Prosecutors Present Grisly Theory on Submarine Killing

Peter Madsen is accused of bringing aboard tools to brutalize Kim Wall before her death
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 23, 2018 12:07 PM CST
Updated Jan 23, 2018 12:28 PM CST
Indictment: Sub Owner Brutalized Victim Before Murder
A file photo of submarine owner Peter Madsen.   (Niels Hougaard /Ritzau via AP, File)

Prosecutors have outlined what they think happened to journalist Kim Wall last year aboard a submarine, and it makes for grisly reading. The indictment released Tuesday in Copenhagen accuses Danish entrepreneur Peter Madsen of brutalizing his 30-year-old victim with tools including a saw and screwdrivers that he brought aboard for that very purpose, reports Reuters. The indictment makes clear one chilling fact: Prosecutors say Madsen abused Wall while she was still alive, notes the New York Times. They say that he brought a “saw, sharpened screwdrivers, straps, strips, and pipes” as part of a premeditated murder plan. He "abused her by hitting her, stabbed and cut her and he killed her after which he dismembered her body,” per the indictment.

Madsen, 47, has been charged with sexually assaulting and killing Wall, and Tuesday's indictment adds a lesser charge: It accuses Madsen of endangering others' lives by forcing two vessels to alter their routes because of the course he charted for his submarine. Prosecutors say that Madsen also deliberately sank his sub after the murder. Based on videos found on his computers, prosecutors previously said Madsen seemed to be obsessed with torture and dismemberment. The indictment Tuesday suggests he finally acted on that, with Wall, who had gone aboard to research a story she was writing about him, as his victim. Authorities haven't determined the cause of death, but they say she was either strangled or had her throat cut. (More Kim Wall stories.)

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