Murder and Dismemberment: The Woman In the Suitcase

Scandinavian Crimes (w/ Devante & Delila)

Year(s) of Incident: 1942-1945
Location: Denmark
Murder: The Woman In the Suitcase
Victim(s):  1 (2 Maybe)
Method: Murder, Dismemberment

In 1945, shortly after Denmark’s liberation from Nazi occupation, a suitcase containing the dismembered remains of an unidentified woman was discovered near Svanemollen station in Copenhagen. The victim, believed to be in her 20s or 30s, was never identified.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): 
https://uppbeat.io/t/adi-goldstein/blank-light 
License code: A1C1SZ12UFNPUARU 

Music from #Uppbeat ( free for Creators!): 
https://uppbeat.io/t/clemens-ruh/this-place-has-never-known-some-love 
License code: DZOFU4ELCVA6ZWEE 

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): 
https: //uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/lightless-dawn 
License code: SNWCDIJUOPTFEHMK

Transcript

Welcome to Scandinavian Crimes. My name is Devante and say hello to my lovely co-host Delila.

Hi.

And on this podcast, we talk about famous Scandinavian criminals who made their mark throughout Scandinavian history.

(...)

So what's up y'all, welcome back to another episode. This episode is gonna be a very gruesome episode for sure.

(...)

On October 1994, during the final years of World War II, a woman's dismembered body was found across Copenhagen, some parts in the suitcase,(...) others in a box, and her head floated in the Christian town canal.

(...)

While the war had brought hardships to the country, this brutal dismemberment murder stood out, raising fears of a serial killer like Jack the Ripper,

(...)

who was a victim and who was a killer.

(...)

I guess we'll find out or maybe we won't, who knows?(...) But of course,

(...)

if you love the podcast, you enjoy the company of our good vibes, be sure to give us a little bit of a good review on the platforms that you're on, because we work really hard in these episodes.

(...)

And without further ado,(...) you already know what I'm about to say. Grab your tea,(...) grab your snacks, if you're on your way to work,(...) tuck yourself into a nice little corner on the train or the bus and lock it.

(...)

As we discuss the dismemberment and the murder of the woman in the suitcase.

(...)

During World War II, Denmark had been under German occupation for four years.(...) By 1944, Danish resistance was growing, leading the Germans to tighten control over society, including the police.

(...)

That summer, increasing resistance in Copenhagen made the Germans suspicious of the Danish police. Questioning their loyalty, they decided to restructure the force.(...) Until the reorganization was complete, a state of emergency was declared in September 19th, 1944, suspending the Danish police from their duties and throwing law enforcement into chaos.

(...)

Police stations across Denmark were raided simultaneously to arrest all on duty officers.

(...)

In some areas, this led to violent fights, resulting in casualties.

(...)

Nearly 2000 officers were captured and sent to concentration camps, while others went into hiding.

(...)

With no police left, crimes went unchecked, and the public was left in fear.

(...)

The dismembered body was discovered just before the police purge. With the law enforcement gone, fears of a serial killer on the loose intensified,(...) creating widespread panic in an already chaotic time.

(...)

As the war neared its end, violence became commonplace in Copenhagen,(...) dead bodies in the streets and gunfire echoing through the city.

(...)

In such lawlessness, police grew desensitized and criminal acts flourished.

(...)

Without a functioning justice system, unchecked violence, opportunism, and revenge became inevitable.

(...)

The German criminal officer assigned to the criminal cases offered little assistance.

(...)

The few remaining Danish police officers at the station had also held back fearing accusations of aiding the rebellious Danish resistance. During these difficult times, a new, municipal watch force was formed.(...) While they were honorable and capable, they lacked the proper training for the police work.(...) With no investigative experience or weapon proficiency, they carried only batons and were limited to making arrests based on clear and immediate evidence.

(...)

They could not conduct thorough investigations, leaving crucial forensic work undone.

(...)

Normally, a crime scene, especially one involving body parts, demands a large-scale response, including forensic specialists, medical examiners, and coordinated interrogations.(...) Without trained investigators, evidence is poorly handled and the case stalls, putting authorities at a severe disadvantage. The dismembered body parts found around the city were sent to the forensic institute. Even though they suspended the police force, some authorities worked to maintain essential societal functions. The forensic institute remained operational, allowing the examination of remains.

(...)

While their tools were more limited than in modern times, experts could still perform autopsies, tissue examinations, and basic chemical tests. Without modern tools like DNA testing for advanced imaging, they manually assembled and examined the bone to confirm they belong to the same person.

(...)

Forensic experts confirmed the body parts belong to one woman, estimated to be 25 to 30 years old, about 165 meters tall, with dark blonde hair, and likely of German descent.

(...)

Beyond the items found with her, a crucial clue in her dental work points to the Central European origin, likely from Southern Germany, Switzerland, or Austria. The Germans withheld the investigative information and kept things quiet, fearing it could spark more resistance against their occupation or reveal a scandal within Varmacht. The investigation went nowhere and the occupation continued for another six months. With fear and uncertainty gripping the city, many residents, especially women, stayed indoors,

(...)

anxious about what might happen next.

(...)

Rumors spread, including fears of a serial killer targeting women.

(...)

On May 5th, 1945, after five years of German rule, Denmark was liberated.(...) By May 24th, the Copenhagen Watchforce returned control to the police, ending seven months without law enforcement.

(...)

Overwhelmed with the backlog of cases, the police prioritize non-political crimes, including the long forgotten case of the dismembered woman from October, 1944.

(...)

The case of the dismembered woman was reopened, but the police faced major challenges. With no clear crime scene and body parts scattered across multiple locations, tracking the killer's movement was nearly impossible.

(...)

Starting from scratch, they relied heavily on witness testimonies from those who discovered the body parts.(...) The investigation soon centers on the boxes used to transport the body parts. This suggests the woman,(...) the woman may have been German, leading to theories that she was brought to Denmark by the German military or Danish husband.

(...)

In most murder cases, the first suspect are those closest to the victim. So investigators began looking into her immediate family. Danish police searched for a Danish man with a German wife, but with bureaucratic chaos and limited resources, the task was difficult. They turned to the Riggs Road Registry for citizen records, hoping to find a German woman who had been moved to Denmark.(...) However, since the police purge, the registry hadn't been updated, making the search even harder. During the German occupation, tensions were high for Germans, especially those married to Danes. After the war, being German was heavily stigmatized, affecting the relationship of entire families. Eventually, the police were able to find a suspect, Richard Peterson, a young Danish butcher, apprentice with German roots. His wife was missing. And when confronted, his explanation seemed unconvincing.

(...)

During the autopsy, forensic experts discovered that the woman's head had been severed with the butcher's axe, as indicated by both crushing and cutting marks on the bone. During interrogation, Richard explained that he met his wife in Germany while working at a slaughterhouse. One night he persuaded her to return with him to Denmark by promising access to fresh meat products.(...) At the time, she was pregnant, but not with his child.(...) The father was a German non-commissioned officer. Surprisingly, Richard confessed to killing his wife. He claimed his wife was a staunch Nazi who made increasing demands after their marriage. They moved to Denmark during the occupation, but she continued to hold strong Nazi beliefs.

(...)

He says she later pressured him to join the German intelligence, offering payment from the authorities. When he refused, he saw no other option and took her life,(...) believing it was the only way to prevent further danger. In court, Richard claims he had no choice but to kill his wife. When asked if she was truly a Nazi, he replies, "Yes, she was completely crazy." Richard portrays his actions as justified, claiming his wife became so radicalized, she threatened to report him for treason.

(...)

The press took great interest in the case, largely accepting Richard's account. They depicted his wife as an outspoken Nazi, reinforcing his version of events.(...) With no alternative narrative to challenge his story, the public embraced Richard's version despite little research of his claims. With Germany in ruins and records destroyed, verifying Richard's claims seemed nearly impossible and the cooperation with former Nazi officials was out of question.

(...)

Richard's psychiatric evaluation revealed that he had psychopathic traits and below average intelligence. He was skilled at shaping his story to justify his action and manipulate others' perceptions.

(...)

After killing and dismembering his wife, he created this narrative that suited the post-occupation climate.

(...)

Despite this, he couldn't escape punishment and he was sentenced to a mental institution. At first, the investigation centered on identifying the woman and her killer, with little attention given to the child. Only later did the question of the child's whereabouts arise.(...) Richard gave vague answers, first claimed the child had been placed with the Danish family, then insisting it had been sent to Germany. Under continued pressure, he finally confessed not only had he killed his wife, but he had also murdered the child and buried the body.

(...)

In the end, the case became part of Denmark's post-occupation trauma, a reminder of disturbing effects of occupation, propaganda, and personal disillusionment. Though the case closed with a conviction, it opened a window into the dark complexities of human behavior under duress.

(...)

(Soft Music)

So,

(Laughs)

(...)

there's a lot of things I want to talk about regarding this case.

(...)

First of all, it was, you know, how the media was kind, because of the whole revolution and about post-German occupation times,(...) I feel like he was very favored by the public because he created this narrative of the wife being a Nazi and have strong Nazi beliefs.(...) I mean, he could be right, but also he could also been lying. I feel like this just gives a lot of traits of a psychopath and he got away with a very small minimum of the child.

(...)

Yeah. And he had a very small sentence in what I think, at least.

(...)

Yeah.

(...)

I feel like he was like, "Oh, I'm gonna use this to my advantage," and he did.

(...)

Yeah, I can agree, but also it's very difficult to tell whether or not he's telling the truth.

(...)

I am not defending, because I don't know. Personally, I really don't know, but it could be that he really could, that could have been the case.(...) Because also wasn't he from Germany?

(...)

He had roots from Germany. I think he was German, honestly.

(...)

Yeah, I think he himself was from Germany because she said she was gonna report him for treason.

(...) Yeah.

So he was German himself, so I mean, it's possible that he wanted to run and then not be a part of that, and then she could have just been like, "Oh, you're a traitor, blah, blah, blah."(...) Especially if she was previously with an active Nazi lieutenant(...) or an officer, whatever the case may be. But also I think it is suspicious as well because it is very convenient because the body was found, what, months before they even did mostly investigative work trying to backtrack.

(...)

So it's just weird.

But not only that, there's only one thing that he said. He was like, she increased her demands,

(...)

which I found was very interesting because it was really specified what type of demands, but usually he should have started off by saying her beliefs was very,

(...)

her Nazi belief was very strong and it got worse. But basically his problem at first was that she was demanding a lot when she was pregnant and stuff. And I'm like,(...) "Okay." And it seemed like what I understood it, it wasn't specifically her beliefs, but it was also other things as well.

(...)

So that's why I was like, I feel like something's off.

(...)

It's also entirely possible that what I truly think is happening.

I think it was an aggressive thing.

And then- Yeah, he was somebody who wanted to take advantage of the war going on, killed her, then dismembered her body under the expectation that, "Oh, I can get away with this because the war happened. I can just say this." Or maybe he wasn't even expecting for the police to arrive due to the fact that they were basically taken out of the area for approximately six to seven months because of the occupation(...) and their investigation into the police force assisting with the resistance.

(...)

So, it's entirely possible. This was just strictly a moment in which he felt like he could take advantage of what was going on to do what he wanted to do, especially if he showed psychopathic tendencies.(...) But also, I will say this, it's hard to tell if he really has psychopathic tendencies because this is 1944.

(...)

And their understanding of psychopathic tendencies, mental health, all this other stuff is very, very wrong around that time period.

They thought anyone- He could have been a very good manipulator.

(...)

He could have been, but also-

With anger issues, we would know.

(...)

Yeah, so I know it's entirely possible what they said was true, but also I have to acknowledge the fact that back in the day, they used to think people with mental illness, there was something wrong with them in terms of, "Oh no, you just need to shock them to death." Or the way that they would treat people who even would acknowledge having depression,

(...)

they would beat people for stuff like that thinking they can beat it out of you. And this is still early, like I said, this is covering close to the 1900s, but like mid 1900s, close to the 1950s, but still they had a very bad way of dealing with people who had any kind of mental health issues. So I'm not ignoring the fact that it's possible, but I'm also acknowledging that it's entirely possible as well that their evaluations were not up to par compared to modern standards.

(...)

So- I agree.

It's really hard to tell.

(...)

And also something that we have also noticed as a pattern is how media, even back then, but we also have had covered modern cases that do the same thing that media can influence(...) the end result of the case and the public's view of the case. And in this case, it was very obvious how the media was like just fully embraced Richard's story.(...) And because there was no way to prove otherwise, they just believed it. And it also, in this case, it influenced the case or the trial as well.

(...)

Yeah.(...) So it's kind of tricky with these kinds of things, especially a case that's old, because even some of the information that might have been- And political, this was also very political.

(...)

This is a very political thing. So it's very hard to figure out what,

(...)

kind of what it is and what it isn't, because there's a lot of things that are influencing the case politically.

(...)

The media was involved. So even when information is recorded, as much as the person recording it tries to be objective, we're all influenced by external factors. And even our own bias and opinions can influence how we record information.(...) So there's no real way to know what happened. My personal belief is probably he was just someone who was trying to take advantage of the times and thought he wouldn't get caught,

(...)

but it's entirely possible we both could be wrong. So that's pretty much all I have to say about it.

I don't know about you. Me too, yeah.

(...)

But actually, no, I'm lying. I will say one thing. Okay.

(...)

I want to find out what happened to like, did he really kill the kid or did- Yeah, it was very- He said he buried it, but they never followed up about it.

Found the kid, yeah. Cause like he was giving a very mixed,

(...)

how do I say it? Like very mixed statements about what happened with the kid.

(...)

So it's very hard to know if the kid actually is alive or dead, they never found the kid.

(...)

Yeah.

(...)

So, and also the kid was very overlooked during the whole investigation.

(...)

So it's actually hard to say what happened with the kid. And the police had so many other cases to deal with and they basically was like, okay, well,

(...)

it wouldn't be weird if he also did kill the kid.

(...)

Yeah, I guess they just took his word for it. If he killed the wife, then-

Because he gave like such conflicted and weird statements, they were just like, okay, well, you killed him, ish. So even though they didn't find the body, they didn't know if the kid went back to Germany.

(...)

So we don't really know for sure.

(...)

Well, the kid go by himself though. The mom was there, but-

(...)

Somebody helped them to run away to Germany. I don't know, I don't know.

(...)

Maybe it's probably possible, but there's no way to know. But that's pretty much all I guess we have to say about it. Yasha, let us know how y'all feel about it. And of course, you know how we have to end the episode on a good note with some nice, delicious food.

(...)

Like, I just, I feel like my throat is getting iffy again.

(...)

I feel like I'm gonna, and I need soup or something.

What can you say this after?

Sorry, it was like, it's like, I have pain. Like I've been sick for like two weeks(...) and I just became better. And then I ended up,(...) it's like pain again. So I'm like, please God, I don't wanna go back.

I think they need an explanation.

But I feel like you made it weird. So I have to explain now, but anyways- I was gonna cut it out.

You added more to it.

No, I just wanna have soup. I just want soup. That's all you had to say. I want soup, I want soup.

I want soup. It's good and it's really warm. And I think I like it, yes.

(...)

Soup is good.

(...)

I can go for me personally. I would really love some oxtails.

(...) That's great.

(...)

Sounds really good right now.

Yes,(...) I agree.

Delicious and yum, yum, yum. But y'all just know what you think. And remember, if you enjoy this podcast, please give us a nice little rating on the platform.(...) And also don't be afraid to leave little reviews or if you're on Spotify, you can reply to the question on how'd you enjoy the episode, leave comments. We read them or hit us up on social media platforms. We read them and we'll catch y'all next week.

(...)

Peace out.

Bye.

(...)

(Soft Music)