Danish sub killer verdict postponed as judge collapses

COPENHAGEN: A Danish court on Friday postponed its verdict on an appeal by Peter Madsen, who is seeking a reduced sentence for the 2017 murder of a Swedish journalist aboard his homemade submarine, after a judge collapsed in the courtroom.

The lay judge, one of two serving along with three professional judges, fell ill shortly after the prosecutor began presenting his final arguments in the Copenhagen appeals court. The judge, whose identity was not disclosed, was treated by paramedics and whisked away by ambulance. The court said later his life was not in danger.

The court had been due to present its verdict on Madsen’s sentence later on Friday. Proceedings were cancelled for the day and it was not immediately known when the trial would resume.

Madsen, 47, appealed his life sentence but not the guilty verdict handed down by the Copenhagen district court on April 25 for the murder of 30-year-old Swedish journalist Kim Wall, chopping up her corpse and throwing her body parts into the sea last year.

He claims her death was an accident. In the appeals trial, which opened on September 5, Madsen’s lawyer Betina Hald Engmark argued the life sentence was "disproportionate".

In Danish jurisprudence, life sentences are rarely handed down for a single killing. In the past 10 years, only three people have received such sentences. Prosecutor Kristian Kirk meanwhile insisted the sentence was justified, given the grisly nature of the murder and Madsen’s meticulous planning.

"We are talking about exceptional brutality," Kirk told the court on Friday before the proceedings were suspended. "This was not a spontaneous act. It had been planned for a while, and the only thing that was missing was a victim," he said. In the lower court trial, it emerged that Madsen had contacted several women to invite them out on his submarine before he finally called Wall.