Danish sub killer recaptured after attempted prison escape

A Danish man convicted of torturing and murdering a Swedish journalist on his homemade submarine escaped the suburban Copenhagen jail where he is serving a life sentence but was found nearby Tuesday

Denmark Killed Reporter

A Danish man convicted of torturing and murdering a Swedish journalist on his homemade submarine escaped the suburban Copenhagen jail where he is serving a life sentence but was found nearby Tuesday.

The Ekstra Bladet tabloid posted a video of Peter Madsen sitting in the grass with his hands behind his back and police at distance. According to the daily, Madsen “had a belt-like object around the abdomen.”

On Twitter, police said “a man has been arrested after attempted escape. We have investigators on a site that is cordoned off.” No other details were immediately available.

In 2018, Madsen was sentenced in the Copenhagen City Court to life in prison for killing Kim Wall, a 30-year-old reporter from Sweden who he lured aboard his homemade submarine in 2017 with the promise of an interview. He dismembered her body and dumped it at sea.

Madsen lost his appeal, shortly after apologizing to the victim’s family who were present in the appeals court. The sensational case has gripped Scandinavia.

Madsen has denied murdering Wall. He claims she died accidentally inside the submarine but he has confessed to throwing her body parts into the Baltic Sea.

Life sentences in Denmark usually mean 16 years in prison, but convicts are reassessed to determine whether they would pose a danger to society if released and can be kept longer.