Denmark: Peter Madsen, the killer of the submarine, tried to escape

Dane Peter Madsen, sentenced to life for the murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall in a home-made submarine, was arrested on Tuesday near Copenhagen after managing to escape from his prison, we learned from authorities. After being initially surrounded by police on the outskirts of Albertslund prison on the outskirts of Copenhagen, the prisoner was finally arrested and “evacuated” at midday, Danish police announced on Twitter . The police had previously confirmed to Agence France-Presse his brief escape attempt, which led him to a few hundred meters from the penitentiary center where he is serving his sentence.

According to the Danish tabloid Extra Bladet, this took place around 10 a.m. Peter Madsen allegedly threatened prison staff with a “pistol-like” object and took a hostage before escaping. According to witnesses quoted by the media, he was driving a white van when he was surrounded by police, a few hundred meters from the prison. However, he was not immediately arrested: before his arrest, he remained for a long time sitting in the grass and leaning against a row of trees, surrounded by two police officers lying on the ground, weapons pointed at the detainee, according to the images. disseminated by the media. This long arrest was due to the fact that the fugitive claimed to have a bomb, according to them.

“There is only one culprit and it’s me”

Peter Madsen, a 49-year-old inventor, was convicted in April 2018 for the murder of journalist Kim Wall, 30, when she came to interview him aboard his submarine in August 2017. During the trial, he had admitted having cut up the lifeless body of the young woman before throwing it in the Baltic, but had maintained that her death was accidental. Last month, however, he admitted his guilt for the first time in a documentary broadcast on Danish television. “There is only one culprit and it is me,” he said.