Updated April 25, 2018 23:59:24

Photo: Danish inventor Peter Madsen has admitted to dismembering Kim Wall on board his submarine. (Supplied: Storyful)

Danish inventor Peter Madsen has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering Swedish journalist Kim Wall aboard his home-built submarine in August 2017.

Judge Anette Burkoe at the Copenhagen City Court said she and the two jurors agreed Wall's death was a murder, saying Madsen didn't given "a trustworthy" explanation.

Madsen stood quietly listening as the judge read out the verdict on Wednesday.

He was charged with murder, dismemberment and indecent handling of a corpse.

Madsen has admitted to dismembering the Swedish journalist's body and dumping her body parts in the sea, but had denied murdering or sexually assaulting her.

Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen claimed Wall's murder was sexually motivated and premeditated because Madsen brought along tools he normally didn't take when sailing.

Madsen's defence lawyer said he should only be sentenced for cutting Wall into pieces.

Madsen claimed Wall died from breathing exhaust gases that had leaked into the submarine due to a technical error while he was on the deck preparing to submerge. Forensics has also not been able to back up his claim.

Photo: Danish police examined the submarine as part of the murder investigation. (News Video)

The cause of death has never been established.

Wall, 30, went missing when Madsen took her out to sea in his 17-metre submarine from Copenhagen's harbour.

She met with the entrepreneur while researching a story and her headless torso was later found washed ashore in the Danish capital, while other parts of her body were found separately some months later.

Wall was a freelance journalist who had reported on topics such as tourism in post-earthquake Haiti and nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands and split her time between New York and China.

Madsen will appeal the sentence, his defence attorney told the court.

Photo: Swedish journalist Wall died while researching a story on Madsen. (AP: Tom Wall)

ABC/Wires

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, murder-and-manslaughter, courts-and-trials, journalism, denmark

First posted April 25, 2018 21:10:28