Two young men held in connection with murder of Professor Tikka

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Two young men have been taken into custody by the Helsinki Criminal Police in connection with the investigation into the murder of Prof. Kari S. Tikka.
      Tikka, 61, a professor at the Department of Public Law of the University of Helsinki and a well-known Finnish tax expert, was killed in his Helsinki apartment early on Thursday morning. The same night Tikka had been seen leaving the nearby DTM restaurant and night-club in the company of the two men.
      The pair, aged 19 and 23, were apprehended in the eastern suburb of Vuosaari on Sunday evening. Video surveillance footage was used in identifying the men. One is believed to be of Estonian background and the other a Russian.
     
On Monday the police announced that Tikka's death was being looked into as murder. Det. Chief Inspector Arto Karalahti, who made the announcement, refrained from revealing why the most severe term for a homicide crime was being used by police.
      "This case is being investigated as murder", he stated simply.
      According to Karalahti, one of the apprehended men presumably knew Tikka "somehow", although he was not from the professor's immediate circle of friends.
      The official hearing of the apprehended men will commence on Tuesday, for their legal aids failed to make it to the Monday interrogation.
      The police have to decide on Wednesday whether to request a court decision to remand the men because of the ongoing investigation.
     
Since the technical and other police investigations are still very much under way, Karalahti refused to reveal how the murder was carried out and if a weapon was used.
      The same applies to possible missing items from Tikka's apartment.
      "There is no absolute certainty at this stage, but apparently something has disappeared, some cigarettes and alcohol. Tikka's valuable art collection seems to be intact", Karalahti discloses.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki professor found murdered in apartment (29.5.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat