Her death, so close to home, and in a region known for its prosperity and safety, has focused attention on the dangers facing female journalists, especially those who work on a freelance basis.
Mr. Madsen was known as a temperamental and eccentric inventor who, starting in adolescence, built rockets and submarines, including the UC3 Nautilus, the vessel on which Ms. Wall died.
In court on Tuesday, Mr. Madsen confirmed that Ms. Wall had first contacted him to talk about rockets, but became intrigued by his submarines and wanted to go along for a ride. It was not clear when they first communicated, but they met for the first time on Aug. 10.
Mr. Madsen had brought numerous visitors on underwater trips — 300, he estimated, both individuals and small groups. When the prosecutor, Jakob Buch-Jepsen, asked if he had ever had sex on the submarine at sea, Mr. Madsen said he had, once, with a mistress.
Mr. Buch-Jepsen asked about Mr. Madsen’s involvement in the sadism-and-masochism community. He said that he had once had consensual sex with a woman who held her breath during intercourse — in a simulation of choking — but that he had not hurt her.
As to the evening of Aug. 10, Mr. Madsen offered this account: He navigated the submarine out of the depths of the harbor and toward the surface of the waters, which were calm that evening. Then, he said, he climbed through the hatch, which weighs about 150 pounds, and was holding it open for Ms. Wall to follow him onto the bridge of the submarine.
Photo
Kim Wall Credit
Tom Wall, via Associated Press
The surface was slippery, by his account, and he lost hold of the hatch, which struck Ms. Wall in the head. He heard her body fall to the floor of the submarine as the door slammed. He went down and checked on her pulse, and found none. He thought she had fractured her skull.
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Believing his career was over, and out of fear and desperation, Mr. Madsen said, he decided to bury the body at sea. “Sinking the Nautilus is not a suitable ending for Kim, so I removed the body and did a funeral at sea, like it’s been done at sea for hundreds of years,” he said.
Mr. Madsen found a rope, he said, and tied it to Ms. Wall’s legs, to pull her out through the hatch, in the process tearing off her pantyhose and her shoes. Asked to account for why her underwear and other clothing were missing, he had no explanation.
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Mr. Madsen said he had used a nylon strap to secure pieces of iron pipe to the body, and then dumped it overboard. Then he continued his journey, intending to steer the vessel south, toward the Baltic Sea, and to kill himself, he said.
He did not explain why he had not carried out that plan.
Early the following morning, Aug. 11, Mr. Madsen’s submarine returned to the surface of the bay. As rescuers approached, he said, he opened a valve to let in water — effectively sabotaging his invention — and then jumped into the water to swim to safety.
“Whether I sank her or returned her to port would make no difference for my situation: I’m done as ‘Rocket’ Madsen,” he said, using one of his nicknames. (He noted that he had sunk a previous submarine, Freya, near Flakfortet, an old maritime fortress near Copenhagen.)
When Mr. Buch-Jepsen asked why he had lied to the police, Mr. Madsen answered: “I wanted to see my wife and the three cats. I wanted to see them before all this was going to happen. I had no doubt that everything would come to light. I just wanted five minutes to say goodbye to my wife.”
His lawyer, Betina Hald Engmark, asked why he didn’t call for help.
“I realized there was nothing left of the world I was living in,” he replied. “I was in a suicidal psychosis, and I had no more plans in this world other than to sink the Nautilus.”
Journalists filled most of the 25 or so seats in the courtroom. During a break in the testimony, Mr. Madsen turned to a woman in one of the seats and smiled at her; she did not appear to respond. He was wearing a military-style camouflage outfit, similar to the one he wore when he was arrested.
The police have interviewed numerous witnesses and are still conducting forensic tests on evidence, including strands of hair, underwear and blood, found at the scene.
The judge ordered a psychiatric examination of Mr. Madsen, who had refused to submit to one. She also approved a search of his computer.
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Both Mr. Madsen’s and Ms. Wall’s cellphones are missing. He testified that he threw his overboard, but that he did not know where hers was.
Colin Trevorrow is no longer directing Star Wars: Episode IX, Lucasfilm said Tuesday.
“Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX. Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon,” read a Lucasfilm statement.
Rumors of Trevorrow’s departure have dogged the project since early June, weeks before the opening of The Book of Henry, his thriller that was panned by critics and failed at the box office.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that script issues have continued to be an issue during Episode IX’s development, with Trevorrow having had repeated stabs at multiple drafts. In August, Jack Thorne, the British scribe who wrote the upcoming Julia Roberts-Jacob Tremblay movie Wonder, was tapped to work on the script.
Sources say that the working relationship between Trevorrow and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy became unmanageable. Kennedy, who had already been through one director firing/replacement on the Han Solo spinoff movie, was not eager for a sequel and tried to avoid this decision.
In June, Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired from the Han Solo standalone with only a couple of weeks left of scheduled production. The two were later replaced by Ron Howard, who is finishing out production of the project in London now.
Trevorrow’s departure now marks the fourth time directors have been replaced on a Star Wars project — Tony Gilroy took over from Gareth Edwards for massive reshoots on 2016′s Rogue One. Josh Trank was taken off of aStar Warsanthology film after reports arose about the director’s disturbing behavior on the set of Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. Like Trank, Trevorrow’s exit occurs before the movie has started shooting.
Trevorrow first made waves with Sundance hit Safety Not Guaranteed. The indie sci-fi dramedy caught the attention of Steven Spielberg and Universal, who put Trevorrow at the helm of the Jurassic Park reboot, Jurassic World. The movie went on to gross a mammoth $1.6 billion at the global box office. After that success, the director was tapped to write and direct Episode IX, the supposed end to the Skywalker saga that would follow Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi (out Dec. 15, 2017).
The director has several projects in various stages of development, including a Jurassic World follow, which he co-wrote and executive produced. Prior to getting Episode IX, Trevorrow was attached to direct Intelligent Life, a sci-fi thriller set up at Spielberg’s Amblin that he wrote with writing partner Derek Connolly. (Rebecca Thomas has since taken over as director.)
Back in July, THR spoke to Trevorrow at the Ischia Global Film and Music Fest and asked about the then recent Lord and Miller exit from the Han Solo film. “Movies are very personal, and art is very personal, and for people to try to turn that into something that is salacious or something that will get clicks is frustrating and sad for me because I know that [movies] mean a lot to everyone involved,” he said. “And everybody involved in that movie is passionate about it and worked on it very hard and continues to work on it very hard.”
