[not verified in body] The victim of the homicide was a 16-year-old boy, who was described as loyal, nice, gifted and personal, but also as very lonely and quiet.

[12] A woman who had been walking at the Koskela Hospital area at eight o'clock in the evening had seen two of the accused and the victim, who was clearly in a bad way.

[16] The accused recorded their act on video with their mobile phones,[17][18] demonstrating how they exploded a firecracker between the victim's buttocks.

The most violent of the perpetrators later revealed he had felt an inexplicable sense of rage during the assault, which had only gone away when he was walking back home.

The perpetrators discussed the matter repeatedly over the weekend and, despite expressing shock, planned to hide or destroy the body.

[20] The victim's body remained on the murder site over the weekend until Monday 7 December, when it was discovered by a construction worker at eight o'clock in the morning.

A lawyer representing the victim's family asked that the trial be wholly held behind closed doors.

[25] The youngest of the accused asked to be released on bail before the main trial, but the court denied the request.

The prosecution underlined that all three of the accused were participants in the crime and cited text messages they sent to each other in which they discuss "hitting" the victim as evidence of pre-meditation.

[26] They argued that the accused had an unrealistic concept of the resilience of the human body to violence, based on mixed martial arts videos.

[28][6] During a wide investigation by Yleisradio, Finland's public broadcast radio, it became apparent that the victim had been left without support during primary school and later during child care.

[32] In honour of the victim's memory and in opposition to bullying, an unofficial remembrance event was held on 5 March 2021 where candles were lit at visible locations throughout the country.

The idea for the event came from the "Oikeutta Koskelan uhrille" ("Justice For Koskela's victim") Facebook group.

[35] The police made an exceptionally extensive announcement about the investigation, even at a preliminary stage, such was public interest in the matter[36] Jonna Turunen, the chief of the criminal investigation unit of the Police Department of Helsinki, said the case was completely exceptional.

[38] According to Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo, the incident reveals the mental health problems accumulating among the young.

[36] According to Professor Emerita of criminal justice of the University of Lapland Terttu Utriainen, the Koskela murder was exceptionally violent and very rare in Finland.

Utriainen also said the incident shows that many youths have lost any sense of responsibility of their own actions and their values have become blurred.

[31] The editorial column of Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday 21 February said that the extensive and completely unmotivated violence directed at the victim had raised questions about the basic premises of humanity.

It stated that, in addition to punishing the perpetrators and explaining the responsibilities of the authorities, there ought to be an investigation into what could lead to evil of this level.

[39] Similarly, an editorial column of Ilta-Sanomat on 4 March suggested that the cause and effects of the case should be discussed.

The column asked whether the court of law and the community could deal with violent crimes committed by young people.