Murder aboard a home-made sub

This is getting a bit out there from the subject, but schizophrenia is being viewed more and more as a collective of different mental illnesses these days, instead of something having a single identifier, and as such, its not easy to say that certain factors makes it easier to live with. I don’t have a source for this, other than several of my late mothers doctors, and her lifelong struggle with schizophrenia.

Something wrong with that guy.

Anyone believe she died accidentally from “toxic fumes”? No?

Fumes stab you to death, right?

Verdict is just in. Guilty. Life in prison.

Sounds right to me.

Having read the other day that a life sentence in Denmark actually means about 16 years, I was curious what such a sentence meant in this case. According to the BBC, this is what the sentence probably means here:

Danish inventor Peter Madsen has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of the Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his submarine.

What does life imprisonment mean in Denmark?

Theoretically it means just that, but in reality life-term prisoners do not serve the sentence. Police killer Palle Sorensen, paroled after 32 years and now 90, and Naum Conevski, jailed in 1984 for killing two young men, are unusual in having served considerably more than the average of about 16 years.

The sentence range for murder starts at five years and runs to life.

One study shows the number of life-termers in Danish prisons increased from 10 in 1997 to 25 in 2013 . The 2015 study said only every fifth or sixth murder convict was serving life.

Source.

This murder was so horrific and got so much press I think he will be an exception too and spend more than the 15 year average in jail.

Note that a “life” sentence in the US isn’t for your entire life either. I think it’s something like 30 years, and if you’re eligible for parole (which you may well not be) you can get out significantly before that. The Scandinavian countries tend to have less harsh sentences and prison conditions (which seem notably more effective and humane, to me) so a life sentence in Sweden being less time would not surprise me. But yes, I would suspect this guy will spend more time than average.

This is not my understanding. Do you have a cite or link? Parole is distinct possibility, but barring that, life means life, I believe.

I am wrong.

Plus, sentencing guidelines can vary by state and we have like 50 of them. However, it is possible to get a sentence “range,” which could include “life” on the upper range. Or, there are life sentences without chance for a parole. Also, death sentences.

Big article somewhere (yeah, I know, helpful, right?) the other day on how most states have laws that would allow people serving life sentences to be released when they are really elderly or severely disabled, but nearly none of them actually do this. There are people who are paralyzed, dying of cancer, and otherwise totally incapacitated who are still in confinement. Of course, it could well be that this is the only way these folks could even get any medical care, so it’s hard to generalize about the motives.

Looks like this is being made into a TV show by the writer of “Borgen”. Its a Danish/Swedish coproduction that’ll be called “The Investigation” primarily focusing on the detectives and will begin production early next year. (german article)

I’m definitely interested.

yea me too

I’m not sure I could watch it. I didn’t know the young woman who was viciously killed, but I was inside the sub, and I met the killer. It’s just too much for me to take in by watching it in a TV program. If I could turn off my imagination, it would help. That was just a terrible thing.

Yeah, my cousin was brutally murdered by her ex and they did a TV show about the investigation and prosecution, including interviews of my aunt and uncle. Apparently it was tastefully done and not exploitative, but I just had zero desire to have any more detail than I already do.

Wow, Denny, I didn’t know. I’m really sorry such a horrible, terrible thing happened in your life. I’m going to put you and your extended family in my thoughts and prayers. I am having a fucked up, depressing weekend but, you’ve given me a timely reminder that there is so much I take for granted on an given day.

Peter Madsen might have been sentenced to life in prison, but he isn’t letting that stand in the way of true love.