COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Danish prosecutors on Monday (April 23) called for a life sentence for submarine builder Peter Madsen, who is on trial for the gruesome murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall aboard his vessel last year, mutilating her corpse and throwing her body parts in the sea.

The verdict is expected at 11 GMT on Wednesday in the "bestial" case, which stunned the nation with a submarine as the crime scene and a well-known eccentric figure in Denmark in the dock for the murder of a 30-year-old freelance journalist who wanted to interview him for a story.

Madsen, 47, is accused of premeditated murder, aggravated sexual assault and desecrating a corpse.

He has admitted dismembering her body and tossing the parts into the sea - all of which were recovered - but denies killing Ms Wall.

In the presence of Ms Wall's family, prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen's final arguments, followed by defence lawyer Betina Hald Engmark's pleading, conclude 11 days of hearings at the Copenhagen district court that unveiled Madsen's macabre fantasies about violent sex and tortured, decapitated women.

Madsen is a "perverse polymorph" with "psychopathic traits" who has a "high risk" of repeating offences, according to psychiatrists.

He "tried to create the perfect crime", the prosecutor said in his closing remarks, referring to a text message Madsen had sent his girlfriend shortly before.

"There cannot be any doubt about guilt in this case," Mr Jepsen said as he called for life imprisonment, which in Denmark averages 16 years.

Rejecting defence arguments of a lack of physical evidence against Madsen, the prosecutor urged the court members - a professional judge and two jurors - to use "common sense" and find him guilty.

The accused has provided three conflicting explanations to what happened since Wall disappeared on Aug 10 last year and his arrest the following day.

Madsen initially claimed he had dropped Ms Wall off on dry land in Copenhagen on the night of Aug 10, but he later changed his story, claiming that a heavy hatch door had fallen on her head and killed her.

When an autopsy report later revealed no blunt trauma to Ms Wall's skull, he said she died from toxic fumes that filled the vessel after a sudden drop in pressure while he was up on deck.

The prosecution relied on the autopsy, technical findings on the submarine, and explicit content on Madsen's computer to back up its claim that he murdered Ms Wall as part of a sexual fantasy.

Fourteen stab wounds and piercings were also found in her genital area, according to the report.

While the cause of death is not absolutely certain, Ms Wall's lungs have signs of "mechanical asphyxia" caused by suffocation or slitting of the throat.

Several hours before Ms Wall boarded the submarine on Aug 10, he googled the words "beheaded girl agony" - something Madsen says was "pure coincidence".

The court was shown some content found on Madsen's laptop, including downloaded animated and so-called snuff films of women being impaled, hanged and beheaded on his laptop.

"It is not of a sexual nature. This is about strong emotions. I watch these videos to cry and to feel emotions," he previously told the court.

Madsen has insisted he stabbed Ms Wall's genital area to prevent gases from building up inside the body after death, which would have made it float to the water's surface.

A coroner said the injuries were "too superficial" to have this effect.

The defence denounced the prosecution's flaws in proving Madsen's motive and the absolute cause of death.

Under cross-examination, coroner Christina Jacobsen admitted she could not totally exclude the possibility of death by toxic fumes, because of the torso's decomposed state after being submerged for 10 days.

A submarine expert who inspected the Nautilus testified finding no soot in the vessel's air filters, saying that would be the case if Madsen's fumes scenario were true, although another expert called by the defence disagreed.

"The prosecution presented a very interesting story. Some would even say a horror story without facts," Madsen's lawyer said and called on the court to acquit her client on charges of murder and sexual assault.

"I'm really, really sorry for what happened," Madsen told the court. </s> The trial of a Danish inventor accused of murdering a journalist aboard his self-built submarine is due to wrap up this week with a verdict due by Wednesday at the earliest.

Peter Madsen, 47 — who is accused of premeditated murder, aggravated sexual assault and desecrating a corpse — has repeatedly changed his version of events since his arrest last August, a day after Swedish freelance journalist Kim Wall boarded his submarine to interview the eccentric self-taught engineer and semi-celebrity.

Madsen has since admitted dismembering Wall, 30, and throwing her body parts into the sea but denies killing her.

Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen and defence lawyer Betina Hald Engmark are due to present their final arguments on Monday, with the judge issuing a verdict no earlier than Wednesday.

The trial at Copenhagen’s district earlier heard evidence that Madsen had more than 40 video clips, including animated and so-called snuff films of women being impaled, hanged and beheaded on his laptop.

The prosecution says Madsen tortured and murdered Wall as part of a sexual fantasy.

It has said it will seek a life sentence, which in Denmark averages around 16 years, or safe custody, a legal alternative which would keep him behind bars indefinitely as long as he is deemed dangerous.

Madsen initially claimed he had dropped Wall off on dry land in Copenhagen on the night of August 10, 2017, but he later changed his story, claiming that a heavy hatch door had fallen on her head and killed her.

When an autopsy report later revealed there was no blunt trauma to Wall’s skull, he said she died after a sudden drop in pressure caused toxic fumes to fill the vessel while he was up on deck.

He has admitted cutting off the journalist’s head, arms and legs, and stuffing the body parts into plastic bags weighed down with metal pipes before tossing them into the sea as he contemplated suicide.

The rest of her remains were recovered over the course of the next few weeks from waters off the Danish capital.

The court heard Madsen had brought a number of objects on board the submarine including a saw, plastic luggage strips and a very long, sharpened screwdriver.

Several hours before Wall boarded the submarine on August 10, he googled “beheaded girl agony” — something Madsen says was “pure coincidence”.

The prosecution also cited a psychiatric evaluation of the accused, which described him as a “perverse polymorph” with “psychopathic traits”.

The court was shown some of the video clips and animated films found on Madsen’s hard drive, in which women were impaled and beheaded.

“It is not of a sexual nature. This is about strong emotions. I watch these videos to cry and to feel emotions,” he told the court.

Madsen has insisted he stabbed Wall’s genital area to prevent gases from building up inside the body after death, which would have made it float to the water’s surface.

The inventor said he didn’t want her body found, to spare her loved ones the details of a gruesome death by toxic fume inhalation.

He was arrested on August 11 after he was rescued at sea as his submarine sank — intentionally downed, according to prosecutors.

The defence has criticised what it has called a lack of physical evidence against Madsen.

Under cross-examination, coroner Christina Jacobsen admitted she could not totally exclude the possibility of death by toxic fumes, because of the torso’s decomposed state after being submerged in water for 10 days.

A submarine expert who inspected the Nautilus testified there was no soot in the vessel’s air filters, saying that would be the case if Madsen’s fumes scenario were true, although another expert called by the defence disagreed.

During Madsen’s psychiatric evaluation, doctors found him to be cold when discussing the victim, and merely “curious” about his upcoming trial.

When they asked him why he dismembered Wall, he replied coolly: “When you’re faced with a big problem, you break it up into parts.” </s> The 30-year-old freelance journalist had met him to interview him for a story.

The 30-year-old freelance journalist had met him to interview him for a story.

DANISH PROSECUTORS HAVE called for a life sentence for submarine builder Peter Madsen, who is on trial for the gruesome murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall aboard his vessel last year.

The verdict is expected tomorrow morning in the “bestial” case, which stunned the nation with a submarine as the crime scene and a well-known eccentric figure in Denmark in the dock for the murder of a 30-year-old freelance journalist who wanted to interview him for a story.

Madsen, 47, is accused of premeditated murder, aggravated sexual assault and desecrating a corpse. He has admitted dismembering her body and tossing the parts into the sea – all of which were recovered – but denies killing Wall.

In the presence of Wall’s family, prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen’s final arguments, followed by defence lawyer Betina Hald Engmark’s pleading, conclude 11 days of hearings at the Copenhagen district court that unveiled Madsen’s macabre fantasies about violent sex and tortured, decapitated women.

Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen arrives for the penultimate hearing in the case against Peter Madsen. Source: AP/PA Images

Madsen is a “perverse polymorph” with “psychopathic traits” who has a “high risk” of repeating offences, according to psychiatrists.

He “tried to create the perfect crime,” the prosecutor said in his closing remarks, referring to a text message Madsen had sent his girlfriend shortly before.

“There cannot be any doubt about guilt in this case,” Jepsen said as he called for life imprisonment which in Denmark averages 16 years.

Rejecting defence arguments of a lack of physical evidence against Madsen, the prosecutor urged the court members – a professional judge and two jurors – to use “common sense” and find him guilty.

The accused has provided three conflicting explanations to what happened since Wall disappeared on 10 August last year and his arrest the following day.

Madsen initially claimed he had dropped Wall off on dry land in Copenhagen on the night of 10 August, but he later changed his story, claiming that a heavy hatch door had fallen on her head and killed her.

When an autopsy report later revealed no blunt trauma to Wall’s skull, he said she died from toxic fumes that filled the vessel after a sudden drop in pressure while he was up on deck.

The prosecution relied on the autopsy, technical findings on the submarine, and explicit content on Madsen’s computer to back up its claim that he murdered Wall as part of a sexual fantasy.

Fourteen stab wounds and piercings were also found in her genital area, according to the report.

While the cause of death is not absolutely certain, Wall’s lungs have signs of “mechanical asphyxia” caused by suffocation or slitting of the throat.

Several hours before Wall boarded the submarine on 10 August, he googled the words “beheaded girl agony” – something Madsen says was “pure coincidence”.

The court was shown some content found on Madsen’s laptop, including downloaded animated and so-called snuff films of women being impaled, hanged and beheaded on his laptop.

“It is not of a sexual nature. This is about strong emotions. I watch these videos to cry and to feel emotions,” he previously told the court.

Madsen has insisted he stabbed Wall’s genital area to prevent gases from building up inside the body after death, which would have made it float to the water’s surface.

A coroner said the injuries were “too superficial” to have this effect.

The defence denounced the prosecution’s flaws in proving Madsen’s motive and the absolute cause of death.

Under cross-examination, coroner Christina Jacobsen admitted she could not totally exclude the possibility of death by toxic fumes, because of the torso’s decomposed state after being submerged for 10 days.

A submarine expert who inspected the Nautilus testified finding no soot in the vessel’s air filters, saying that would be the case if Madsen’s fumes scenario were true, although another expert called by the defence disagreed.

“The prosecution presented a very interesting story. Some would even say a horror story without facts,” Madsen’s lawyer said and called on the court to acquit her client on charges of murder and sexual assault.

Comments are closed on this article as legal proceedings are active. </s> A Danish inventor accused of murdering a Swedish journalist on board his submarine planned to "torture and murder her with great pleasure", a court has heard.

The prosecutor in the trial of Peter Madsen, who is accused of killing Kim Wall, 30, during a private submarine trip in August, also said there is a risk he could commit the same kind of crime again.

Jakob Buch-Jepsen said the victim, whose dismembered body was found in the sea, may have been tied with her own stockings before being killed.

He also spoke of straps found on Ms Wall's body parts, in Madsen's workshop and in his submarine, and argued marks on her wrists and ankles showed she was strapped to pipes inside the vessel.

He told Copenhagen City Court that Madsen, 47, should be given a life sentence, which is usually an average of 16 years in Denmark.

However, should Madsen receive a sentence of 16 years or less, Mr Buch-Jepsen called for the defendant to be placed in "forvaring", or safe custody – a sentence with no definite time limit.

He said Madsen, who is accused of either cutting Ms Wall's throat or strangling her, was not insane but "emotionally impaired with severe lack of empathy, anger and guilt".

"It is uncertain whether Peter Madsen murdered Kim Wall by strangulation or cutting of the throat, but there is nothing that sows doubt about whether he killed Kim Wall on purpose," he said.

"There is no doubt that he murdered Kim Wall on purpose and that he had a sexual motive."

The prosecutor also quoted a court-ordered psychiatric report, which described the defendant being intelligent and as someone "with psychopathic tendencies".

Betina Hald Engmark, defending, called the case a "horror story", but said the prosecution details presented were "not based on facts".

"It is not my client's duty to prove that he is innocent. It is the task of the prosecutor to prove that he is guilty," she told the court.

Ms Hald Engmark said there was no doubt Madsen had dismembered Ms Wall's body but said there was a lack of evidence proving he killed her.

The inventor claims Ms Wall’s death was accidental following a pressure problem in his homemade submarine. The prosecution has said forensic experts "found nothing" to support the claim.

Madsen previously admitted to cutting up Ms Wall's body before he "buried her at sea", claiming he could not lift her up the submarine tower in one piece.

Her body was found weeks later contained in plastic bags on the Baltic Sea bed, with her body stabbed multiple times. Her cause of death has not been established.

Bringing Monday's hearing to a close, the judge asked Madsen if he had any last words - to which he replied: "I'm very, very sorry."

A verdict is expected to be returned on Wednesday. </s> COPENHAGEN (AFP) - A Danish inventor found guilty of the murder of a Swedish journalist aboard his homemade submarine has appealed his life sentence but is not contesting the verdict, prosecutors said Monday (May 7).

Peter Madsen "is found guilty in the murder of Kim Wall and has only appealed the length" of his life sentence, Simon Gosvig, spokesman for the Danish prosecutor's office, told AFP.

A Copenhagen district court on April 25 sentenced the 47-year-old to a life sentence for murdering the 30-year-old journalist, chopping up her corpse and throwing her body parts into the sea in August last year.

The eccentric inventor confessed to stuffing Wall's head, arms and legs into plastic bags, weighing them down with metal pipes before tossing them into the sea, but maintained throughout his trial that her death was accidental.

The court, however, concluded the gruesome videos Madsen watched of women being beheaded and tortured and the fact that he brought a saw, plastic strips and a sharpened screwdriver on board just before the voyage with Wall were enough to find him guilty.

Most observers had expected Madsen to appeal the verdict.

The prosecutor's office said Madsen's bid for a milder sentence could not be interpreted as an admission of guilt.

While a life sentence in Denmark averages around 16 years, Madsen could be held behind bars for as long as he lives if the life term is confirmed.

Despite the testimony of many experts, the lack of tangible evidence in the case and the decomposed state of Wall's remains made it impossible to determine an exact cause of death.

An autopsy report concluded she probably died as a result of suffocation or having her throat slit.

Fourteen stab wounds and piercings were also found in and around her genital area.

Madsen had argued that he stabbed her because he wanted to prevent gases from building up inside her body that would prevent it from sinking to the seabed. </s> Danish submarine inventor Peter Madsen is appealing against his life sentence for murdering and dismembering Swedish journalist Kim Wall.

The Danish prosecutor's office said in a tweet the appeal focused solely on the sentence handed down by the Copenhagen City Court and Madsen would not be attempting to overturn the murder conviction.

Defence lawyer Betina Hald Engmark told Denmark's TV2 that Madsen "doesn't confess murdering Kim Wall but that he would like the case to be over with — also for the sake of the relatives and witnesses".

Madsen, 47, was found guilty on April 25 of murder, sexual assault and the dismembering of Ms Wall.

The Copenhagen court ruled unanimously that he had lured Wall, 30, onto his hand-built submarine with the promise of an interview she had been trying to get for months.

The defence announced at the time that it would appeal, but didn't specify whether it was disputing Madsen's guilt or the sentence.

No date for the appeal has been set.

Life sentences in Denmark usually mean 16 years in prison, but convicts are reassessed during their incarceration to determine whether they would pose a danger to society if released and can be kept longer. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Kim Wall's death - what we know

Danish inventor Peter Madsen is contesting his life sentence imposed for murdering Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his submarine but not the guilty verdict, prosecutors say.

Madsen, 47, was convicted last month of the premeditated murder of Ms Wall, 30, and dismembering her body.

His appeal relates "solely" to his sentence and "not the issue of guilt", the Danish prosecutor's office tweeted.

In Denmark, the sentence range for murder is between five years and life.

The prosecutor's office added that Madsen's appeal could not be interpreted as an admission of guilt.

What does life imprisonment mean in Denmark?

Theoretically it can mean just that, but in reality life-term prisoners serve an average of about 16 years.

Police killer Palle Sorensen, paroled in 1998 after 32 years, and Naum Conevski, jailed in 1984 for killing two young men, are unusual in having served considerably longer.

Sorensen died earlier this year. Conevski is still in jail.

One study shows the number of life-termers in Danish prisons increased from 10 in 1997 to 25 in 2013. The 2015 study said only every fifth or sixth murder convict was serving life.

What has Madsen been convicted of?

Madsen was found guilty of the premeditated murder and sexual assault of Ms Wall on 25 April this year after previously admitting to dismembering Ms Wall's body on the submarine and throwing her remains overboard.

Her remains were found by Danish police at sea 11 days after she interviewed him on board his homemade vessel.

Image copyright Ritzau Foto Image caption Peter Madsen and Kim Wall on the submarine Nautilus in Aug 2017

The case was heard by Copenhagen City Court Judge Anette Burkoe and two jurors. Judge Burkoe described the incident as the "cynical and planned sexual assault and brutal murder of a random woman".

She said Madsen had "failed to give trustworthy explanations" and had "shown an interest for the killing and maiming of people and has shown an interest for impaling".

What do we know about the murder?

Ms Wall had been researching a story about Madsen's venture and was last seen on the evening of 10 August as she departed with him on his self-built 40-tonne submarine, UC3 Nautilus, into waters off Copenhagen.

Her boyfriend raised the alarm the next day when she did not return from the trip. Madsen was rescued at sea after his submarine sank the same day. Police believe he deliberately scuttled the vessel.

Ms Wall's mutilated torso was spotted by a passing cyclist on 21 August but her head, legs and clothing, placed in weighted-down bags, were not discovered by police divers until 6 October.

After his arrest, Madsen gave differing accounts of what had happened on board his submarine.

During the opening session of his trial, prosecutors said there was a suspicion that he had "psychopathic tendencies" after investigators discovered films on his computer showing women being tortured and mutilated. </s> The twisted Danish inventor found guilty of the brutal torture, murder and dismemberment of journalist Kim Wall aboard his homemade submarine will not appeal his murder conviction, prosecutors said Monday.

The State Prosecutor of Copenhagen said that Peter Madsen's defense team has only appealed against the life sentenced he received last month.

"The prosecution calls for the sentence of lifetime in prison given by the City Court to be upheld. Peter Madsen is appealing for a milder sentence. The appeal case will exclusively be concerned with determination of sentence and not the verdict," the prosecutor's office said.

Madsen, 47, was found guilty April 25 of Wall's murder, sexual assault and defilement after the city found the inventor didn't give "a trustworthy" explanation.

Judge Anette Burkoe added it was the court's opinion that Madsen "dismembered the body to conceal the evidence from the crime he had committed."

The defense said at the time it would appeal, but didn't specify whether it was disputing Madsen's guilt or the sentence. No date for the appeal has been set.

Madsen is the 15th person in 10 years to receive a life sentence in Denmark, according to The Local. </s> COPENHAGEN Prosecutors say that Danish submarine inventor Peter Madsen is not appealing his murder conviction over the killing and dismemberment of Swedish journalist Kim Wall.

The prosecution tweeted Monday that the defence has only appealed against the life sentence handed down to Madsen by Copenhagen City Court. The prosecutors insist the sentence is correct.

Madsen was found guilty April 25 of murder, sexual assault and the defilement of Wall. The Copenhagen City Court ruled unanimously that Madsen, 47, had lured Wall, 30, onto his hand-built submarine with the promise of an interview she had been trying to get for months.

The defence announced at the time that it would appeal, but didn't specify whether it was disputing Madsen's guilt or the sentence.
Danish prosecutors seek a life sentence for Peter Madsen, accused of murdering a Swedish journalist on board his self-built submarine. Psychiatric evidence describes Madsen as presenting "psychopathic traits" and a "high risk" of offending further.