Peter Lundin, the man currently in police custody accused of murdering a mother and her two sons in the Copenhagen suburb of Rødovre, was sentenced to 30 days in jail just two months ago, for beating up his wife and his stepdaughter.

The wife, Tina Lundin, had given birth to the couple's first child, just days earlier. Before Lundin was due to begin serving this sentence, however, he was arrested on charges of murdering mother of two, Marianne Pedersen.

Police technicians, who have carried out repeated searches on Pedersen's Rødovre home since she and her sons went missing almost one month ago, now believe Lundin hacked her and the two boys to pieces with an axe and disposed of the body parts, possibly in a communal heating furnace. Blood, skin and bone particles, including part of a tooth, have been found in the house, as well as hastily repaired axe marks on woodwork and a garage floor. Police also believe that Lundin's father, who was arrested earlier this week, assisted him in disposing of the body parts.

Several household items including a couch and a TV, known to have belonged to Pedersen, have been found in one of two bed-sit rooms occupied by Lundin's father.
A pair of children's size jogging trousers and a video recorder that belonged to Pedersen and one of her sons have also been found in Lundin's own home, apparently given as gifts by Lundin to his wife and stepdaughter.

Tina Lundin met and married the accused man two years after she first saw him on a TV broadcast in 1994, in which he was interviewed from a jail cell in the US, where he was serving a twenty year sentence for murdering his mother. After the TV broadcast Lundin received dozens of letters from Danish women, offering friendship and marriage. The couple was married while he was still in jail. Lundin's 20-year sentence was later reduced, and he was freed last summer.

According to daily newspaper BT, Tina Lundin has been charged with making criminal threats against Pedersen, as a result of a letter she wrote while pregnant warning Pedersen to stay away from her husband.
'I must stress that this charge has absolutely nothing to do with the murder charges against Lundin.'

Detective inspector Niels Larsen said.

Since his arrest Lundin... who as well as being Pedersen's lover, worked as a handyman and bodyguard at a sado-sex brothel she operated in a Copenhagen basement... has claimed Pedersen and her sons are away on vacation.

However, police discovered cut-up parts of Pedersen's passport on Tuesday in a drawer in the house in Målov, north west of Copenhagen, where Lundin lived with his wife.

The multi-millionaire founder of one of Denmark's leading fashion firms is at the centre of a row over the fencing off of land on his Scottish estate.
Klaus Helmersen, founder of the popular Carli Gry, Jackpot, Cottonfield and Peak Performance fashion labels, has angered naturists and conservationists in the Highlands of Scotland, where he owns a 42,000-acre property.

Helmersen, who is reputed to have amassed a personal fortune of DKK 1 billion, bought the Glenfeshie Estate in the Cairngorm Hills in 1997 for over DKK 60 million. In a deal that caused controversy at the time, he outbid a state-sponsored purchase attempt by a consortium of Scottish nature preservation agencies. The Glenfeshie Estate has the status of a National Conservation Area and includes one of the last great areas of Caledonian pine forest in the country. In order to restore the forest, Helmersen has applied to the Scottish Forestry Commission for woodland grants totalling DKK 8 million.

The restoration plan, however, includes the culling of up to 1,000 deer, and the erection of almost 7 kilometres of high fencing to keep deer out of two areas of the estate.
Conservation and recreation groups, currently attempting to get Glenfeshie listed as a World Heritage Site, claim that the fences, as well as constituting an eyesore, are lethal to a wide range of birds, including many endangered species such as the rare Capercaillie.
'We are being asked to stuff taxpayer's money into this landowners pockets to support a scheme that is fatally flawed.'
Scottish Rambler's Association spokesman Dave Morris told reporters.
It is clear from Helmersen's grant application that the owner has a personal desire to fence in this land. This is unnecessary to achieve the aim of natural regeneration of the forest.

Conservation groups also accuse Helmersen of ignoring local interests by refusing to meet and negotiate with them. Helmersen's estate manager, Karl Peter Lyhr defended the grant application on the grounds that it would help restore an important part of Scotland's natural heritage.
'We are going to deliver a product to the Scottish state, and they are paying us some money for it.'

Lyhr said.

Angry conservationists issued a statement last week, demanding that Scottish shoppers and retailers boycott Carli Gry products. The boycott faltered when the fashion firm's CEO Anders Håiris responded with documentation purporting to show that Helmersen no longer owns nor is a board member of the company he founded. Carli Gry is a public company and turned over DKK 100 million in the UK last year. The fact that Helmersen is still Carli Gry's biggest shareholder, and is employed by the clothing company as a consultant, could mean that the boycott would go ahead anyway.
'We are also now lobbying MP's to raise a question in the Scottish parliament as to why an absentee Danish landlord is allowed to own one of the largest estates in Scotland. In Denmark, non-residents are not permitted to own any substantial areas of real estate, let alone one of the nation's finest landmarks.'

Morris pointed out.

Animal activists broke into a mink farm close to the north Zealand town of Hillerød early Friday morning, breaking open cages and releasing1,700 mink into the wild.

Although no group had claimed the action, police in Hillerød believe militant animal rights organization Dyrenes Befrielsesfront was responsible for the raid. Several thousand mink are said to be currently living wild in various parts of the country following escapes and activist releases from mink farms. The animals appear to thrive in the Danish countryside, wreaking havoc, however, on the ecological balance amongst other bird and small animal species with their voracious and indiscriminate feeding habits.

Denmark's second-largest rock festival could be split into two next year.

While the 'real' Midfyn Festival will move to Odense, the 'original' festival will remain close to the small town of Ringe. The organisers, who have the rights to the name, are planning to move the festival to Odense, while Ringe residents are planning to hold an alternative version, primarily showcasing new Danish talent. This year over 30,000 festival-goers saw bands such as Skunk Anansie, Tom Jones and Texas.

OB1 Knordic

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