A Finnish court on Tuesday convicted a woman of murdering her three young children and gave her a life sentence.
Taiwan-born Yu-Hsiu Fu was found guilty of strangling her 8-year-old twin daughters and 1-year-old son in her home a year ago, the Espoo District Court said. Police said she tried to kill herself after the murders.
The court found that the 41-year-old mother was sane at the time of the murders although it said she was desperate because of a bitter custody battle between her and her Finnish husband, from whom she was separated. Prosecutors had demanded the maximum penalty of life in prison.
"This was a very serious crime and the victims were helpless little children who could not protect themselves," Public Prosecutor Markku Ahonen said. "It goes without saying that we needed a tough stand."
A life sentence in Finland usually means convicts serve at least 11 years in prison, but it can be commuted by the president.
