A 16-year Finnish girl suspected of hiring three men to kill her mom, with the aid of a crossbow

Link to the story.

Teenage girl suspected of paying to have mother killed

Police suspect that a 16-year-old Helsinki girl paid a 19-year-old man to kill her mother. On January 16th, a young man rang the doorbell of the 40-year-old woman. He said that he wanted to see the woman's daughter, and was let in. A moment later the woman felt a strong blow to the back of her head and ran to the balcony of her apartment. She managed to close the door behind her and call for help. Through the balcony window she could see that there was another man in the apartment as well.

One of the men had shot the woman with a crossbow - the kind that is used to shoot small game, police say. "Fortunately the arrow hit a hard spot - the back of the woman's head - and only left a bloody wound", said Juha Rautaheimo of the Helsinki police. According to the police the men had intended to knock the woman unconscious and kill her later in some other way. A police officer responding to the call stopped a man near the apartment who had a crossbow in his bag. A crossbow arrow was found on the floor of the woman's apartment.

According to Rautaheimo, the crime had been planned for about two weeks. Police have remanded four men and one woman suspected of participation or complicity in an attempted murder. Police say that the 16-year-old daughter had promised the 19-year-old man a cash reward for the killing. The daughter did not live with the mother at the time of the attack. The man had persuaded two 20-year-old friends to join him. The crime was planned at the Espoo home of a fourth man, who now faces charges of aiding and abetting. The suspects, all native-born Finns, do not have any prior criminal records.

Rautaheimo says that the case is unique in Finnish criminal history, in light of the young age of the daughter. The documents linked with the case have been declared secret for the protection of the victim. The investigation continues, and the deadline for pressing final charges is April 1st.

I know this is kinda horrible, but it also sounds like some B-rate thriller movie plot... I bet the police find out one of the guys was her boyfriend or something, can't imagine a 16-year old having enough cash to hire someone she doesn't even know to do this.