He slipped and fell and I went to hit him with the wooden handle of the axe but I also slipped and the axe hit the man.
'I remember hitting him twice, maybe three times. The man didn't move and so my idea was to leave.
'My bike was in the man's car. I packed my things, took the axe and my devices that were charging, panicked and then fled in the car, driving east.'
The elderly victim was not discovered for more than two weeks after his murder.
His daughter told the court she raised the alarm after failing to hear from him and becoming concerned for his well-being.
Police performed a welfare check and found the man's bloodied corpse at home on August 14.
Investigators realised the man's car had been stolen and traced it across the country.
Jlitakryan was eventually arrested by police three days later on August 17.
He was working at a husky farm almost 300 miles away from the scene of the crime. The victim's car was found abandoned in a ditch.
In his last Instagram post before his arrest, Jlitakryan shared a drunken monologue ranting about life in Finland.
'The language barrier is a piss take' and that if you 'don't learn a language you are going to feel an outsider'.
Swigging from a glass, he added: 'I dunno, I may just leave this place, it's a f***ing stressful thing. You can't even get a relationship because you can't speak the language.'
Earlier this year, Jlitakryan's mother, Laura Jlitakryan, described her son as a 'troubled' soul but insisted he maintained his innocence.
Mrs Jlitakryan, 55, told MailOnline: 'To be honest, I don't know what happened, but I spoke to him after he was arrested and he told me: 'Mum, I'm not guilty'.'
The mother told how her 32-year-old son suffered from Aspergers syndrome and ADHD and has been to prison some eight times before deciding to go on the charity ride.
Mrs Jlitakryan said: 'Garo has special needs - Aspergers and ADHD.
'He has not lived with me since he was 14 when he was taken into a special needs unit in Swansea in south Wales.
'He came back to London when he was 18, but he got in trouble. He has been to prison about eight times for burglary and assault.
'When he came out the last time he said he was going to raise money for charity, for Help for Heroes. He set off on his bike in about September 2023, first to Scotland and Ireland, and then he got the ferry to Sweden and from there he went on to Finland.'
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