Murdered Journalist Kim Wall: What We Know About Macabre Submarine Death Case 

Swedish journalist Kim Wall, 30, disappeared during the night of 10 August.

A Danish inventor is accused of murdering and mutilating the body of the Swedish journalist.

She was last seen embarking on a trip off the Copenhagen coast in a homemade submarine built by Danish inventor Peter Madsen.

Her mutilated torso was found by a passing cyclist on 21 August. Her head, legs and clothing were found in weighted-down bags by police divers on 6 October.

Mr Madsen has said she died after being accidently hit on the head by the submarine’s heavy hatch, and has denied charges of murder and mutilating a corpse.

The unfolding details of Mr Madsen’s case are being closely followed in Scandinavia.

What do we know about Kim Wall’s disappearance?

A respected freelance journalist, Ms Wall was researching a feature about Peter Madsen, an inventor who built his private 40-tonne submarine, UC3 Nautilus, through crowdfunding in 2008.

She had previously reported from North Korea, the South Pacific, Uganda and Haiti, writing for the New York Times, Guardian, Vice and the South China Morning Post.

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She met Mr Madsen at around 19:00 local time on Thursday 10 August at Refshaleoen, a harbour area in Copenhagen, and she boarded the Nautilus. The last picture of the pair in the sub’s conning tower was taken at 20:30 by a man on a cruise ship, a short time before sunset.

Ms Wall did not return and was reported missing by her boyfriend at 02:30 on Friday.

The sub was not equipped with satellite tracking so after the alarm was raised in the early hours of Friday, rescue services searched for the vessel for hours.

It was not until 10:30 on 11 August that the first sighting of the vessel was confirmed from a lighthouse in the Oresund, a strait between Sweden and Denmark.

A merchant ship later reported coming within 30m (98ft) of the unlit sub to the north-west of the Oresund bridge at about midnight on 10 August. Police say at that point, the submarine crossed the channel from Denmark towards Sweden in the southern part of the Oresund.

Contact with Mr Madsen was finally established. But half an hour after the first reported sighting, the submarine sank and Mr Madsen was taken to safety by rescue services.

After analysing the wreck, Copenhagen police said on 14 August that “the sinking of the submarine was allegedly a consequence of a deliberate act”.

What happened to Kim Wall?

What happened to the Swedish journalist on the submarine is unclear and it was 13 days before she was confirmed dead.

According to Mr Madsen’s account, Ms Wall died after a 70kg (154 lb) hatch fell on her head and he “buried” her at sea somewhere in Koge Bay, about 50km (30 miles) south of Copenhagen.

But a number of macabre facts have since emerged.

Reuters
Peter Madsen, right, shortly after he was brought ashore on 11 August

Copenhagen police announced on 21 August that a torso had been found on the shore of Klydesoen, to the south of Copenhagen.

The arms, legs and head had been “removed as a result of deliberate cutting”, Copenhagen police chief Jens Moller Jensen said. DNA tests later confirmed it was Ms Wall … (read more)

Source: BBC News