Inventor goes on trial in death of journalist aboard submarine

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — It took three detection dogs trained to search on water, an oceanographer and a team of military divers to find the body of Swedish journalist Kim Wall in the bay off Copenhagen after she went missing Aug. 10. On Thursday, the man accused of killing and dismembering her in his self-built submarine went on trial.

Wall, 30, a promising and prolific journalist who had work published in The New York Times, Harper’s and The Atlantic, disappeared after meeting the accused, inventor Peter Madsen, for an interview aboard his submarine. Hours later, after text messages to her boyfriend had dried up, the police were called. Parts of her body were later found in Koge Bay, off the Danish capital.

After gathering mounting evidence contradicting Madsen’s explanations about Wall’s death, prosecutors have charged him with premeditated murder, sexual assault, indecent handling of a body and other crimes.

Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for Madsen, 47, whose case has garnered attention far beyond Scandinavia.

The trial of Madsen, who appeared in court wearing a black T-shirt and glasses, is expected to take place over 12 days during the next two months. Madsen, who is known in Denmark as Rocket Madsen for his obsession with submarines and rockets, has given shifting accounts of what happened to Wall, and he pleaded not guilty Thursday to the charge of murder.

Prosecutor Jakob BuchJepsen warned the court that he would present graphic photographs during the course of the trial. Madsen has admitted to dismembering Wall’s body but has said that she died in an accident after a heavy hatch on the submarine’s tower collapsed on her head.

As the evidence mounted, however, his story was cast into doubt. In the indictment, prosecutors said he had taken a “saw, sharpened screwdrivers, straps, strips and pipes” into the submarine before the trip. The straps and pipes, prosecutors say, were tied to Wall’s torso and limbs to weigh them down after he threw them overboard. And, while the inquiry has not been able to establish the exact cause of Wall’s death, investigators say that she was either strangled or died of a cut throat.

According to prosecutors, some time between 10 p.m. Aug. 10 and 10 a.m. Aug. 11, Madsen overpowered Wall in his submarine. He bound, tortured and sexually assaulted her before he murdered her, authorities said. Then he used tools he had taken with him to cut the body into six pieces and dump them in the water.

Prosecutors have asked for a life sentence or, failing that, a sentence of “safe custody,” a special psychiatric measure for those considered particularly dangerous.

While both sentences can be indefinite, Madsen could apply for parole after 12 years if given a life sentence. A sentence of “safe custody” in a secure medical facility is reviewed on a regular basis by the courts. The Danish Medico-Legal Council, an independent medical body that advises the courts, has recommended that Madsen be placed in safe custody.