According to the charge sheet, Kuznetsov, who worked in a restaurant kitchen in Tallinn's Town Hall Square, murdered the 45-year-old victim, reported by her first name, Irina, who was also Kuznetsov's landlady, with a hammer on the night of June 6-7 last year.

Kuznetsov had struck the victim at least seven times, causing her death. He then dismembered the body and threw the body parts into Päe Lake in the residential district of Lasnamäe, where they were later found by members of the public.

Kuznetsov was arrested in the village of Kallavere, just east of Muuga and about 20 kilometers from Tallinn city center, where he had been hiding in a shed, on June 27, BNS reports.

North District Prosecutor Kelly Kruusimägi had sought a 20-year jail sentence for Kuznetsov, but the defendant's lawyer, Alar Neiland requested a lighter sentence, according to BNS.

Kuznetsov reportedly had a prior record, including a 12-year jail sentence for manslaughter, committed in August 1999, when he stabbed to death a man who had witnessed him stealing a car.

He had also been imprisoned for drugs-related crimes and was released in 2017, it is reported.

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