A 66-year-old Norwegian man who has admitted shooting his celebrity Finnish partner at their home in Finland last week has been “in shock,” according to his defense attorney. So have others who knew Rolf Nordmo, an educated veterinarian and businessman from Trøndelag now charged in Finland with the murder of his partner, former ice hockey player and TV personality Janne Puhakka.
Nordmo, who specialized in marine issues and once planned to build a salmon-raising facility on land, remains in police custody and faces a life term in prison if found guilty of pre-meditated murder. Finnish police have said Nordmo admitted to shooting Puhakka, age 29, and that the motive was the break-up of their partnership over the past 10 years.
Nordmo and Puhakka had been open about their relationship, with Puhakka even writing a book about “coming out of the closet” in the macho hockey culture. Newspaper Aftenposten has reported that Nordmo had earlier been married to a woman and has three children. According to Puhakka’s book, Nordmo was initially most concerned about the vast age difference between them, but after several years of a long-distance relationship, they established a home together near Helsinki in 2019. Nordmo himself published photos of the couple on the occasion of their 10th anniversary in June.
Police said their relationship instead ended a few weeks before Puhakka met Nordmo at their residence last weekend to settle practical matters. Police said Nordmo shot Puhakka several times with a rifle. Nordmo’s defense attorney said later that his client was “crushed” and now feels “very sorry for the victim and the victim’s family.”
NewsinEnglish.no staff
