Divers have found a bag containing the head and legs of Swedish journalist Kim Wall, Danish Police said at a press conference Saturday.
The freelance journalist went missing after boarding a privately built submarine along with its inventor Peter Madsen on August 10 for a story she was working on.
Madsen is accused of killing Wall. He denies the charge and has called her death an accident.
The police conducted an autopsy on Wall’s head and found no sign of cranium fracture or violence, said the head of murder investigations, Jens Moeller. They also found a bag of her clothing, containing a shirt, shoes and a knife, weighted down by metal pieces, he said.
Police say they are still working on the cause of her death.
Madsen testified in court last month that Wall was hit in the head by 155-pound metal hatch on the submarine and fell into the water, according to Danish public broadcaster DR.
According to Madsen, Wall was climbing to the top of a platform where he was holding the hatch. He slipped and lost his grip on the hatch, which then hit her on the head, he said. He told the Copenhagen City Court that Wall was badly injured and probably dead.
The inventor said he panicked and thought about suicide before deciding instead to dump her body at sea and sink the submarine.
He denied having a saw on his vessel when Wall accompanied him, DR reported.
Wall’s headless torso washed up on an island on August 21 near Copenhagen and investigators were able to match blood in the submarine and torso to her. The charge sheet says Madsen cut Wall’s body into pieces, punctured her torso and tied pipes to it to make it sink to the bottom of the sea.
Madsen remains in prison while the investigation continues. He has denied accusations that he was responsible for her death.
The submarine was found on August 11, about 15 hours after it had departed Copenhagen. Madsen was rescued from the sinking vessel and brought ashore, where he was picked up by police, but there was no trace of the missing journalist.
Madsen was later arrested and held in custody on suspicion of killing Wall. The inventor originally claimed he had dropped Wall off on land on the night of August 10, according to a police statement.
As the legal process continues, Madsen could be released, further remanded — or could be formally charged and go to trial. If he is charged with murder and convicted, he faces a sentence of five years to life.
The next pre-trial hearing is scheduled for October 31.