British woman murdered by boyfriend on Lapland husky farm
Karel Frybl jailed for life for stabbing Rebecca Johnson 40 times in a 'ferocious, brutal and violent' attack
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A man has been jailed for life for stabbing his British girlfriend to death at a husky farm in Lapland, Finland, in an attack described as "ferocious, brutal and violent ".
Czech national Karel Frybl stabbed Rebecca Johnson 40 times in the assault at a cottage in Kultimantie in December 2016.
She had defensive wounds and some stab wounds to her back meaning she must have turned away from her attacker at some point as she tried to escape.
Ms Johnson, 26, from Burntisland, Fife, was a member of the Santa Safari team which works with Oxford-based tour operator Transun Travel to organise Christmas-themed excursions to Lapland.
After the attack Frybl left the scene with some of his dogs and walked around two-and-a-half miles into the woods before being arrested.
Frybl admitted culpable homicide at an earlier court hearing but had denied the murder.
He claimed he suffered a loss of control at the time of the attack and could not recall anything of the stabbings.
However a psychiatric report ordered by the court found Frybl was not insane at the time of the incident.
The court in Rovaniemi found there was no doubt the crime was committed in a "particularly ferocious, brutal and violent manner".
It said the violence she suffered was well beyond culpable homicide and found him guilty of murder.
Frybl was given life in prison, but in Finland the sentence is rarely more than 14 years. He was also told to pay just under €40,000 (£35,000) in compensation.
The court had earlier heard that the couple had argued the night before Ms Johnson was stabbed to death and had slept in separate cottages on the husky farm.
Additional reporting by PA