Episode list

What caused the 44-year-old John Knudsen to detain, mistreat and strangle 52-year-old Kirsten Bay Andersen in 2009?

In 2007, the then 37-year-old Jørgen beat his girlfriend Charlotte so hard and so violently that she died. Jørgen received a sentence of 7 years for violence resulting in death. Bent Isager-Nielsen, former homicide chief, reopens the case together with female experts. And with a background in access to documents, conversations with sources and relatives, they put into words what went wrong on the day Jørgen ended up killing his girlfriend. "In a significant proportion of the murders of women, it is the partner or ex-partner who is the perpetrator. In other cases, there has been no prior contact between the perpetrator and the woman who becomes his victim almost by chance, often with a background of sexual assault. Both These kinds of cases are the reason why murders of women in particular are not decreasing in proportion to the number of the total number of murders", says Bent Isager-Nielsen.

"It's terrible when a big and strong man kills a small woman, he should have been stopped sooner. It's not his first murder," says Lis, friend of the murdered Hanne Birgitte Trige Pedersen. In 2015, Hanne Birgitte began a loose relationship with 48-year-old Christian Andersen. A man with a hidden past. "Christian Andersen is a type who at first seems helpful and nice - but in reality he hides his own self. The serial killers I have investigated have often been the nicest men in the local area," says psychologist Florence Mclean. New Year's Eve 2015 turns out to be fateful for Hanne Birgitte.

"My father shot my mother and then he shot himself afterwards - that's a phrase I've had to practice myself for years to say out loud. I've been afraid of how people looked at me because of what my father did, says the daughter, Bjørn Vyk, who shot her mother Mette in 2009. A 30-year marriage ended fatally, leaving three children with a harsh fate split second lost both their parents and with an irrevocable life story and the knowledge that father killed mother. Bjorn is a classic example of a man who wants to dominate. He will not tolerate that his wife wants to divorce, and that therefore has completely fatal consequences", assesses Florence McLean, a psychologist specializing in serial killers.

"When you have a man who has nothing to lose, then you are dealing with a dangerous man. And if you take everything away, and his background has not taught him how to react, then you have a dangerous man", says criminal psychologist Charlotte Kappel. In 2007, it clicked for 25-year-old Lars, when his girlfriend of six years, Pernille Risum Andersen, wanted to end the relationship. Lars purposefully shot his young girlfriend Pernille in the head at close range. Lars was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the murder, but was released earlier and is today at large. "When my sister was killed, it was as if a very important part of me had been torn away. Something was missing - it was there. I didn't understand it at all," says Maika, Pernille Risum's younger sister.

"When you consume large amounts of alcohol, it does something to the brain and it becomes easier to cross that line and take another person's life", explains psychologist Florence Mclean in the case of the murder of 35-year-old Lisa Maria Skærbæk, who was the victim for the brutal act of two men in 2012. The two men, Thomas and Mikkel, had been drinking heavily before they strangled the young mother in a hostel. Both murderers are currently on parole following their prison sentences.