The Danish inventor accused of murdering a Swedish journalist on his home-made submarine has finally revealed what happened before he dumped her body in the sea last month.
Peter Madsen, 46, told a court in Copenhagen today that Kim Wall, 30, died after the submarine’s 15lbs hatch hit her over the head, and that he tried to give her first aid before realising she was dead.
The naked, headless torso of Miss Wall was found in the water off Copenhagen over a week after she went on a voyage with Madsen in his submarine on August 10.
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Mystery: The headless torso of Miss Wall, left, was found in Koge Bay in Copenhagen last week, not far from where Madsen (right) sunk Nautilus
The UC3 Nautilus was raised from the bottom of Copenhagen harbour the day after it sank, after which police have carried out a thorough investigation of the vessel
Speaking in court dressed in his now-famous camouflage jumpsuit, Madsen said the pair had climbed up into the submarine’s watchtower after coming up from deep water.
He climbed up ahead of her and held open the hatch, but when Miss Wall came up to join him he dropped the hatch by accident, hitting her over the head.
When he looked down into the submarine he couyld only see her legs, and when he climbed down he noticed that she was ‘bleeding violently’ from her head, Aftonbladet reports.
He says her body was cramping, which soon stopped. He then tried to give her first aid, but then came to the conclusion that she had died.
He then steers out to sea with Miss Wall’s dead body in the submarine, he claims, and spends a few hours on the Baltic Sea during which he says he considered suicide.
He then carries her body up onto the top of the submarine, at which point he says ‘her shoe and tights fell off’.
Are you ok ? Peter Madsen, who is now charged over the death of Kim Wall, gives the thumbs up after he is rescued from the submarine where police later found traces of her blood
Tragedy: Journalist Kim Wall died on the submarine, Madsen has admitted, but he claims it was an accident
While Miss Wall’s torso was recovered last week, authorities still look for other remains
The 40-ton submarine, was deliberately sunk by Madsen on the day after Miss Wall’s disappearance. He was subsequently arrested, and is now facing charges of murder and indecent handling of a corpse.
Police say Miss Wall’s limbs had been ‘deliberately cut off’ her torso, which had been weighted down with metal to make it sink to the bottom of the sea, police said.
Madsen has admitted that she died on his submarine, and says he then ‘buried her at sea’, and has today admitted to indecent handling of a corpse.
Footage filmed by Denmark’s TV2 as he was fished out of Køge Bay shortly after Miss Wall had died, shows him giving a ‘thumbs up’, telling journalists he is ok.
As Madsen is known in Denmark for his ambitious projects, which as well as submarines include building space rockets, the TV2 crew were there to report on his rescue.
Wearing camouflage overalls, Madsen is seen speaking to two policemen about Miss Wall, who by then had been reported missing by her family. They ask: ‘Do you have any contact information for her?’
‘It’s in my phone at the bottom of the ocean,’ Madsen replies according to Ekstrabladet.
‘So you don’t have her name or what?’
‘Just that her name is Kim. I don’t check the background of a journalist, they call and ask ‘can I have an interview’.’
Further search: Police and other authorities search a waterway for further remains related to the ongoing Kim Wall investigation at the west coast of Amager, Copenhagen, Denmark
Police search a waterway for remains related to the ongoing Kim Wall investigation at the west coast of Amager close to Copenhagen, Denmark
Last moments: One of the last images taken of Miss Wall shows her on board the sub alongside Madsen on Thursday August 10
As the camera follows him, Madsen explains in a chillingly casual way that he submarine sank because of an issue with one of the ballast tanks.
Smiling at the camera, he says: ‘ I was just out for a practice voyage when there was an issue with a ballast tank – which was not very serious – and when I tried to repair it, it only got worse.
‘Nautilus sank in 30 seconds so I did not have time to close any hatches or anything. Which was very good, because otherwise I would be down there,’ he adds smiling again.
He smiles again. After this, Madsen can reportedly be heard talking about how they can retrieve the submarine, and how much it’s going to cost – not mentioning Miss Wall, but stressing that there is some form of insurance for the vessel.
Police have found traces of Miss Wall’s blood inside the submarine, despite having had to retrieve it from the bottom of a Copenhagen bay where it sank on August 11.
‘Hot-tempered’: Peter Madsen, pictured with fellow enthusiast Kristian von Bengtson and one of their rocket prototypes in 2010, allegedly has a history of lashing out at journalists
Passionate: Madsen’s biographer has revealed that the hobby rocket builder has made enemies of the people he has worked with, and that his temper can flare unexpectedly
Miss Wall was a freelance journalist, who grew up in Sweden but was mainly based in New York and Beijing, whose work had appeared in several major publications, including The Guardian and New York Times.
She had arranged to join Madsen on Nautilus as part of an article she had planned on writing about him and his projects.
Madsen, an amateur enthusiast who had built the UC3 Nautilus himself, has a history of lashing out at journalists who gave his project bad press, his biographer has said.
‘He often ends up in conflicts, and has a lot of enemies,’ says Thomas Djursing, a journalist who has written a book about Madsen.
‘He can throw tools at you. But at the same time, he’s not a violent person. I’ve never been afraid of him,’ he told Aftonbladet.
Mr Djursing adds that Madsen would often become angry with journalists who wrote about his ambitious projects in a negative way, and says ‘I don’t know a journalist who has not been in conflict with him’.
In Mr Djursing’s book ‘Rocket Madsen’, the inventor describes himself as a ‘nerd with few friends’ who grew up with his elderly father after the parents’ separation.
Early on, he joined several rocket and space travel clubs, but his lack of patience and short fuse saw him excluded from the societies in his teens.