Inventor goes down for life for murder

A COPENHAGEN court found Danish inventor Peter Madsen guilty yesterday of the premeditated murder and sexual assault of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his homemade submarine last year, handing him a life sentence.

Madsen, 47, had admitted chopping up the 30year-old’s body and throwing her remains overboard off Copenhagen on the night of August 10, but claimed her death was accidental. A life sentence in Denmark averages 16 years. Wall, a freelance reporter, had set off with Madsen on his vessel on the evening of August 10 to interview him for a story she planned to write.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Madsen had killed Wall as part of a dark sexual fantasy, stressing that he enjoyed watching videos of women being beheaded and tortured.

But Madsen, who changed his version of events several times, told the court she had died when the air pressure suddenly dropped and toxic fumes filled his vessel while he was up on deck.

Despite the testimony of many experts, the lack of tangible evidence in the case and the decomposed state of Wall’s remains made it impossible to determine her exact cause of death.

A postmortem report said she had probably died as a result of suffocation or having her throat slit.

But the professional judge and two lay judges found the incriminating circumstances were enough to find Madsen guilty, including the gruesome videos he watched, and the fact that he had brought a saw, plastic strips and a sharpened screwdriver on board. – AFP