Peter Madsen charged with murder and dismemberment of Swedish journalist Kim Wall

A Danish prosecutor has called for artist and inventor Peter Madsen to be jailed for life for the “extremely brutal” murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall. 

According to formal charges filed on Tuesday morning, Madsen is suspected of killing Wall by either “cutting of the throat or strangulation”. He has also been charged with "dismemberment" and “sexual relations other than intercourse of a particularly dangerous nature”. 

“This is a very unusual and extremely brutal case which has had tragic consequences for Kim Wall and her relatives,” Jakob Buch-Jepsen, the special prosecutor leading the case, said in a press statement issued by Copenhagen Police on Tuesday. 

Court psychiatrists who have carried out an assessment of Madsen recommended on Monday that the submarine and rocket builder may need to be kept in “safe custody”. 

Madsen has admitted to dismembering the body of the 30-year-old journalist after she died on board his home-built submarine Nautilus on the evening of 10 August, but maintains that she died in an accident. 

Her torso, with its head, arms and legs sawn off, was found at the end of August washed on a beach on Amager, an island in Copenhagen. There were 15 stab wounds on the body, 14 of which were around the genital area. 

Peter Madsen, 47, had become a well-known figure in Copenhagen, first for his amateur submarine building projects, and more recently for his attempts at manned suborbital space flight. 

Wall, 30, is thought to have joined him on the submarine for an interview, shortly before moving to Beijing, China.

The trial will begin on March 8 and continue for eight days, with the sentence expected on April 25.