Sub Owner: I Tried to Save Kim Wall, Not Kill Her

Peter Madsen denies murdering journalist as his trial opens
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 8, 2018 11:37 AM CST
As Trial Opens, Sub Owner Denies Killing Kim Wall
A drawing by Anne Gyrite Schutt shows suspect Peter Madsen, left, and prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen, standing right, on the first day of Madsen's trial in Copenhagen.   (Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Prosecutors say all the evidence shows that Danish inventor and submarine owner Peter Madsen tortured, murdered, and dismembered Swedish journalist Kim Wall last summer, but Madsen could not have been any clearer as his trial started in Denmark on Thursday: "I deny that I am guilty of the murder of Kim Wall," he said, per the Guardian. Madsen then laid out his version of events, saying that Wall died inside the submarine because of a sudden pressure problem while he was on deck, reports the AP. "I could not open the hatches," he said. "I heard Kim, it was not good." Madsen says that when he finally reached Wall, he tried to resuscitate her but couldn't stay for long because of the pressure problem. "There was a risk of having a submarine with two deaths," he said.

At that point, Madsen says he dismembered Wall's body and disposed of it at sea. He would later give authorities ever-shifting accounts of what happened, saying first that he had dropped off Wall safely. On Thursday, he said he lied for Wall's family's sake. "I was only thinking about Kim Wall’s relatives," he said. "I wanted to spare the world and her family from the terrible thing that had happened," he added, per the Cut. The lead prosecutor on Thursday detailed Madsen's apparent obsession with torture videos and his searches for terms such as "girl" and "pain" just ahead of Wall's visit. He also said bits of Wall's blood were found in Madsen's nostrils, and semen was found in his underwear after his arrest. In a photo shown to the court, marks on Wall's arms match a strap with a ratchet buckle found on the sub. (One of Wall's friends spent months investigating her death.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X