Danish inventor denies killing Swedish journo as trial begins
Copenhagen, March 8: Danish inventor Peter Madsen on Thursday denied murdering Swedish journalist Kim Wall aboard his self- built submarine on the first day of his highly- anticipated trial, as the prosecution painted a picture of a sexual sadist obsessed with beheadings.
Madsen, who has previously admitted dismembering Wall’s body and throwing her remains overboard, did not address the court but his lawyer Betina Hald Engmark said he denied the murder charge and maintained that the 30- year- old freelance reporter died accidentally on board his submarine.
Wearing a black T- shirt and jeans, Madsen appeared calm in the Copenhagen district court, his gaze often looking downwards as Wall’s parents sat nearby.
The trial, scheduled to last until April 25, is expected to shed more light on the circumstances of Wall’s grisly death on Madsen’s Nautilus submarine in August last year, when she vanished after going for an evening sail with him to interview him for an article.
Her chopped up body parts, weighed down in plastic bags with metal objects, were later recovered from Danish waters off Copenhagen.
Prosecutor Jakob Buch Jepsen has previously said he will seek a life sentence, which in Denmark averages around 16 years, against Madsen, an eccentric semi- celebrity in Denmark who built rockets and dreamed of developing private space travel.
He faces charges of premeditated murder, desecrating a corpse, and aggravated sexual assault.