Madsen was born in 1971 to Annie and Carl Madsen. He spent his early life in
Sæby and
Høng (both in
Kalundborg Municipality), Denmark.[4] Annie was more than 30 years younger than Carl and had three other boys from two previous men. Carl was allegedly abusive toward his three stepsons. Annie left when Peter was six, taking the children with her.[5][6] After a couple of years, Madsen returned to his father, with whom he shared an interest in rockets.
While attending primary and secondary school in Høng, Madsen developed an interest in
rocket fuel with the help of chemistry and physics teacher Johannes Fischer. He developed his first large rocket at Høng and launched it on 3 March 1986.[7] It was one meter tall, modelled after the American ICBM
MX Peacekeeper and built in his father's workshop. It reached a height of 100 m (330 ft) before crashing without harming anyone.[8] In 1987, Madsen was accepted at the
gymnasium (upper secondary school) in the nearby town of
Kalundborg.[8] He moved to live in a youth house in the town. His father died in 1990 when Peter was 18.[9][10]
Madsen continued to experiment and to consult engineers, and became friendly with the family responsible for the fireworks in Copenhagen's
Tivoli Gardens. He also joined the Dansk Amatør Raket Klub (DARK) rocket club in Copenhagen,[11] but the other members gradually became disillusioned with him. DARK members claimed that "saying his name would start the fire sprinkler system".[12] He never finished any formal education, but took courses in
welding and engineering to learn something about submarines.[13][14] His enthusiasm brought impressive results, but also caused conflicts with others. Madsen funded his lifestyle through financial support from people, organizations, and enterprises which saw promise in him.[12]
Personal life
Madsen was married at
Copenhagen City Hall in November 2011. His wife had worked in the film industry and had also helped in Madsen's workshop at
Refshaleøen, Copenhagen. In February 2018, it was reported that his wife had abandoned him after he was charged with murder. Madsen said that he had lived in an "open relationship". His wife has chosen to remain anonymous and her identity has not been released by the media. According to a report from Wired magazine, Madsen was a regular at fetish parties.[15][16]
On 19 December 2019, Madsen married 39-year old Russian-Mauritian opposition activist Jenny Curpen. Curpen has had
political asylum in Finland since 2013, because of her persecution in Russia. In a post on
Facebook, Curpen said that she received death threats after her marriage was made public. According to a Facebook entry of Jenny Curpen, they divorced on 7 January 2022.[17][18][19][20]
Projects
Madsen (right) with
Kristian Von BengtsonMadsen speaking at an engineers' conference, 2010
Submarines
Madsen built three submarines: UC1 Freya, UC2 Kraka and UC3 Nautilus. The Nautilus was a privately built
midget submarine, launched on 3 May 2008 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Constructed over three years, it cost approximately
US$200,000 to build (1.5 million
DKK).[21]
On 1 May 2008, Madsen co-founded
Copenhagen Suborbitals with Danish Architect
Kristian von Bengtson. In June 2014, he left the project.[22] Madsen was responsible for the launch system, launchpad and booster rocket engines.[23]
In June 2014, Madsen established
RML Spacelab ApS. The goal was the development and construction of a crewed spacecraft. From 2016, RML was developing a nano satellite launch vehicle using venture investments. Under the title Raket-Madsens Rumlaboratorium (Danish for 'Rocket-Madsen's Space Laboratory') Madsen blogged about his activities on the website of the Danish news magazine Ingeniøren.[24]
On 11 August 2017, Madsen was arrested after the sinking of UC3 Nautilus and the disappearance of
Kim Wall, a Swedish journalist who had last been seen alive aboard the submarine.[25][26]
The following day, a court ruled that he be held in
pre-trial detention for 24 days on a charge of
negligent homicide.[27] Madsen initially claimed that he had dropped Wall off on land at the tip of
Refshaleøen on the night before the sinking.[25][28] He later changed his statement, saying that she had died on board in an accident, and that he had buried her at sea.[29] According to the
Danish police, the submarine was
deliberately sunk, contradicting Madsen's explanation regarding a technical fault.[28]
A human torso washed up on the coast of
Amager on 21 August, which
DNA tests concluded belonged to Wall.[30] Chief investigator Jens Møller reported that the torso had been stabbed multiple times to vent accumulating gases that could float it to the surface, and that a piece of metal had been fastened to it to ensure its sinking to the seabed.[31] On 25 August, Madsen's charge was extended to improper handling of a corpse.[32]
Trial and conviction
During a hearing on 5 September, Madsen stated that Wall had been killed when he lost his grip on the submarine's hatch cover, which he was holding open for her, and it hit her on the head, causing her skull to fracture.[33] On 7 October 2017,
Royal Danish Navy divers assisting the police found Wall's head, arms and legs, along with a knife and pieces of her clothing, in bags at the bottom of Køge Bay, weighted down by pieces of metal. A police spokesperson reported that there were no fractures to Wall's skull.[34]
A post-mortem examination of the torso found "knife wounds to her genitals and ribcage", believed to have been caused "around or shortly after her death". The prosecution said that police had found videos on Madsen's computer showing women being murdered, and that witnesses said that they had seen Madsen watching videos of decapitation and practising asphyxiation sex.[35] On 30 October 2017, it was reported that Madsen had changed his account of Wall's death and admitted dismembering her body.[36]
It was reported that he now claimed that she had died from
carbon monoxide poisoning on board the submarine, but his legal representation denied this, saying that Madsen did not know how she died. It was later confirmed by the police that he had made no clear statement on how she had died, but had said that she was inside the submarine when it contained exhaust gases.[37]
In January 2018, Madsen was charged with
murder, indecent handling of a corpse (due to dismemberment), and sexual assault (due to stabbings in genital region). The prosecution accused him of having bound, hit, cut and stabbed Wall before killing her by cutting her throat or strangling her.[38][39][40] Madsen's trial began on 8 March 2018 with him pleading not guilty to Wall's murder.[41] On 25 April 2018, Madsen was found guilty of all charges, and sentenced to
life imprisonment.[2][40][42][43] A psychiatric evaluation of Madsen described him as a
narcissisticpsychopath, lacking in empathy but not psychotic or delusional.[44] Madsen immediately appealed the sentence but not the guilty verdict.[45][46] On 26 September 2018, the
Østre Landsret (High Court of Eastern Denmark) upheld the sentence.[47]
Later events and escape
Madsen was admitted to the hospital in August 2018 after being assaulted by an 18-year-old inmate in Storstrøm Prison.[48] Madsen was also in a relationship with a female prison guard.[49]
On 20 October 2020, Madsen escaped from prison. He was arrested again in a residential area near
Herstedvester Prison. When police discovered that he was in possession of a pistol-like object and was wearing a belt that could potentially contain explosives, he was surrounded until bomb experts had determined that it was a
decoy.[50] On 9 February 2021, a Copenhagen court handed down a 21-month prison sentence to Madsen, for his attempted escape from jail.[51] The additional sentence was not added to the life sentence, but may play a role if a future probation request is made.[52]
Media
On 24 January 2020, a Danish
documentary, Into the Deep, premiered at the
Sundance Festival in Utah, United States.[53] The 90-minute documentary was directed by Australian-born Emma Sullivan and chronicles Peter Madsen and a group of volunteers helping Madsen with his projects – shot as it happens before, during, and after the
murder of Kim Wall.[54]
The Investigation (Efterforskningen) is a
Danish-language television dramatisation created by
Tobias Lindholm, which follows the criminal investigation of the case. The six-part series premiered on 28 September 2020 on
TV2 and
SVT. It features
Søren Malling as chief inspector Jens Møller,
Pilou Asbæk as special prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen and
Rolf Lassgård and
Pernilla August as Wall's parents. The TV series does not feature the crime itself and does not mention Madsen's name, whose character does not appear onscreen either; it focuses on the investigative work leading to his indictment and conviction. It has been compared to the 2020 BBC series The Salisbury Poisonings.[55][56] The series was broadcast on UK's
BBC Two between 22 January and 5 February 2021.[57][58]HBO began showing it on 1 February 2021.[59]
^Madsen, M.C. (16 October 2017).
"Skolelærer om Peter Madsen: Sådan husker jeg ham" [School teacher about Peter Madsen: This is how I remember him] (in Danish). BT.dk.
Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
^As, Tv 2 (13 January 2020).
"Ubåt-Madsen har giftet seg". TV 2 (in Norwegian).
Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
^Madsen, Peter (9 August 2017).
"Raket-Madsens Rumlaboratorium" [Rocket-Madsen's Space Laboratory]. ing.dk (in Danish).
Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
^Nielsen, N.S.; Gram, K.D. (23 August 2017).
"Drabschef: Kim Walls lig skulle blive på havbunden" [Homicide investigation leader: Kim Wall's body was supposed to stay on the seabed]. DR (in Danish).
Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
^Gottschalck, Anna (25 August 2017).
"Peter Madsen nægter usømmelig omgang med et lig" [Peter Madsen denies improper handling of a corpse]. Berlingske Tidende (in Danish).
Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
^
ab"Dom i ubådssag" [Conviction in the submarine case] (in Danish). Københavns Byret, Danmarks Domstole. 25 April 2018.
Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.