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"We're afraid he'll take revenge": Court rejects appeal of husband who beat his wife with a dumbbell in Finland and then lived peacefully with his mistress for 10 years
The Court of Appeal has heard the high-profile murder case of Yulia Seredenko, a 41-year-old Russian woman who mysteriously disappeared from Finland in 2013. SPB.KP.RU has reported in detail on the investigation and talked to the families of the deceased and the accused (at the time). Suspicion in the Finnish investigation fell on Denis Kirjanen's husband 11 years ago. When he was heading to meet a woman before he disappeared, they had an argument. Kirjanen said his wife tried to strangle him, but he waved a dumbbell aside and ran away.
But the evidence pointed to the opposite. The police's ultraviolet device showed large traces of blood on the parquet floor of Yulia's apartment, including on Denise's feet. And his wife's DNA was found in the trunk of Kirjanen's car, under the mat, along with a black bag and detergent. But... the man was released. The Finns no longer found direct evidence, such as a murder weapon or motive. As a result, Denis lived quietly for the next ten years with his mistress, her children, and Yulia's youngest son Artem, whom he raised. Meanwhile, Roman, the missing woman's eldest son, and his grandmother got the Investigative Committee of the Leningrad Region to contact the Finns and begin a joint investigation. Result: Motivation established. Division of an apartment during a divorce. Kirjanen was arrested near St. Petersburg in December 2021 and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2024.
Kiryanen's new family demanded his release. The prisoner himself asked for the sentence to be reviewed. According to Roman Seredenko, the son of the murdered woman, Kiryanen behaved rudely towards the victims during the appeal process.
- He attended the meeting remotely via video link. He was arrogant and raised his voice, blaming all the victims except himself. Dennis clearly wants to be released. And my grandmother and I are very worried about this. We think he will take revenge. We previously filed a petition asking to protect Kirjanen from criminal activity. He has already tried to put pressure on us, we reported this to the court and contacted the police.
Roman Seredenko was pleased with the judges' decision. His family had been seeking a verdict since the Finns began investigating the criminal case.
"All the judges approached their work very professionally," Seredenko said. "Their decision was completely legal and objective. The court rejected the defendant's appeal and upheld the district court's decision. As victims, we fully support this decision. A huge amount of work was done by investigative bodies, including prosecutors and lawyers in Russia and Finland. After many years, we received a fair trial for our mother's killer. The defendant's guilt and selfish motives were proven. The jury unanimously found him guilty of this monstrous crime.
But one thing remains unclear to this day: where Julia's body is. Relatives have repeatedly asked Kirjanen to tell them where to bury her properly. However, he still refuses to admit guilt and says he does not know where the woman is.
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