Danish inventor Peter Madsen is expected to stand trial today for the murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall.
He faces charges including murder, dismemberment and “sexual relations other than intercourse of a particularly dangerous nature”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wall’s dismembered torso was found on a beach 10 days after she disappeared following her interview with Madsen. Over the following weeks, police divers found other parts of her body in plastic bags weighed down by pieces of metal.
Madsen told authorities that Wall had died after she hit her head on the submarine. He later changed his story, saying she had been “killed by carbon monoxide poisoning inside the submarine” while he remained on deck, the BBC reports.
Although the Dane denies killing Wall, he “has admitted to cutting her up” before burying her at sea, says ITV.
The prosecution say they believe Madsen killed Wall to “fulfill sadistic sexual fantasies, tying her up and beating and stabbing her, and then either strangling her to death or beheading her”, says The Guardian. Dozens of witnesses are scheduled to give testimony during the trial.
Lasse Lund Madsen, professor of criminal law at Aarhus University, told CNN that calling that many witnesses “means some of them are likely there to shed light on surrounding factors, I would assume to try to prove the murder was planned”.
Madsen’s defence lawyer Betaina Hald Engmark has formally submitted a not guilty plea to the murder charge.
If found guilty, Madsen is likely to either serve 15 to 17 years in prison without parole or be sent to a psychiatric hospital.
The 47-year-old entrepreneur was considered a minor celebrity in Denmark, often referred to as “Rocket-Madsen” because of his dream to be the first Dane to fly into space on a privately-built rocket.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocratFeature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlockFeature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
Denmark’s record-setting arms purchase raises eyebrows and anxietyIN THE SPOTLIGHT By eschewing American-made munitions for their European counterparts, the Danish government is bracing for Russian antagonism and sending a message to the West
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
