Danish police find head, other body parts in submarine case

Chief police investigator Jens Moeller makes a comment concerning the latest findings in connection with the Kim Wall murder case during a press conference at police headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017. Danish police say divers have found the decapitated head, legs and clothes of the Swedish journalist, who was killed after going on a trip with an inventor on his submarine. (Photo by TARIQ MIKKEL KHAN / Ritzau via AP)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish divers found the decapitated head, legs and clothes of Kim Wall, a Swedish journalist who was killed after going on a trip with an inventor on his submarine, police said Saturday.

The body parts and clothing were found Friday in plastic bags with a knife and “heavy metal pieces” to make them sink near where the 30-year-old Wall’s naked headless torso was found in August, Copenhagen police investigator Jens Moeller Jensen said.

Moeller Jensen said there were no fractures to Wall’s skull and he declined to comment on the discovery of the knife.

Peter Madsen, the 46-year-old Danish inventor who is in pre-trial detention on preliminary manslaughter charges, has said Wall died after being accidentally hit by a 70-kilogram (155-pound) hatch on the UC3 Nautillus submarine, after which he “buried” her at sea. But police have said 15 stab wounds were found on the torso found at sea off Copenhagen on Aug. 21. Her arms are still missing.

Wall’s cause of death hasn’t yet been established yet.

The detention of Madsen, who has denied manslaughter, expires Oct. 31 when a court will decide if he will continue to remain in custody ahead of a possible trial. He is also held on preliminary charges of the indecent handling of a corpse.

Police have said the submarine only sailed in Danish waters Aug. 10-11.

Police believe the pair didn’t know each other beforehand. Wall was working on a story about Madsen, who dreamed of launching a manned space mission. She was last seen alive Aug. 10 aboard the 40-ton, nearly 18 meter-long (60 foot-long) submarine as it left Copenhagen.

The following day, Madsen was rescued from the sinking submarine without Wall at his side and was arrested the same day. Police believe he deliberately scuttled the vessel.

During their investigation, police have found videos on Madsen’s personal computer of women being tortured, decapitated and murdered. The videos were considered to be real, according to prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen.

Investigators believe Madsen killed Wall between Aug. 10 and 11, cut up the body and attached a belt with a pipe to the torso with the purpose of making it sink, officials said, adding that her head, arms and legs had been deliberately cut off after her death.

Marks on the dismembered torso indicated that someone had tried to press air out of the body so it wouldn’t float, police had said.

A court-ordered psychiatric evaluation of Madsen is pending.