Finland’s trailblazing hockey player Janne Puhakka has allegedly been shot and killed by his husband just weeks after their relationship came to an end.
Puhakka made history in Finland in 2019 when he became the first professional ice hockey player to share that they were gay. He later published a memoir about his life.
He had been in a relationship with Norwegian man Rolf Nordmo, who was 37 years his senior. The pair first met in 2014.
While police have not released any names, they have confirmed that a 66-year-old man has been taken into custody over the death of the younger 29-year-old and charged with murder.
Police say in an interview the suspect confirmed he’d killed the younger man with a hunting rifle which he owned legally. The breakdown of their relationship has been cited as the impetus for the violent death.
Puhakka was appearing in the television show Petolliset, the local version of The Traitors. The television station broadcasting the series has pulled the final episode of the show out of respect to the murdered man.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin is one of many people who have paid tribute to Puhakka follwing his sudden death.
