Denmark's Nautilus Sub Owner Sentenced to Life for Murder of Journalist

Earlier, media reported that Copenhagen's Prosecutor's Office had been demanding life imprisonment for Peter Madsen, the owner of a homemade submarine called Nautilus, who was officially charged with murdering Swedish journalist Kim Wall.

On Wednesday, Peter Madsen, 47, was sentenced to life in prison for killing and dismembering Kim Wall aboard his submarine in Copenhagen harbor in August 2017.

Copenhagen Judge Anette Burkoe said along with two other jurors that the journalist's death was murder as Masden failed to give "a trustworthy" explanation for his actions.

However, he later said he would appeal the court's decision. The defendant's lawyer, Betina Hald Engmark, said the prosecutors failed to prove her client's guilt. The inventor had previously denied killing the woman, saying she had died accidentally on board the vessel and that he only cut the body into pieces.

READ MORE: Danish Prosecutor Wants Life Sentence for Charged Nautilus Owner — Reports

Madsen was detained on August 11, 2017, when he emerged from the submarine without Wall despite them both having boarded the vessel the previous day. He said to police he was not aware of the journalist's location, adding that they had come ashore on a beach after the joint submarine voyage then subsequently parted ways.

Later the inventor changed his testimony, saying that Wall had died because of an accident inside the submarine, and adding he had dropped her body into the sea. Later in October, Madsen admitted to dismembering Wall's corpse after she had died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning inside the submarine. Madsen was officially charged with murdering Wall in January.