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Denmark: Submarine owner charged with murder of Kim Wall

January 16, 2018

Danish prosecutors have charged inventor Peter Madsen with murdering Swedish reporter Kim Wall while on his submarine and dumping her dismembered body at sea. Prosecutors are pushing for life behind bars.

https://p.dw.com/p/2qvCh
Swedish Journalist Kim Wall
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AP/Tom Wall

Prosecutors in Denmark charged the inventor and private submarine-owner Peter Madsen for the murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on Tuesday.

Police were not able to determine precisely how Wall died, but the indictment states they believe Madsen either cut Wall's throat or strangled her on board the submarine. Prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment.

Read more: Danish submarine murder suspect had 'torture videos'

Submarine-owner Peter Madsen
Madsen previously admitted to disposing of Wall's body, but said he didn't kill herImage: picture-alliance/dpa/AP/Ritzau Foto/Hougaard Niels

Madsen is charged with premeditated murder and dismemberment. He has also been charged with sexual assault without intercourse "of a particularly dangerous nature."

Wall, a 30-year-old freelance reporter, was researching a story on the aerospace engineer and entrepreneur when she went missing on board his 17-meter (56-foot) submarine in August last year.

Divers in Denmark assist police in the search for missing bodyparts of journalist Kiim Wall
Divers searched for Wall's remains for weeks in a bay near CopenhagenImage: Reuters/Scanpix/M. Sylvest

Madsen previously admitted to dumping her body at sea but denied killing her. Police halted the search for the rest of Wall's remains after they uncovered her head, torso, legs and arms in the Bay of Koge near the capital Copenhagen.

The trial is set to start on March 8 with a verdict expected on April 25.

rs/rc (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)