TALLINN, Estonia: She was a promising young journalist, tested in trouble spots throughout the world, reporting on a Danish inventor famed for building what was thought to be the world’s largest private submarine. The story seemed to present little danger, but it cost Kim Wall her life.
The Swedish journalist’s dismembered, naked torso was found on a southern Copenhagen coast in late August and her head, legs and clothes were later discovered in plastic bags at sea. The bags also contained a knife, and heavy metal objects designed to take them to the ocean floor. Wall’s arms are still missing.
Inventor Peter Madsen — who is in custody — has offered a shifting variety of explanations for Wall’s death.
Police revealed Monday that Madsen now admits dismembering Wall’s body and throwing the body parts into a bay southwest of Copenhagen, but steadfastly denies killing her. He previously claimed she had an accident but now says she died from carbon monoxide poisoning suffered inside Madsen’s submarine while he was out of harm’s way on the vessel’s deck.
“This explanation naturally will lead the police into gathering additional statements from the coroner and the armed forces’ submarine experts,” said Copenhagen police investigator Jens Moller Jensen.
Police on Monday expanded the charges against him to include sexual assault.
Madsen, 46, is a self-taught aerospace engineer who was one of the founders of Copenhagen Suborbitals, which is dedicated to building submarines and manned spacecraft. He generated attention in 2008 with the launch of Nautilus, which was billed as the world’s largest privately built submarine.
He denies killing the 30-year-old Wall, who had carved out a name for herself in the competitive world of freelance journalism by producing a string of stories from Sri Lanka, Uganda, Cuba, the Marshall Islands, and many other countries.
The globetrotting journalist was last seen alive on the evening of Aug. 10 on the submarine, known as the UC3 Nautilus. Police believe Madsen and Wall did not know each other before their trip.
Concerns about Wall’s safety surfaced the next day when her boyfriend reported her missing. Hours later, Madsen — a celebrated entrepreneur who dreamed of launching a manned space mission — was rescued from his sinking submarine.
Investigators believe he had sabotaged the vessel despite his assertion that it had suffered a technical fault. He told authorities he had dropped Wall off on an island several hours after their voyage began.
Later, he dropped that version and said she had died in an accident on board. He said he had buried her at sea.
Madsen claimed she had slipped and suffered a blow to the head from a heavy metal hatch on the sub — but police found no indication of a skull injury when her head was finally located. Her torso was found with multiple stab wounds.
Madsen is currently charged with murder and mutilating Wall’s body. Police said Monday that the charges have now been extended to include sexual assault without intercourse.
An examination of Wall’s torso revealed wounds to her genitals and ribcage that were believed to have been caused during her death or shortly after. “We’re taking an approach that there exists a sexual motive,” Jensen told Swedish broadcaster SVT.
Danish prosecutors said earlier they believe Madsen killed Wall as part of a sexual fantasy game.
During their investigation, police found videos on Madsen’s personal computer of women being tortured, decapitated and slain. Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen said the videos are thought to be real.
The case has led Danish investigators to reopen a number of unsolved killings, including the 1986 death of a young Japanese tourist whose cut-up corpse was found in several plastic bags in Copenhagen harbor.
Police say the review of so-called “cold cases” is standard procedure and has not provided any immediate link to the case involving Wall and Madsen.
Wall grew up in southern Sweden, just across a strait from Copenhagen.
Her family said it was unimaginable that she could be killed “just a few miles from the childhood home” after reporting from so many dangerous places.
Police: Danish inventor admits dismembering journalist
Police: Danish inventor admits dismembering journalist
Reference to Trump’s impeachments is removed from the display of his Smithsonian photo portrait
- For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon’s 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s photo portrait display at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document US history.
The wall text, which summarized Trump’s first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum’s “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.
The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
Trump’s original “portrait label,” as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump’s Supreme Court nominations and his administration’s development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”
Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”
Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump’s “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”
The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents’ painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump’s display.
Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.
Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.
The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok’s work.
“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”
For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon’s 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.
And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”
Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents US history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation’s development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.
In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery’s director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian’s governing board, but she ultimately resigned.
At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.
The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump’s two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden’s autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”
