HOW A STORY STRANGER THAN FICTION WOULD COST A REPORTER HER LIFE
In a bizarre tale, award-winning Kim Wall’s dismembered body was found days after she met an inventor for a story about his homemade submarine, writes Sanya Burgess
After reporting from some of the most dangerous areas on Earth, it was especially tragic that Kim Wall died so close to her homeland, Sweden.
The award-winning freelance reporter, who had sent stories from post-war Sri Lanka and Haiti, was killed in Denmark while researching an article about an inventor and his unusual submarine.
Her boyfriend raised the alarm on August 11 when Wall, 30, failed to return from interviewing Peter Madsen on his privately built vessel, the Nautilus.
Four days later, a cyclist in Copenhagen spotted something at the water’s edge – a woman’s torso missing its head, legs and arms.
Police confirmed that the torso, which had been beaten and weighed down with metal, was a DNA match with the young woman.
Red-headed, petite and humble, Wall often surprised those who judged her on first impressions. Friends remember her as an exceptional journalist who was not easily deterred. As a freelancer, she wrote for titles such as The New
York Times and trained at the prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism.
Her Instagram account is packed with colourful and quirky photographs taken on her travels. Wall was soon to embark on a new chapter in her life as she planned to move to China with her boyfriend.
The details of what happened to her are obscured.
What is established is that Wall met Mr Madsen, 46, about 7pm local time on August 10 at Refshaleoen, a harbour area in Copenhagen.
An hour and a half later, the pair were pictured in the conning tower – the part of the submarine that sits above water when at surface level – by a man on a nearby cruise ship.
At 2.30am on Friday, her boyfriend reported her missing. On August 11, Mr Madsen was arrested on a preliminary charge of manslaughter.
His biographer, Thomas Djursing, describes him as someone who has made a lot of enemies and was prone to getting into arguments.
“He can throw tools at you but at the same time he’s not a violent person. I’ve never been afraid of him,” Djursing told the Swedish daily Aftonbladet.
But he added: “I don’t know a journalist who has not been in conflict with him.”
The submarine enthusiast initially told police he had dropped Wall back on land after their interview. He denied any role in her disappearance and said she was alive when he left her.
After the discovery of CCTV tapes from the area where he claimed he left Wall, Mr Madsen changed his story, telling the authorities that the journalist had died in an accident on board his submarine and that he had dumped her body in the sea.
The submarine sank shortly after Wall’s last known sighting.
Mr Madsen told police his vessel got into technical difficulties, but when the 16.7metre sub was brought to the surface, the state of the UC3
Nautilus contradicted the inventor’s tale. The sub seemed to have been deliberately sunk.
And a witness, Kristian Isbak, said: “There was no panic at all. The man was absolutely calm.” Mr Isbak gave police the exact location of the wrecked submarine.
Not unusually for Denmark, the case is being held behind closed doors. The main information from Mr Madsen so far has come through the police or his lawyer, Betina Hald Engmark.
Ms Engmark, one of the country’s top lawyers, said Mr Madsen “wants to collaborate with the police and give investigators all the information needed in the case”.
On Monday, after a request from Ms Engmark and the prosecution, snippets of information discussed within the four walls of the courtroom were released.
It was then the outside world learnt Mr Madsen’s version of events – that an accident occurred on board, Wall died and Mr Madsen buried her at sea somewhere in Koge Bay, about 50 kilometres south of Copenhagen. No other details were shared.
But a few hours later, the trunk of a woman was found a short distance away from where Mr Madsen said he dropped Wall overboard.
Jens Moller, the chief homicide investigator of the Copenhagen police, said the torso had been in water for “some time”.
Yesterday, police confirmed an autopsy conducted the night before revealed metal attached to the torso and that “the body bears the mark of having, most likely, been inflicted deliberate damage with the purpose of ensuring that gases can pass out of the body – possibly in an attempt to avoid that a body rises from the seabed”.
Forensics had found blood on the sunken sub and that the DNA matched the female torso and the missing journalist. The authorities are now searching for remaining body parts and clothing.
Wall’s mother posted a note on Facebook that read: “We cannot see the end of the disaster yet and a lot of questions are still to be answered.
“The tragedy has hit not only us and other families, but friends and colleagues all over the world.
“During the horrendous days since Kim disappeared, we have received countless evidence of how loved and appreciated she has been, as a human and friend as well as a professional journalist. From all corners of the world comes evidence of Kim’s ability to be a person who makes a difference.”
Ominously, as the investigation into Wall’s death continues apace, there were reports yesterday that the police are now looking at unresolved cases.
One in particular that has struck many as eerily similar was the discovery of the torso of a female Japanese tourist found in a plastic bag in the waters of Copenhagen harbour 30 years ago.
The rest of her body was found in more bags. Days later, her head was found.
He can throw tools at you but at the same time he’s not a violent person. I’ve never been afraid of him THOMAS DJURSING Biographer of inventor