Suspect in alcohol poisoning case remanded in custody

Police exhume buried body for examination

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A 51-year-old man believed to have served poisoned alcoholic beverages at his home in Kauhava was remanded in custody by Lapua District Court on Friday on suspicion of aggravated assault.
      The suspected crime is believed to have taken place in the period between the Friday before Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.
     
The police are investigating the role of poisoned alcohol in the deaths of two men and one woman, and in the serious toxic reactions of other members of the same group. The victims have been hospitalised for in Kauhava and Seinäjoki.
      One patient who remains in hospital has been transferred from intensive care to a regular ward.
      At the request of police, the two-and-a-half hour remand hearing took place behind closed doors, and the material was declared confidential until the time of the trial. Formal charges need to be raised by March 4th.
     
During the Christmas season, a group of nearly ten people had been guests at the home of the suspect.
      The suspect’s lawyer Tuure Ristikangas denies the charges of aggravated assault.
      The head of the police investigation, Olli-Pekka Punkari, refused to say what the poisoned alcohol contained, citing investigative reasons.
     
The first results of laboratory studies reached the police on Friday. According to those who had taken the drink, the liquid was brownish in colour, and tasted fairly bad.
      Punkari believes that none of the poisoned beverage is in circulation.
     
The most serious effects of the poisoned drink arise, when alcohol leaves the body rapidly.
      Punkari would not say how the police became aware of the cases of poisoning. He confirmed that it happened in January.
      The head of the investigation confirmed that the grave of one of the victims had been opened up so that a forensic autopsy could be performed.
      Autopsies had been performed on the other victims before burial.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Three killed, several more suffer poisoning from tainted alcohol (5.1.2007)

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