According to court records, Nagayi lured Petteri to Uganda under the pretext of a business trip. He arrived at Entebbe International Airport on February 5, 2018, accompanied by Suvi Alindi, a former communications officer at Finland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Court of Appeal has upheld murder conviction of Faridah Nagayi for the 2018 poisoning of her Finnish boyfriend, Thomas Juha Petteri Terasvouri.
The Thursday, March 20, 2025. ruling reaffirms the High Court's decision, which found Nagayi guilty of administering a lethal cocktail of toxic substances to the deceased.
According to court records, Nagayi lured Petteri to Uganda under the pretext of a business trip. He arrived at Entebbe International Airport on February 5, 2018, accompanied by Suvi Alindi, a former communications officer at Finland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Upon arrival, Faridah and her associates took Petteri to the Internal Security Organization (ISO) offices for questioning over suspicions that his invitation letter was fraudulent.
After his release, he checked into the Pearl of Africa Hotel with Faridah.
That night, Nagayi and her co-accused reportedly left the hotel under the pretense of buying medication for Petteri. The following morning, she alerted hotel staff that he was unwell.
When the hotel nurse arrived, Petteri was already dead. A postmortem later confirmed that he had ingested a fatal mixture of drugs, pesticides, insecticides, and acaricides.
Nagayi was arrested and charged with murder under Sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act, later revised under Sections 171 and 172 of the Revised Penal Code Act.
The High Court found overwhelming evidence against her and sentenced her to 30 years in prison.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, Nagayi appealed on seven grounds, contesting both her conviction and sentence.
However, in a ruling delivered by a panel of justices--Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera, Justice Eva Luswata, and Justice Oscar Kihika--the Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal against conviction.
"We are convinced, as the trial judge was, that the appellant somehow procured the drugs and pesticides that were found in the deceased's body," the justices ruled.
While upholding the conviction, the appellate court adjusted Nagayi's sentence in line with Article 23(8) of the Ugandan Constitution, which requires the deduction of pre-trial detention periods from final sentences.
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The timeline of her pre-trial detention was unclear due to the lack of precise dates on her initial ISO arrest.
However, official records showed that her formal remand began on October 14, 2019. She secured bail on November 30, 2021, but it was revoked on June 6, 2022--the day of her conviction.
Considering her total remand period of approximately two years, eight months, and eight days, the court reduced her sentence to 27 years, three months, and 22 days, effective from the date of her conviction.
The ruling underscores Uganda's commitment to enforcing justice in cases involving foreign nationals, sending a strong message on the gravity of premeditated crimes.
While Nagayi may still explore further legal avenues, today's verdict solidifies the thoroughness of Uganda's judicial and prosecutorial processes in handling high-profile cases with international implications.
