Kim Wall Murder Case Ends With Peter Madsen Convicted, Sentenced To Life In Prison
A verdict in the gruesome murder of 30-year-old journalist Kim Wall is finally in and Danish inventor Peter Madsen has been found guilty of the crime.
Last summer, Swedish journalist Kim Wall stepped foot onto Peter Madsen’s latest invention, a self-built submarine in Copenhagen, to interview the man for an upcoming article. According to the BBC, that was the last time that Wall was ever seen alive. The next day, Wall’s boyfriend notified the authorities when his girlfriend failed the return home. That same day, Madsen was rescued from his submarine that he claimed sank, although it is now known that was just a ploy to cover up any evidence of a crime.
On August 21, 11 days after the interview had taken place, some of Wall’s remained were found washed up on shore by a cyclist. CNN reports that Kim’s torso was the first piece of her body to wash up on an island near Copenhagen. A few weeks later, the journalist’s head and legs were found in weighted down bags by police divers.
During the trial, the 47-year-old inventor maintained his innocence, claiming that Wall died from CO2 asphyxiation while onboard his vessel. However, Madsen did say that in a state of panic, he dismembered Wall’s body and threw it into the water. During the trial, the CO2 theory was corroborated by the defense’s expert witness but dismissed by an expert witness for the prosecution.
Danish inventor Peter Madsen is sentenced to life in prison for the mutilation and murder of Kim Wall, a journalist who disappeared after boarding his homemade submarine https://t.co/HVsrTNtrza pic.twitter.com/bs7648C0E0
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) April 25, 2018
Before the jury deliberations, Madsen was asked if he had any last words before jury members came to a verdict. Madsen simply stated that he was sorry for anything that had happened. A verdict was later reached inside of the Copenhagen courtroom by a two-person jury. Typically, the Denmark court system uses a six-person jury but the inventor had requested that a two-person jury and the judge come to a verdict instead.
A Danish inventor has been sentenced to life in prison for killing Kim Wall, a journalist. Prosecutors said he tortured her on a submarine he built.https://t.co/DuiJzfA220
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 25, 2018
In all, Madsen was found guilty on all three charges, which were the indecent handling of a corpse, premeditated murder, and “sexual relations other than intercourse of a particularly dangerous nature.” He is sentenced to life in prison. When administering the guilty verdict to Madsen, Judge Anette Burke described the heinous crime as “a cynical and planned sexual murder of a severe brutal nature against a random woman,” reports CNN.
Following the guilty verdict, Madsen took the necessary steps to appeal the verdict to Denmark’s High Court.
