Circuit court sentences Lihula shooter to life in prison

Mikk Tarraste in court. Photo: Urmas Luik

The Tallinn Circuit Court on Wednesday sentenced Mikk Tarraste to life imprisonment.

The circuit court amended the Pärnu County Court's conviction of Mikk Tarraste in terms of punishment, sentencing the 33-year-old to life imprisonment instead of the initial term of 20 years.

Daughter of Lihula pharmacist Ülle Heinver, whom Tarraste murdered, and the mother of the young boys who sustained serious injuries, Siret Kesküla, are satisfied with the circuit court decision, with the latter describing it as fair.

While the judgment cannot erase what happened in 2020, it is the least that can be done to give victims back a sense of security and justice and send society the signal that such heinous crimes carry the maximum penalty, Kesküla suggested.

Case prosecutor Gardi Anderson also said he is happy wit the decision.

Anderson is still acquainting himself with the court’s reasoning but described the ruling as landmark.

Tarraste’s defender Rünno Roosmaa admitted he has not read the decision yet. “I know that it unfolds over 28 pages but I have to read it!”

While Tarraste said that he would accept whatever ruling from the court during a circuit court session, Roosmaa could not say whether they plan to appeal to the Supreme Court. The circuit court decision can be appealed inside 30 days.

The defender said that whatever comment he might offer, it would pale in comparison to the ruling itself. “It is an extraordinary decision and situation where the two courts’ judgments are so different.”

The circuit court found that the earlier punishment did not correspond to the severity of the crime and the perpetrator's person and that the Pärnu County Court failed to consider as an aggravating circumstance the fact that Tarraste's offense met several criteria of what constitutes criminal conduct.

According to the charges, Tarraste murdered two people, injured five and placed an undetermined number of lives at risk with his subsequent actions, in addition to causing material damage. He is found to have placed in jeopardy the lives of at least 17 people two of whom were young children and none of whom he knew personally.

These circumstances caused the court to find Tarraste’s crime to be highly extraordinary in Estonian legal practice.

While the circuit court upheld Pärnu County Court’s position that Tarraste’s sincere expression of remorse needs to be treated as a mitigating circumstance, it disagreed in terms of the weight it should have on the punishment. The circuit court found the expression of remorse to be anticipated, considering the extreme nature of the incident and its consequences and insufficient to outweigh aggravating circumstances.

In summary, the circuit court found that if a person has committed a crime severe enough to merit a life sentence, it is neither unthinkable nor disproportionate to expect them to spend the rest of their life in prison even if they have no prior punishments and have been a functioning member of society.

The court emphasized that punishments for murdering several people must send the clear message that such conduct is utterly unacceptable and will merit the strongest possible reaction.

Tarraste on June 6 of 2020 opened fire on a motorcyclist and two passenger vehicles carrying a total of nine people. The motorcyclist was killed while the occupants of the two cars were unscathed.

When attempting to return to his property, he then opened fire on a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction on the Tuudi-Raudtee road, killing one in the vehicle, a woman, and injuring three others, including two children.

The accused then remained at the scene when paramedics, police officers and others arrived, opening fire again, before continuing on foot towards his home.