I've done a quick search and can't see any other threads regarding this. I'm posting because the details emerging now about the case have crossed the line from odd to bizarre, bordering on surreal.
The UC3 Nautilus is the world's largest amateur built submarine at 33 tons. It was built in Denmark by a group of volunteer enthusiasts led by Peter Madsen, who conceived it as an art project. Madsen is also a self taught space flight engineer who in 2008 founded Copenhagen Suborbitals. This is a crowdfunded company that aims to send an amateur astronaut into near Earth orbit and recover them safely. It has launched 5 rockets and two mock up space capsules from a Danish Navy testing range in the Baltic since 2010. Their first launch famously failed because the rocket's de-icing component for the liquid oxygen valve (a hair dryer) had it's power supply fail.
The Nautilus was trialled by former Danish Navy submariners in 2008 and received a clean bill of health. It was then operated for the next three years by Madsen and various volunteers who sailed it happily off the Danish coast. It was visited by many parties including video game designers and journalists. There are many Youtube videos of the sub in operation. In 2011 the Nautilus was drydocked for maintainence and upgrades. This was planned to be for only a few weeks but it wasn't relaunched until April of this year. In the meantime there had been some ill feeling between Madsen and the volunteers which resulted in Madsen becoming the official sole owner of the sub.
Fast forward to August 11 this year, Swedish free-lance journalist Kim Wall went aboard the Nautilus to interview Madsen. She was a well known and respected globetrotting writer whose work had been published in papers like the New York Times and the Guardian and in magazines like Time and Harpers. Around 7 pm the submarine left the dock and sailed into the Baltic. It had been scheduled to sail the following day to an exhibition at the Danish island Bornholm but Madsen texted the crew that the event was cancelled. During the night Kim Wall was reported missing by her boyfriend to Swedish police and the Nautilus was noticed missing from it's dock. Danish police liased with the crew of the submarine and quickly set up a search at sea. At around 10.30 pm the submarine was seen by a lighthouse crew entering Koge harbour, about 40 km southwest of Copenhagen. Shortly afterward, the Nautilus sank, leaving Madsen on the surface. He was quickly rescued by a private boat.
On being interviewed by police Madsen said the sub had sunk because of malfunction but Wall had not been aboard. He claimed that they had concluded the interview at sea and he had subsequently returned Wall to the dock in Copenhagen. Madsen claimed she had left the ship and he then sailed to Koge harbour alone. The dock site was well covered by private CCTV cameras and Danish police quickly established that Madsen was lying - the Nautilus did not return to the dock. Kim Wall was last seen going aboard the sub before it sailed away. Madsen was arrested immediately and charged initially with negligent manslaughter while the investigation continued. In court on the 12th of August Madsen gave a different version of events. He said that Wall had died accidentally by being hit by the heavy conning tower hatch. He claimed that in a fit of panic he had "buried her at sea" before the accidental sinking.
The Nautilus had sunk in only 7 meters of water. It was approached by divers but they could not enter the vessel. Quickly a cargo ship was contracted by the Danish government to salvage the Nautilus and bring it to the surface. On the 14th of August investigators announced the sub had been deliberately sunk. A week later Kim Wall's headless torso was found at sea. It had been deliberately dismembered and decapitated, stabbed multiple times in the abdomen - homicide investigators say this was to prevent gas build up enhancing flotation - and weighted down by being strapped to scrap metal. The limbs and head have not yet been found. Madsen denies mutliating Wall. He claims that he weighted down her intact body then scuttled the Nautilus in "suicidal psychosis" intending to drown himself.
Fast forward to Madsen's most recent court appearence yesterday. Evidence was given that investigators have recovered videos from a computer in the Nautilus on shore workshop. These apparenlty show the unsimulated decapitations of women. Madsen says they are nothing to do with him and lots of people have access to the workshop.
At this point my jaw is dropping. It isn't clear yet if these videos are downloads of nasty online executions or a more personal record. Is the famous amateur aerospace engineer a serial killer? Did he build an actual submarine specifically as a murder site? I don't know what to think. It's all starting to seem like something out of a bad Scandi Noir story.
The UC3 Nautilus is the world's largest amateur built submarine at 33 tons. It was built in Denmark by a group of volunteer enthusiasts led by Peter Madsen, who conceived it as an art project. Madsen is also a self taught space flight engineer who in 2008 founded Copenhagen Suborbitals. This is a crowdfunded company that aims to send an amateur astronaut into near Earth orbit and recover them safely. It has launched 5 rockets and two mock up space capsules from a Danish Navy testing range in the Baltic since 2010. Their first launch famously failed because the rocket's de-icing component for the liquid oxygen valve (a hair dryer) had it's power supply fail.
The Nautilus was trialled by former Danish Navy submariners in 2008 and received a clean bill of health. It was then operated for the next three years by Madsen and various volunteers who sailed it happily off the Danish coast. It was visited by many parties including video game designers and journalists. There are many Youtube videos of the sub in operation. In 2011 the Nautilus was drydocked for maintainence and upgrades. This was planned to be for only a few weeks but it wasn't relaunched until April of this year. In the meantime there had been some ill feeling between Madsen and the volunteers which resulted in Madsen becoming the official sole owner of the sub.
Fast forward to August 11 this year, Swedish free-lance journalist Kim Wall went aboard the Nautilus to interview Madsen. She was a well known and respected globetrotting writer whose work had been published in papers like the New York Times and the Guardian and in magazines like Time and Harpers. Around 7 pm the submarine left the dock and sailed into the Baltic. It had been scheduled to sail the following day to an exhibition at the Danish island Bornholm but Madsen texted the crew that the event was cancelled. During the night Kim Wall was reported missing by her boyfriend to Swedish police and the Nautilus was noticed missing from it's dock. Danish police liased with the crew of the submarine and quickly set up a search at sea. At around 10.30 pm the submarine was seen by a lighthouse crew entering Koge harbour, about 40 km southwest of Copenhagen. Shortly afterward, the Nautilus sank, leaving Madsen on the surface. He was quickly rescued by a private boat.
On being interviewed by police Madsen said the sub had sunk because of malfunction but Wall had not been aboard. He claimed that they had concluded the interview at sea and he had subsequently returned Wall to the dock in Copenhagen. Madsen claimed she had left the ship and he then sailed to Koge harbour alone. The dock site was well covered by private CCTV cameras and Danish police quickly established that Madsen was lying - the Nautilus did not return to the dock. Kim Wall was last seen going aboard the sub before it sailed away. Madsen was arrested immediately and charged initially with negligent manslaughter while the investigation continued. In court on the 12th of August Madsen gave a different version of events. He said that Wall had died accidentally by being hit by the heavy conning tower hatch. He claimed that in a fit of panic he had "buried her at sea" before the accidental sinking.
The Nautilus had sunk in only 7 meters of water. It was approached by divers but they could not enter the vessel. Quickly a cargo ship was contracted by the Danish government to salvage the Nautilus and bring it to the surface. On the 14th of August investigators announced the sub had been deliberately sunk. A week later Kim Wall's headless torso was found at sea. It had been deliberately dismembered and decapitated, stabbed multiple times in the abdomen - homicide investigators say this was to prevent gas build up enhancing flotation - and weighted down by being strapped to scrap metal. The limbs and head have not yet been found. Madsen denies mutliating Wall. He claims that he weighted down her intact body then scuttled the Nautilus in "suicidal psychosis" intending to drown himself.
Fast forward to Madsen's most recent court appearence yesterday. Evidence was given that investigators have recovered videos from a computer in the Nautilus on shore workshop. These apparenlty show the unsimulated decapitations of women. Madsen says they are nothing to do with him and lots of people have access to the workshop.
At this point my jaw is dropping. It isn't clear yet if these videos are downloads of nasty online executions or a more personal record. Is the famous amateur aerospace engineer a serial killer? Did he build an actual submarine specifically as a murder site? I don't know what to think. It's all starting to seem like something out of a bad Scandi Noir story.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2xeKytg
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