By Andrew Young-
The Danish inventor Peter Madsen was formally indicted on Tuesday on charges of homicide in connection with the death in August of Kim Wall- a Swedish journalist who had boarded his submarine to interview him.
Danish prosecutors and the Copenhagen police indicted Mr. Madsen on charges of killing Ms. Wall “with prior planning and preparation” — a charge synonymous with premeditated murder. He is also charged with dismemberment, indecent handling of a , and improper sexual relations.
Ms. Wall- a freelance journalist- vanished on Aug. 10 after leaving the port of Copenhagen on the UC3 Nautilus, a submarine that Mr. Madsen had built and operated. Her torso was found on a beach on Amager Island near Copenhagen after 11 days, and divers later recovered her severed head and legs in plastic bags.
Madsen eventually admitted she had died onboard his vessel after a hatch unexpectedly collapsed, and that she hit her head while she was climbing stairs in the submarine’s tower. An autopsy need not support her story because she had no head injuries to support that claim.
Prosecutors said in the statement on Tuesday that the exact cause of Ms. Wall’s death was not known, but that it “could have taken place by cutting of the throat or strangulation.” An autopsy had found that she had been stabbed at least 14 times,
Peter Madsen, an eccentric inventor who gained notoriety for his DIY submarine and mini-rocket projects, has been charged with the murder of Kim Wall, a young journalist that was writing a story about him. After months of shifting stories, prosecutors believe that Madsen intentionally killed Wall and that the act was premeditated.
Swedish born Wall was a reputable freelance journalist who traveled the world filing stories on a variety of topics for The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Atlantic. She had come to Copenhagen to write a piece on Madsen and his ambitious projects that he pulled together with various artist collectives. Evil Madsen claimed he left her on the shore the previous evening, but her dismembered body was eventually found by investigators. , Madsen later changed his story by claiming that she died in an accident when the sub’s heavy metal hatch hit her on the head. He said that he weighed her body down and dropped it into the ocean before intentionally sinking the UC3 Nautilus. He denied dismembering her body or engaging any sexual activity with Wall.
Acquaintances of Madsen previously told reporters he was very open about his proclivity for sadistic sexual activity. Investigators also found videos of women being decapitated on his personal computer, confirming him to be an evil man any standard. Prejudging a case before its hearing is not recommended the journalistic practice, but there is enough here for us to jump the gun and say this man is very likely to be guilty. He lied, despite being a witness to her death.
Madsen first gained attention through his work with the Copenhagen Suborbitals collective that he co-founded. For years, he worked to launch a one-man rocket into suborbital space. After a fall out with the UC3 Nautilus Submarine Association, UC3 Nautilus Submarine Association, he took full ownership of the sub, re-launching it in April of 2017 after raising funds on Indiegogo. The sub was recovered by authorities looking for evidence related to Wall’s death and the prosecutor’s office is asking that it be confiscated for destruction. Madsen was clearly an inventor who may have achieved the greatness of some form, but he may now spend the rest of his life in jail when he is tried in March.