Journalist was tortured, then killed, indictment says
• Inventor Peter Madsen is accused by Danish authorities of binding and abusing journalist Kim Wall on board his submarine before killing her, according to an indictment released in full Tuesday.
Madsen has given shifting explanations for what hap- pened to Wall, 30, a Swedish journalist who disappeared after boarding the vessel Aug. 10 in Copenhagen to interview him, and whose torso was found on a beach south of the city Aug. 21.
Most recently, he admitted to dismembering her body, but he said that she had died in an accident.
In the indictment, however, prosecutors say he brought a “saw, sharpened screwdrivers, straps, strips and pipes” to the submarine before the trip, arguing that these were part of a plan to kill Wall. He “abused her by hitting her, stabbed and cut her and he killed her after which he dismembered her body,” the indictment said.
The straps and pipes were tied to her torso and limbs to weigh them down after he threw them overboard. Police have not been able to establish exact cause of death, but say she was either strangled or had her throat cut.
Police said earlier Wall had been stabbed repeatedly, including in her genitals, but had not previously said they believed that to have happened before her death.
Madsen, 47, was charged last week with premeditated killing ( equivalent to murder); sexual assault; and improper handling of a body.
The indictment Tuesday also says he deliberately sank his submarine, the Nautilus NC3, and it accuses him of endangering lives by forcing two vessels, a cargo ship and a cruise ship, to take evasive action because of the way he had navigated in the strait be- tween Denmark and Sweden. The submarine was later found drifting in Koge Bay.
Madsen was rescued and brought ashore near Copenhagen Aug. 11. He was arrested and has since been in police custody.
At one point, he said Wall had been killed by a blow to the head from a submarine hatch. When divers recovered her head and limbs in plastic bags, however, no such injury was found.
The trial by jury is scheduled to start in Copenhagen on March 8. The verdict is expected April 25.
Wall was a successful writer and reporter who had work published internationally, including in The New York Times. A memorial fund to support a young female journalist is being raised in her name.