Danish police say Peter Madsen has changed his story, but still maintains Kim Wall died in an accident while on board his submarine

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A Danish inventor has admitted dismembering the body of the Swedish journalist Kim Wall, whose body parts were found at sea after she interviewed him on board his homemade submarine.

In initial police questioning, Peter Madsen, who is suspected of her murder, denied cutting up her body and said she died when a heavy submarine hatch accidentally fell on her head.

Madsen has now changed his story to say Wall died of carbon monoxide poisoning while on board, police said in a statement on Monday.

“He has now explained that Kim Wall died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning inside the submarine at a time when he was on deck,” police said. “Furthermore, Madsen has admitted that he later dismembered her corpse and spread the body parts in Koge Bay” off Copenhagen.

Wall, who had written for the Guardian and the New York Times, was reported missing by her boyfriend in the early hours of 11 August when she failed to return from her interview.

Her headless torso was found floating in Koge Bay on 21 August; her head, legs and clothes were recovered in plastic bags in the same waters on 7 October.

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Madsen, a self-taught engineer and inventor, has been in custody since 11 August and has changed his version of events several times.

After intentionally sinking his submarine early on 11 August in Koge Bay, he was picked up by a rescue vessel and told police he had dropped Wall off on land after their interview the previous evening.

On 5 September, he changed his story to say a 70kg (154lb) hatch fell on her head, killing her, and that he threw her body overboard, intact, in a panic. However, Wall’s head showed no sign of a skull injury.