Kim Wall: Danish submarine inventor charged with abuse of corpse after journalist's headless torso found in sea

30-year-old's body found weighed down with metal and missing head, legs and arms

Peter Madsen pictured with the homemade submarine on which Kim Wall is thought to have died (Associated Press)

Police investigating the death of a Swedish journalist have charged the submarine inventor accused of killing her with abuse of a corpse.

Peter Madsen denied the new charge after it was filed by Danish authorities at a court in Copenhagen, where Kim Wall's headless torso was found in the Baltic Sea this week.

Detectives said her body, which was formally identified on Wednesday, was missing legs and arms and had been weighed down with metal.

An attempt had been made to remove gas and air from the naked torso to keep it on the seabed, police added.

Mr Madsen, 46, initially claimed to have dropped Ms Wall off alive in the Danish capital following a trip on his homemade submarine on 10 August, but has since told police he dumped her body in the sea after she died in an accident.

On Friday police halted the search for the 30-year-old's remaining body parts in the waters between Denmark and Sweden, although divers were still searching the harbour to which Mr Madsen was brought after being rescued from his sinking submarine.

Officers declined to comment on why the search had been suspended, but said they were ready to resume it when necessary.

Police have received 656 tip-offs in the case and urged the public to keep a look out, especially for the missing limbs and the clothes Ms Wall was wearing - an orange shirt, black and white skirt and white shoes - when the submarine set off.

"We also still want to hear from people who can make us more aware of the people involved and their behaviour," the police statement said.

Ms Wall, who was researching a story on the inventor, went missing after he took her out to sea in his 17-metre (56-foot) UC3 Nautilus, which was the largest privately built submarine in the world when it first launched in 2008.

Police arrested Mr Madsen on suspicion of Ms Wall's murder, which carries a sentence of between five years and life in prison, after he was rescued from his sinking submarine. Detectives believe he deliberately scuttled the vessel.

Mr Madsen denies killing Ms Wall and claims he "buried" her at sea after she died in an accident.

In its preliminary investigation, the court ordered Mr Madsen be detained until 5 September, pending further inquires, on the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Police will seek to extend the pre-trial custody when it is reviewed next month, and expect to raise the preliminary charge to murder.

The submarine is one of three constructed by Mr Madsen. It could carry eight people and weighed 40 tonnes when fully equipped.

Police have yet to establish the cause of Ms Wall's death.

Her mother Ingrid Wall this week spoke of her "boundless sadness and shock" and told how her daughter "gave voice to the weak, vulnerable and marginalised" through her journalism.