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| - A 25-year-old who murdered a classmate in a 2019 college massacre in Finland planned the attack for over a year and idolised previous school killers, prosecutors said at his trial opening on Tuesday. Appearing at North Savo District Court wearing a black hoodie and face mask, Joel Marin pleaded guilty to murder and to most of the other charges, which included 20 counts of attempted murder, arson and attempted assault, Finnish media reported. The defence called for a reduced sentence on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to an unbalanced mental state. Marin "wanted revenge, and wanted to show people that he was no loser and was able to do shocking things," prosecutor Ulla Oinonen said. He began plotting the attack in late 2017 and joined a shooting club, the prosecution alleged, adding that he took out a loan of 2,000 euros ($2,360) to buy weapons including a chainsaw and an airgun. A Ukrainian female student was killed in the attack on October 1 last year, when Marin burst into his classroom at Savo Vocational College in eastern Finland armed with a sword and bottles of petrol. Nine others were injured, including a police officer. Marin was also shot during his arrest. The court was shown transcripts of police questioning after his arrest, in which Marin told officers he wanted revenge on the world for his unhappy, lonely life and experiences of being bullied. "I thought that killing innocent people was wrong, but I didn't care," Marin told his interviewers. He said he identified with previous killers, including the perpetrators of two massacres in Finnish schools in the late 2000s, which led to changes in gun laws in the Nordic country. The case is due to continue into next week. sgk/po/bp
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