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On Tuesday morning, Peter Madsen, who has been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of journalist Kim Wall, escaped from Albertslund prison.
She did this by taking the Herstedvester prison psychologist hostage and was later released from prison for having objects that looked like a firearm.
A large police operation was launched in connection with the escape attempt, and the bomb squad and special forces were also called in, when it turned out that Madsen was wearing something resembling a bomb belt. He was detained 400-500 meters away, five minutes after the police received the message.
Former Oslo police detective Johnny Brenna tells Dagbladet that these days they rarely hear of escape attempts of this kind, describing it as “spectacular.”
– Lacks implementation capacity
– This is what in the old days would be called a typical B-gang stunt, that is, Donald Duck, says Brenna of Madsen’s escape attempt.
– It’s definitely a spectacular escape, because you don’t hear so often about such escape attempts anymore.
According to Brenna, there were several such incidents in the “old days.”
He believes it is difficult to say whether this is due to personalities, criminal settings, prison security, or a combination of these and other factors.
– But there was often a getaway car ready, maybe something blocking the police. I would say that there is a lack of implementation capacity in this case. He didn’t seem to have anyone out, so he has a long way to go to be successful, says Brenna.
Escaped to prison – jumped into a van
Madsen is said to have remained about 400-500 meters from Herstedvester Prison when police surrounded him.
During today’s press conference, Police Inspector Mogens Lauridsen explained that Madsen was arrested when he got into a white van.
However, the police do not want to comment on who the driver is, or what will happen to the person in question at this time. But Lauridsen confirms that he does not speak Danish and that there have therefore been linguistic challenges in connection with the interrogation.
Police further said that they currently do not suspect that he has received help from others, but that this is being further investigated.
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– Worth criticizing
The former police detective believes that the most reprehensible thing about the case is how Madsen has been able to seize objects similar to weapons and bombs from inside the prison walls.
Brenna emphasizes that he has no special knowledge of Peter Madsen, beyond what is publicly known.
However, he emphasizes that Madsen, based on the information about him, is a high-ranking prisoner who must be watched fairly rigorously.
– The big question, and what I think is most reprehensible, is how you have managed to access objects that look like a firearm and a belt bomb. That is, the incarceration conditions you are in. I’d think it was so strict that it would be difficult, Brenna tells Dagbladet.
He admits to the murder of Kim Wall
Danish media also report that Madsen has previously been isolated due to suspected escape plans.
Farukh Qureshi, a prison officer and shop steward for the Oslo Association of Prison Officers, also admits that this was the first thing that struck him when the news broke Tuesday morning.
– I am very surprised that Madsen, given the verdict and how it has appeared during and after the case, handles it. I don’t know what risk assessments they have made of him, but it seems like there hasn’t been enough control, says Qureshi.
He himself has worked in the penitentiary for ten years. Nine of them in the Oslo prison.
– This is not a spontaneous escape attempt. There are many indications that this is relatively well planned on his part, says Qureshi.
– Always someone strange
Qureshi has never visited the current high-security prison where Madsen has served time, but has visited other prisons in Denmark. Among them is Vestre Fængsel in Copenhagen, which is the largest in Denmark.
Their impression is that Danish prisons are somewhat stricter than Norwegian ones in terms of security and control.
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That said, it highlights that no prison is hermetically sealed. To eliminate any possibility of transporting objects to the prison, the prison would have to be just that.
– Everything from outside visitors to licensed traveling inmates always presents a risk that items may be transported. Then we talk about everything from drugs to other items that can pose a risk. But there is usually good control over both inmates and visitors, says Qureshi.
Brenna emphasizes that there are also several examples of Norwegian prisons in which objects have arrived that should not have been possible.
– There will always be mistakes that happen.
Brenna herself has had the job of finding both the fugitives and others who have been conspirators in the planning.
As an example, he notes that Stig Millehaugen smuggled a weapon into Sarpsborg District Prison in 1992 and shot himself. Prison officer Jon Arild Martinsen was shot and killed when the man, who is described as “the most dangerous man in Norway”, escaped from prison.
However, he emphasizes that in his work he experienced more often that people did not return after leaving.
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– Many of those who escape from prison do so in connection with a benefit in the form of leave, dental services or the like. Then you can, for example, smuggle a message that you want to be in a certain place at a certain time, says Brenna.
– As soon as someone obtains a good, the risk that this could happen increases.
– Certainly understanding
Brenna emphasizes that she has no knowledge of Peter Madsen’s personality. However, he says that the regulars he has worked with in the theft field have some common characteristics that make it easier for them to carry out a robbery or attempted robbery.
Connected to the Danish murder case
– They are often sympathetic and therefore popular for incarceration as they seem to stabilize the environment. They are often resourceful and can be teased, and then you get buffs and tasks accordingly. If you become a walker, for example, you walk between other cells, which gives other accesses. Madsen may have some of the same character traits, says Brenna.
Once Madsen has managed to smuggle the items, Brenna is not surprised that he makes it out of jail.
Nor that he managed to take the prison psychologist hostage.
– Given the circumstances, I don’t think it’s strange. He has probably had regular appointment times with the prison psychologist, that there has been a regimen about it. Once you have taken a hostage, the prison does not run the risk that something could happen to its employees.
Qureshi, who is himself a union steward, believes that it is also important to consider what the prison staff have been exposed to in this case. Taking an employee hostage and putting the other employees in the situation where they do so is a huge burden, he emphasizes.
– Fortunately, this is a case that occurs very rarely. But it’s definitely a reminder of what you have to do as a prison clerk, says Qureshi and continues:
– It is easy for society in general to forget the convict once the sentence has fallen and the incarceration has begun. But someone has to deal with these people too. And as today’s example with Madsen shows, this is largely a risk and a liability that affects both employees and society even after sentencing.
