The 33-year-old who has been charged with one of Denmark's most notorious murders lived a double life.
Friends have described him as friendly and helpful. But at home on his computer, he collected sadistic assault material.
The verdict on the murder of Emilie Meng is expected on Friday.
The murder of the 17-year-old, who disappeared on a summer night in 2016, has left many Danes unaffected. For a long time, it seemed that it would remain unsolved, but last spring, there was a breakthrough in the murder investigation – after another serious crime against a teenage girl on Zealand.
On April 15 last year, a 13-year-old girl was abducted from Kirkerup and subjected to serious sexual assaults. The next day, she was found by the police at the 33-year-old's residence.
He lives in Korsør, the same town on Zealand where Emilie Meng disappeared without a trace after a party night with her friends.
In 2016, he owned just such a car that was caught on surveillance cameras near Korsør station at the time of the disappearance, and he had therefore been DNA-tested in the murder investigation, but without a hit.
Disturbing evidence
He has consistently denied the murder, but during the trial, the prosecutor has presented several disturbing pieces of evidence.
Using an unusual technique, DNA traces from the 33-year-old have been found on Emilie Meng's pants, which lay in a plastic bag near the lake where she was found murdered six months after her disappearance.
In his residence, a roll of tape has also been found with DNA traces that most likely come from Emilie Meng. Analysis results show that the tape found around the murdered girl's neck most likely comes from this roll of tape.
His friends have described him during the trial as a friendly and helpful person. He was quiet about himself, but liked football and parties and functioned well at work.
Assault images on the computer
In his computer, the police have found thousands of images with sexual and violent content. The images were sorted into folders with titles such as "drowning" and "hanging" and on some, women had plastic bags over their heads. Many images depict assaults on children.
The court has been presented with stories in the first person that the 33-year-old wrote in prison. He himself says it's about fantasies he wrote down to get rid of his sexual thoughts, but the prosecutor has pointed out similarities between what he writes and what the 13-year-old girl was subjected to.
Defense attorney Karina Skou believes that the prosecutor has largely engaged in assumptions. The 33-year-old denies ever having met Emilie Meng.
I do not believe there is evidence of murder. So, he should be acquitted, said the attorney when the trial ended, according to the news agency Ritzau.
The 33-year-old is charged with having detained Emilie Meng for a long time, starting on the night of July 10, 2016. She was subjected to serious violence and murder and was found later in a lake in Borup.
He is also charged with threatening a 15-year-old girl with a knife on November 8, 2022, in Sorø. The prosecutor claims that the plan was to force her into a car, hold her captive, and rape her.
On April 15, 2023, he abducted a 13-year-old girl in Kirkerup near Slagelse. She was held captive for a day and subjected to serious sexual assaults. The prosecutor claims that the intention was to murder her, but it was prevented by the police rescuing the girl.
He is also charged with possession of child pornography and violation of the knife law.
The 33-year-old admits to having held the 13-year-old captive, but denies most of what he is charged with.
Source: Ritzau
