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CRIME

Expert challenges Denmark submarine murder suspect’s defence

A leading submarine expert on Tuesday challenged Danish inventor Peter Madsen's claim that Swedish journalist Kim Wall was killed by toxic fumes in his homemade vessel last year, as he faces trial for her murder.

Expert challenges Denmark submarine murder suspect's defence
Copenhagen City Court on April 4th. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

Madsen, 47, who is accused of premeditated murder, sexual assault and desecration of a corpse, has said her death was accidental since the first day of his trial on March 8th.

He said Wall, 30, died when a hatch fell on her head, but changed his story in October after autopsy concluded there had been no damage to the skull.

Madsen has admitted dismembering her body and throwing it overboard, but denies premeditated murder and sexual assault.

The self-taught engineer said the freelance journalist died when the air pressure suddenly dropped and toxic fumes filled his vessel on the night of August 10th, 2017, while he was up on deck.

Ditte Dyreborg, a prominent lieutenant commander with the Royal Danish Navy, said Madsen's explanations were implausible, if not impossible, as she spoke at Copenhagen City Court on Tuesday.

“We did not find anything. No CO (carbon monoxide), no CO2 (carbon dioxide), no NOx (nitrogen oxide). Which we would have if the submarine engine was running with carbon monoxide in it,” said Dyreborg, who was the first to inspect the vessel on August 11th.

Dyreborg also said that the delay in testing air composition inside the sub, which resulted from Madsen having initially given a different story as to how Wall died, would not have affected results.

“It makes no difference when measurements are made, because the air in the submarine was not changed in the meantime,” she said.

The witness also said that exhaust fumes Madsen claims filled the vessel could not have caused life-threatening conditions.

Madsen’s explanation of the accident also states that a drop in pressure inside the cabin, while he was on deck, prevented him from getting back inside to help Wall. He said that she must have switched the engines off herself, allowing him to get back inside once the pressure had stabilised, but not before the journalist had been poisoned by the fumes.

But Dyreborg said that explanation was improbable.

“I do not believe that Kim Wall was trapped inside the submarine and poisoned by exhaust fumes. There would have been clear signs on the filters if that was the case, and there were not,” the lieutenant commander said.

If the engines had stopped, it would have taken a long time before Madsen could open the hatch again, she also said.

She also doubted whether Wall, untrained in piloting the sub, would have been able to switch off the engines herself, according to DR’s report from the courtroom.

Seemingly irritated and agitated, Madsen took notes during Dyreborg's testimony and whispered technical questions into his lawyer's ear, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

A coroner told a March 22nd hearing that there was no conclusive evidence to prove Wall's cause of death beyond doubt, adding she was probably strangled or had her throat cut.

The coroner could however not rule out poisoning as a result of toxic fumes.

Madsen's lawyer Betina Hald Engmark questioned the relevance of Dyreborg's expertise on smaller and private submarines, concluding the lieutenant commander did not carry out any tests on the vessel's air filters.

The prosecution, which is seeking a life sentence for Madsen, claims he tortured and killed Wall as part of a sexual fantasy.

Wall's body parts, weighed down with metal objects, were recovered from waters off Copenhagen. She also had 14 stab wounds to her genital area.

The first hearings focused on the inner workings of the eccentric inventor described by psychiatric experts as “perverse” and with “psychopathic traits”.

The verdict is expected on April 25th.

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CRIME

Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs hiring ‘child soldiers’

The justice ministers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway are to meet representatives of the tech giants Google, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok, to discuss how to stop their platforms being used by gang criminals in the region.

Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs hiring 'child soldiers'

Denmark’s justice minister, Peter Hummelgaard, said in a press release that he hoped to use the meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss how to stop social media and messaging apps being used by gang criminals, who Danish police revealed earlier this year were using them to recruit so-called “child soldiers” to carry out gang killings.  

“We have seen many examples of how the gangs are using social media and encrypted messaging services to plan serious crimes and recruit very young people to do their dirty work,” Hummelgaard said. “My Nordic colleagues and I agree that a common front is needed to get a grip on this problem.”

As well as recruitment, lists have been found spreading on social media detailing the payments on offer for various criminal services.   

Hummelgaard said he would “insist that the tech giants live up to their responsibilities so that their platforms do not act as hotbeds for serious crimes” at the meeting, which will take place at a summit of Nordic justice ministers in Uppsala, Sweden.

In August, Hummelgaard held a meeting in Copenhagen with Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, at which the two agreed to work harder to tackle cross-border organised crime, which has seen a series of Swedish youth arrested in Denmark after being recruited to carry out hits in the country. 

According to a press release from the Swedish justice ministry, the morning will be spent discussing how to combat the criminal economy and particularly organised crime in ports, with a press release from Finland’s justice ministry adding that the discussion would also touch on the “undue influence on judicial authorities” from organised crime groups. 

The day will end with a round table discussion with Ronald S Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, on how anti-Semitism and hate crimes against Jews can be prevented and fought in the Nordic region. 

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