Danish killer who killed journalist in submarine ‘escapes from prison’

The Danish inventor jailed for the bloody murder of a journalist in his homemade submarine was surrounded by snipers after trying to escape from prison today.

Peter Madsen threatened guards on the grounds that he was carrying a bomb and brandishing a “gun-like object” during his escape attempt, according to local media.

He was later seen outdoors, sitting upright next to a road and surrounded by a massive police presence while wearing what looked like a belt, a few hundred meters from the prison in Albertslund.

Snipers pointed their guns at Madsen during the standoff in the cordoned off street as police negotiators arrived to speak to the killer.

Snipers point their guns at Peter Madsen as he sits by the roadside today after trying to escape from prison in Denmark.

Madsen was surrounded by a massive police presence after trying to escape his life sentence for murdering journalist Kim Wall in 2017.

Danish armed guards on the scene today after Peter Madsen dramatically tried to escape his life sentence for the 2017 submarine murder.

Danish inventor Peter Madsen (left) was jailed in 2018 for the bloody murder of journalist Kim Wall (right) on his submarine in a Copenhagen harbor.

Police dogs and robot-equipped bomb disposal experts were also on the scene as authorities tried to control Madsen.

There was also a van belonging to chemical experts from Denmark’s emergency management agency while authorities assessed the threat from Madsen.

Witnesses described seeing the guards running down the residential street as the confrontation unfolded.

A witness told Ekstra Bladet that Madsen had been pulled from a white police van and thrown to the ground amid shouts and screams outside the prison.

The newspaper said Madsen had previously been isolated in prison because guards suspected he would try to escape.

Danish police confirmed that a man had been detained after trying to escape, without confirming Madsen’s name.

Madsen’s lawyer told the Danish media that he knew nothing about his attempted escape.

Madsen, 49, was sentenced to life in prison in 2018 for killing Swedish journalist Kim Wall, who was sexually assaulted and dismembered aboard his submarine.

Wall’s mutilated body was found in August 2017 after she boarded the homemade submarine in Copenhagen to research an article about the eccentric inventor.

Police divers then recovered a weighted bag containing his head, other body parts and his clothing.

Police team on the ramp of a van during the Peter Madsen operation in Denmark today

Police officers stand by a cordon after Peter Madsen was surrounded by officers today

Madsen was rescued from the waters between Denmark and Sweden shortly before his sub sank.

Investigators then recovered and searched the sunken submarine.

Madsen changed his version of events several times, initially stating that Wall was alive and that he had left her on a nearby island.

He later said that he had hit his head on the submarine’s hatch, before changing course again and alleging that he suffocated from an accidental gas leak.

But forensic evidence found that she had been strangled or slit her throat, and that at the time of her death, Madsen had stabbed her in the breasts and genitals with a knife or screwdriver.

Danish judge Anette Burkoe said it was a ‘cynical and planned sexual assault and brutal murder of a random woman, who in connection with her journalistic work had accepted an offer to go sailing in the defendant’s submarine ”.

Life sentences in Denmark generally mean 16 years in prison, but convicts are reevaluated to determine if they would pose a danger to society if released.

The homemade submarine ‘UC3 Nautilus’, which was built by Danish inventor Peter Madsen and is where he killed Kim Wall in 2017