The Press

Inventor denies killing journalist during sub trip

-

The Danish inventor accused of torturing and killing Swedish journalist Kim Wall during a private submarine trip before dismemberi­ng her body strongly denied killing her, asserting at his trial yesterday that she died accidental­ly because of a pressure problem in the submarine.

Peter Madsen, who is accused of torturing Wall before he either cut her throat or strangled her on his submarine, also denied he was sexually attracted to her. Sitting on his hands as he testified at the opening of his trial in Copenhagen City Court, Madsen appeared irritated at times as he brushed off any suggestion of sexual activity with Wall before or after her death.

Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen read from a psychiatri­c report describing Madsen as an intelligen­t man ‘‘with psychopath­ic tendencies.’’

Madsen himself told the court yesterday that he was ‘‘a promiscuou­s person.’’

Madsen has admitted to dismemberi­ng Wall’s body before he

DENMARK:

‘‘buried her at sea,’’ saying he could not lift her up the submarine tower in one piece to throw her overboard so he had to cut her up.

Wall, a 30-year-old freelance journalist who wrote for The New York Times, The Guardian and other publicatio­ns, embarked on Madsen’s submarine on August 10 to interview the 47-year-old cofounder of a company that develops and builds manned spacecraft. Her remains were found in plastic bags on the Baltic Sea bed weeks later, and her torso was found stabbed multiple times.

Buch-Jepsen described in detail how Wall’s body parts were found on the ocean bed.

He said Madsen has ‘‘no empathy or feelings of guilt,’’ citing the court-ordered psychiatri­c evaluation.

If found guilty, Madsen faces between five years and life in prison – which in this case means 16 years that could be extended as long as Madsen is deemed dangerous – or he could be locked up in a secure mental facility if deemed necessary by psychiatri­sts. -AP

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from New Zealand