Submarine killer asks for shorter term

– Danish inventor Peter Madsen, who last month received a life sentence for the gruesome murder of a Swedish journalist on his submarine, has filed for a shorter sentence, Danish authorities said yesterday.

The Copenhagen state prosecutor’s office said on Twitter that Madsen, 47, has accepted the murder conviction, but was seeking a shorter sentence than life at the upcoming appeal hearing.

A life sentence in Denmark is on average 15 years, but a defendant can apply to be released after serving 12 years.

During the trial, Madsen admitted to dismembering and dumping journalist Kim Wall’s body at sea in August but denied killing her, saying she died of suffocation onboard due to an accident.

The three-strong panel at the CopenhaThe gen city court, comprising a judge and two lay jurors, was unanimous when issuing its ruling.

The April 25 ruling said that Madsen’s accounts had not been credible, including his reasons for changing his version of events several times.

He initially said Wall died after being hit by a heavy submarine hatch, but later said she died of suffocation on the vessel.

Wall, 30, was last seen on the evening of August 10 on an amateur-built submarine belonging to Madsen as it left Copenhagen harbour.

Her decapitated torso and other body parts were subsequently found in the Bay of Koge, near Copenhagen. Madsen had tried to weigh them down with steel pipes.

A date for the appeal trial is yet to be set. – AFP