Finland's First Openly Gay Hockey Player Janne Puhakka, 29, Allegedly Shot Dead by Partner, 66: Police

Janne Puhakka, the country’s first openly gay hockey player, is believed to have been shot and killed by his estranged husband weeks after breaking off their relationship, according to local police.

Puhakka was 29 years old.

In a statement released Tuesday night, the Police of Finland did not identify the victim nor the suspect but said it has been investigating the homicide of a 29-year-old that took place on Oct. 13, the day Puhakka was killed. The statement said that “police have now questioned the man suspected of committing a homicide in Espoo's Henttaa on October 13th” and alleged that “the suspect has told that he shot the victim with a shotgun and caused the victim's death.”

“It was revealed in the interrogation that the motive for the crime was the ending of the relationship between the victim and the suspect,” the Police of Finland statement continued.

The Finnish Broadcasting Company, Yleisradio Oy (YLE), reported over the weekend that Puhakka’s estranged 66-year-old husband Rolf Nordmo is the suspect. Police said in a previous statement that authorities arrested a man of that age at the scene of the crime, who they believed to be responsible for Puhakka’s murder.

Puhakka played one season professionally for the Espoo Blues in Finland’s top Liiga hockey league before joining France's top-level Ligue Magnus league in 2017 and later retiring from the sport, according to YLE. The outlet reports that Puhakka came out publicly shortly after retiring and later wrote a memoir, Ulos kopista, about his life in 2022. 

YLE also reports that Puhakka was a cast member of the Finnish reality show Petolliset, which is an off-shoot of the Dutch reality series, The Traitors. Nelonen Media, the media company who produces the program, said in a statement on social media that it will not air the final episode of Petolliset as planned. “Now is not the time,” the statement reads, according to an English translation.

Police said Tuesday that a friend of the couple had called emergency services to check on Puhakka after growing concerned about his wellbeing, having known that Puhakka and Nordmo were going through a turbulent time and not being able to get in contact with the former hockey player. 

The Police of Finland said investigators found a shotgun used for hunting at the scene and that it was believed to be the murder weapon. Nordmo, who is Norwegian, had a permit for the hunting weapon in Norway, according to police.

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YLE reported that Nordmo had recently moved out of the couple’s shared home in Espoo, about 13 miles west of Helsinki. Police told YLE that it upgraded its charge against Nordmo from manslaughter to murder because the killing appeared to be premeditated.

“The police are now seeking to clarify the background of the incident and the sequence of events at the time of the crime,” the Finnish police’s statement shared Tuesday said. “To this end, the police are interviewing witnesses and the suspect, as well as conducting a technical investigation.”