Danish engineer and co-founder of Copenhagen Suborbitals Peter Madsen has admitted to dismembering journalist Kim Wall, but denies murdering her:
Danish police say that inventor Peter Madsen has admitted to dismembering Swedish journalist Kim Wall, who was researching a story in August on board a submarine he built. He denies killing her and maintains that her death was an accident, authorities say.
Madsen was alone when he was rescued from the sinking UC3 Nautilus, which police believe he sunk deliberately. As NPR's Colin Dwyer has reported, he initially claimed that he dropped Wall off safely the same day they set out — then he changed his story, saying he "buried her at sea" after a heavy hatch fell on her head.
Divers later found Wall's severed head in Denmark's Køge Bay. As NPR's Amy Held reported, police said there were "no signs of fracture or blunt force trauma to the skull," casting doubt on Madsen's claims. The head was in a bag weighted down with metal, authorities said.
Now, according to a Copenhagen police statement, Madsen has changed his story once again. He says that Wall died from carbon monoxide poisoning inside the submarine while he was sitting on the submarine's deck. During an interrogation on Oct. 14, police say, Madsen said that after Wall died, he dismembered her body and threw the remains in the bay. "This explanation (by Madsen) naturally will lead the police into gathering additional statements from the coroner and the armed forces' submarine experts," Copenhagen police investigator Jens Møller Jensen said, according to an Associated Press translation.
Also at Ars Technica, The Register, BBC, and NYT.
Previously: Submarine Builder Charged With Manslaughter After Burying Journalist at Sea
Search of "Rocket" Madsen's Space Lab Finds Footage of Woman's Decapitation
Related Stories
Accident? Or not?
When the UC3 Nautilus sailed from the Port of Copenhagen on the evening of Aug. 10, the homemade submarine bore just two people: its famed Danish inventor and the Swedish journalist reporting on his invention.
Less than a day later, only one of them was still alive.
Peter Madsen's submarine sank midday Aug. 11; he was rescued by a private boat, but journalist Kim Wall was nowhere to be found. It was Wall's boyfriend who reported her missing, and authorities wasted no time in arresting the 46-year-old Madsen after he came ashore, charging him that same day with manslaughter and arranging his first court appearance for the following day, a Saturday.
Initially he told authorities he had dropped off his 30-year-old companion back in Copenhagen. Now, according to a statement released Monday by Copenhagen police at the behest of the defense and the prosecutor's office, Madsen has recanted that story.
"The defendant has explained to the police and the Court, that there was an accident on board which caused Kim Wall's death," police say in the statement, "and that he consequently buried her at sea at a non-defined location in the Bay of Køge."
[...] Compounding the speculation is Madsen's outsize reputation. Something of a "wannabe Elon Musk or Richard Branson on a much smaller scale," according to Overgaard, the man often known as "Rocket Madsen" has built three submarines with the aid of crowdfunding and aspires to send a homemade rocket to space.
More about Peter Madsen. Related Kickstarter.
Copenhagen prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen announced in a court hearing Wednesday that "images" of the torture, decapitation, and burning of a woman were found on a computer hard drive at RML Spacelab, the organization devoted to building a manned suborbital rocket led by Danish aerospace engineer Peter Madsen. The BBC reports that the images, "which we presume to be real," said Buch-Jepsen, were on a computer believed to belong to Madsen—the suspect in the death of journalist Kim Wall in an incident aboard his submarine the UC3 Nautilus.
Madsen, for his part, claimed the video was not his and that the computer the video was on was a computer that everyone in the lab had access to. But other evidence presented in this latest hearing on his case has prompted the judge overseeing the case to order he be held in custody another four months, as Buch-Jepsen told the court of the video and other evidence that have "strengthened" the case against Madsen since his last hearing on September 5.
Pro tip: do not keep torture pr0n on your work computer.
Previously: Submarine Builder Charged With Manslaughter After Burying Journalist at Sea
Danish Court Sentences Inventor To Life For Woman's Murder In 'Submarine Case'
A Copenhagen court has sentenced eccentric inventor Peter Madsen to life in prison over the murder of Kim Wall, a journalist who was killed after joining Madsen on his submarine last August. Parts of Wall's body were recovered after Madsen claimed he "buried her at sea." The case has captivated Denmark and drawn international headlines, with its shocking and gruesome details, and Madsen's wildly shifting explanations for what happened.
The submarine had left a dock in Copenhagen's harbor on Aug. 10, 2017. But one day later, the sub sank. Madsen was rescued; he initially told police he had let Wall off of the sub after just a few hours. But it was also noted that he had fresh scratches on both arms. No sign of Wall was found until some of her remains washed ashore. After the submarine was recovered and brought on land, blood in the craft was matched to Wall's DNA. The discovery of Wall's body prompted Madsen to say that a horrible accident killed Wall — but Danish authorities were skeptical of that story.
[...] "Prosecutors have said they do not know exactly how Wall did die, but that the murder seemed to be premeditated judging from the range of unusual instruments found on board. Much of the case against Madsen was built on his untrustworthiness, a psychological evaluation that found him narcissistic and lacking in empathy, and torture videos found on his computer."
The court ordered Madsen to pay about $19,700 to Ole Stobbe, Kim Wall's boyfriend. Wall had been pursuing an interview with Madsen for months, and was a few days away from moving to Beijing with Stobbe when Madsen texted her. The court also ordered the recovered submarine to be destroyed.
Also at Ars Technica.
Previously: Submarine Builder Charged With Manslaughter After Burying Journalist at Sea
Search of "Rocket" Madsen's Space Lab Finds Footage of Woman's Decapitation
Submarine Builder Peter Madsen Admits to Dismembering Journalist
(Score: 1, Redundant) by Gaaark on Tuesday October 31 2017, @02:39AM (2 children)
She looks relatively attractive: he raped her/tried to, kills her, disposes.
That's where I'd be looking.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @03:12AM (1 child)
Check whether he raped her severed neck.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @06:41AM
That kind of shit only happens to severed goat head in Abu Ghraib. Only Americans could be so perverse.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Tuesday October 31 2017, @02:50AM (30 children)
I don't know what it is, but clearly something is missing from the story as known so far.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by takyon on Tuesday October 31 2017, @03:07AM (2 children)
Madsen is living the "I'm the smartest dude ever so of course I can get away with the perfect crime involving my cool submarine" meme and failing at it badly.
At least Musky will make sure to commit his rape+dismemberment kill-blow combos on or below the surface of Mars, where HE IS THE LAW. That is why he needs to get there first. He needs to become the [President|Governor|God-Emperor] of The Blood-Red Planet.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday October 31 2017, @03:35AM (1 child)
Yeah maybe but somehow that doesn't add up. It's just so sloppy. Surely if this was premeditated he would have thought up a sensible story. This just seems more like hasty ad-hoc lies, which is more consistent with a crime of passion or an impromptu coverup rather than a premeditated crime.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Tuesday October 31 2017, @05:31AM
Perhaps she didn't understand the implication [youtube.com]?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 31 2017, @03:41AM (25 children)
Not looking terribly bad until this submarine incident? I can go along with that. I hope you didn't mean it didn't look real bad until he changed his story. From the first I heard of this story, I despised the guy. Go to sea with passengers, come home without them? Almost any story that can be told makes his a piece of shit. It's not 1943, the Nazi's aren't sinking shipping, no icebergs way down south, and Jaws was just a movie.
He had a hot babe on board, and wanted some of her, she said no, and he went berserk. Reiser didn't get away with killing his woman either. What is it with technically inclined men? They don't know how to dispose of bodies? No one has found any of mine yet - thank God I'm not 100% techie!!
(Score: 4, Informative) by Whoever on Tuesday October 31 2017, @04:44AM
To be fair to Reiser: his wife's body wasn't found: Reiser show the authorities where it was after he had been found guilty.
It was all the other stuff that Reiser wasn't able to hide.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @04:53AM (8 children)
It would seem that Hans Reiser disposed of the body well enough, given that nobody was able to find her until after Reiser was convicted and subsequently made a deal to reveal the location.
Reiser's main problem (well, besides being a murderer) was that he did not shut the fuck up. He thought he could talk his way out of his situation. He was wrong.
Failing to shut the fuck up seems to be one of Peter Madsen's problems as well. It will not work out any better for him.
It's a good thing that many criminals like Reiser are stupid, but seriously people, when the police come knocking, just shut the fuck up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @06:10AM (7 children)
If you shut up, you almost certainly will get arrested. You attract lots of attention, encouraging more investigation.
If you don't shut up, you might reveal something that hurts you or you might lie in a way that gets you more charges. On the other hand, you might convince the cops that you are uninteresting.
It's a gamble either way.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Tuesday October 31 2017, @06:39AM (6 children)
As the guilty man and the sole suspect, talking does you almost no favors unless you commit to very few answers and only after talking to your lawyer and having them present.
The "Don't Talk to the Police" [youtube.com] guy has updated advice: invoke your right to legal counsel [youtube.com] (unambiguously [llrmi.com]).
As an innocent man, there is still a chance they will attempt to ruin your life. Interacting with the police and detectives as little as possible could help you avoid them tricking you into making a false statement or worse, a confession of some kind (many [wikipedia.org] do it [pbs.org]). Ideally, cops and prosecutors would leave you alone if they have reason to believe you didn't do it. On the other hand, they might dislike you or have their own reasons [theatlantic.com] to convict you, an especially easy task if you are a babbler like Reiser.
As for getting arrested and treated like the perp... if your wife/SO died, your name will be out there no matter what even if you are innocent. What's important is avoiding being sent to prison and turned into a member of the unemployable caste forever.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:23AM (1 child)
Zimmerman, a well-known Florida Man who shot another well-known Florida Man, freely discussed things with the police while walking around the area. The police recorded it.
Later, at trial, Zimmerman's lawyer got to show this to the jury. This meant that Zimmerman could effectively tell his story in court without being cross-examined by the prosecution.
That worked out mighty well. Of course, it helps to not be guilty of anything.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:41AM
He had better circumstances on his side. Man vs. black youth, with apparent head injuries. Self-defense is a legitimate defense.
If a woman with a husband or ex-husband dies, that husband will likely become a prime suspect unless they really have a great alibi (out of the country?).
If someone other than the husband committed the murder, that person could make themselves very scarce without ever being caught, whereas the husband is known to the police and has to face full scrutiny immediately.
Oscar Pistorius [wikipedia.org] tried to pull the self defense routine on his wife. Boy did that not work, although the sentence for him is light.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:30AM (1 child)
So you clam up. This encourages them to arrest you. They charge you to keep you in jail, even though the evidence is lousy. Assuming you don't just plea bargain and be turned into a member of the unemployable caste forever, you're still fired for missing work due to jail... and thus turned into a member of the unemployable caste forever.
Losing your job due to being jailed is nearly as bad as a felony conviction. Everybody will assume you just got off on a technicality.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:45AM
Not talking allows you to avoid saying the stupid stuff that will ultimately lead to your conviction.
Not being found guilty and sent to prison means you don't have to check the felon box on applications. You may still have a scarlet letter, but it's not as bad. You'll also have an easier time obtaining a passport and leaving the country in search of a place where they don't give a fuck.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @09:20AM (1 child)
The whole "don't talk to the police" thing is a US concept, and while the Reiser case was in the US, the Peter Madsen case is in Denmark. Danish police aren't paid or promoted depending on number of convictions, and they are usually most interested in finding out the truth, rather than convicting *somebody*.
If you are accused of something you didn't do in Denmark, it is in your best interest to cooperate with the police. While we do have the right to remain silent, it WILL count against you. For example if it's later found out that you are not guilty, you probably won't get any compensation for the time you spent in jail during the case if it can be argued that you caused the case to take longer by not cooperating.
Even if you are guilty, depending on the crime, it can be better to cooperate, for the same reason. If you spend two years in jail before getting a one year sentence - and thus being released due to time served - it will still be considered your own fault that you spent an extra year in jail because you didn't cooperate.
In the case of Peter Madsen, it probably won't make any difference. The crime is so severe that time served won't matter, and they have enough evidence to get a conviction no matter what he said or didn't say.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 01 2017, @01:56AM
Danish rules may be different, but I can assure you that Peter Madsen is not helping his case by failing to shut the fuck up. In fact quite the opposite. If he had only shut the fuck up from the start, he would be in a much better position today.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @06:49AM (4 children)
Runaway just went from average "cable-guy", "not smarter than fifth-grader" hillbilly redneck conservative, to extra creepy Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre, or worse, serial killer sexual predator dude. And we should keep him, because SoylentNews is the last refuge for serial killers on the inter-nets? I suggest something else. Perhaps a on-line podcast thingy about the Runaway1986, and the 150 missing pre-pubescent goats in his county. Justice, and even social justice, demands it. So we will have some social justice warriors on it, stat! Oh, Runaway, you have just fucking crossed the line. Sorry, dude.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 31 2017, @10:44AM (3 children)
Speaking of creepy . . . are you going to spend the rest of our lives stalking me on the forum? One lawyer says I should be creeped out, because people like you do crazy stuff. He has advised me to call the FBI, and report you. I'm still considering his advice . . .
(Score: 3, Touché) by edIII on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:00PM (2 children)
Some people just don't understand, nor appreciate, dark humor :)
That, and with proper culinary skills, the entire human is edible.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by letssee on Tuesday October 31 2017, @10:31PM
Having friends for dinner?
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Tuesday October 31 2017, @10:45PM
There was once a world record for eating a bicycle. That category has since been discontinued, so as not to encourage others. So, while technically the entire human body may be edible, it should not be considered food. I'm thinking specifically of bones, teeth and cartilage, but probably other parts, too.
If you are eating it to dispose of the body, it might work out better if the indigestible body parts don't end up in your feces.
I guess now my name is going to be added to a list somewhere...
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday October 31 2017, @01:56PM (8 children)
I reckon it has to do with the emotional insecurity that comprises most technically inclined men. Part of why they excel at technical subjects is because it is emotionally easier than dealing with people. Machines, science, math, those are all things with quantifiable aspects and known variables, etc, etc, while people, especially women, are random and upsetting and unknowable.
So a scenario like yours, which I agree is very plausible, becomes quite understandable in that light. He made a pass, she rejected him, and he couldn't handle it. He killed her, but not in a clinical, pre-meditated way, but in panic and emotional outrage. She could ruin him, you see, and put an end to all his funding and important, brilliant work like that in which she was riding--his submarine. That couldn't be allowed, so he had to get rid of her.
Everything else in the tale follows from that bumbled moment.
The takeaway should rather be, if a technically inclined man wants to get away with murder he should probably plan it out well in advance instead of improvising on the fly. If what he really wants to do is get a date, he should probably not start down the whole get a woman alone on his submarine path at all and instead invest time and effort in learning how to talk to women like a normal person.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @02:50PM (5 children)
"Have you tried ... not being a nerd? Just be a normal person!"
Worst advice ever. Peter Madsen should have dismembered you instead.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @02:59PM
Since you've apparently already been dismembered, I take it you recommend it? Oh, look - isn't that cute. The person who dismembered you stuck your cranium in your rectum. No wonder you have such a shitty outlook!!
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday October 31 2017, @04:58PM (3 children)
So...you recommend dismemberment over dating as less problematic, then?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:01PM (2 children)
Hacksaw blades are somewhat easier to chose than flowers.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:11PM (1 child)
Hacksaw? N00b. Sawzall.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:51PM
I always preferred bandsaws in a chilled room, to reduce splatter, but somehow that didn't get enough crowdfunding pledges. Not enough room in the sub, they said.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:17PM (1 child)
Um, if I had a submarine, I would take a woman on it like a normal person. Especially, if I found a fellow geek and she found it very fucking cool I had my own working submarine. I would be looking for one of those geeks, so we would probably end up on the submarine anyways.
Maybe not after what this dude did though.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:58PM
I would've just got a bunch of whores and drugs on my submarine, but different strokes I guess.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Tuesday October 31 2017, @02:51PM
The relevant question for this forum is, did Peter Madsen write his own filesystem?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @10:45AM
I think her skull was rather unlikely to be found. Scuba divers who drown (which is comparable to putting body pieces in a bag filled up with lead or stones) are more likely not to be found than to be found.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday October 31 2017, @09:50PM (1 child)
Why? It reads like a common murder and a common murderer changing his story. Interesting if on Columbo or if you're a true crime buff. But not noteworthy. Seaworthy?
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Wednesday November 01 2017, @12:47AM
I think because we aren't from his region of the world. If this was Elon Musk would it be more interesting?
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.