Danish inventor guilty of torture and murder of journalist at sea
● Court decides Madsen ‘failed to give trustworthy explanations’
Danish submarine inventor Peter Madsen has been found guilty of torturing and murdering Swedish reporter Kim Wall during a private submarine trip.
Judge Anette Burkoe at the Copenhagen City Court said she and two jurors unanimously decided Ms Wall’s death was a murder, saying Madsen did not give “a trustworthy” explanation.
It was a “cynical murder” of a journalist who was performing her duties, the court heard.
Madsen was sentenced to life in prison. He said he would appeal against the conviction and sentence.
In Denmark, a life sentence equates to 16 years, which can be extended if necessary.
Throughout the trial that started on 8 March, Madsen, 47, denied murder, saying 30-year-old Ms Wall died accidentally inside the submarine but changed his story about how she died.
Ms Wall embarked on Madsen’s submarine on 10 August to interview the entrepreneur.
The freelance journalist who wrote for leading magazines and newspapers was last seen waving to her boyfriend and other friends onshore as the submarine sailed off into the Baltic.
Her dismembered torso was found days later in the sea off Copenhagen, and other body parts were found in plastic bags in October.
“We are talking about a cynical and planned sexual assault and brutal murder of a random woman, who in connection with her journalistic work had accepted an offer to go sailing in the defendant’s submarine,” Ms Burkoe told the court.
Madsen initially denied dismembering her, then confessed he had done so and said he had thrown her body parts into the Baltic Sea.
He listened quietly as the verdict was read, looking down at the desk in front of him.
Prosecutor Jakob Buchjepsen claimed Ms Wall’s murder was sexually motivated and premeditated because Madsen brought along tools he normally did not take when sailing, including a saw and sharpened screwdrivers.
Madsen changed his story several times. Initially he told authorities that he had dropped her off on shore and did not know what had happened to her.
He then claimed she had died accidentally when hit in the head by the submarine’s hatch. Finally, after her decapitated head was found by police divers in a weighted-down bag along with her appendages and the skull showed no signs of fracture, he said she had been asphyxiated in a malfunction aboard the submarine.
Burkoe noted the discrepancies, saying Madsen “failed to give trustworthy explanations.”
She added that evidence also showed he “has shown interest for killing and maiming of people and has shown interest for impaling.”
During the opening session of his trial last month, prosecutors said there was a suspicion that he had “psychopathic tendencies” after investigators discovered films on his computer showing women being tortured and mutilated.
Madsen’s defence lawyer had argued for his acquittal on the charge of murder, saying he should only be sentenced for the lesser charge of cutting Ms Wall’s body into pieces.
The cause of death has never been established but the court found Madsen “cut the body into pieces to hide what had happened”.