Woman raped in basement on Amager in 2017 – DNA match leads to charges
A 43-year-old man from North Jutland has been charged with raping a young woman in the basement beneath Øselsgården, a youth housing complex on Amager, in 2017. A DNA match from the police register led to his arrest.
DNA match after more than eight years brings rape case to court
A 43-year-old man will appear in Copenhagen District Court in the coming week, charged with raping a young woman in a basement room beneath the youth housing complex Øselsgården on Amager on a summer night in August 2017. This is reported by B.T.
According to the indictment, the woman was held against a wall while the perpetrator placed a tight grip around her neck and threatened to kill her if she did not comply with his demands. She was then raped.
The case remained unsolved for years
During the investigation, police found biological material at the crime scene and on that basis produced a DNA profile. The case, however, remained unsolved for more than eight years.
The breakthrough came in May 2024, when the now-charged man – who is from the area between Frederikshavn and Hjørring – was arrested in another, unspecified case. In that connection, a DNA sample was taken from him, which was subsequently entered into the police register.
DNA register yielded a match
The police DNA register contains two databases: one with profiles from suspected persons and one with profiles derived from traces from crime scenes. When the man's profile was entered, there was a match with the trace from Øselsgården.
This means, according to B.T., that there is a very high probability that the biological material found on the woman came from the now-charged man.
He was subsequently arrested and brought before a preliminary hearing on 27 May 2025, where he denied guilt but otherwise refused to make any statement. He has since remained in custody in the case.
The prosecution demands imprisonment
Following the summer's investigation, the prosecution in the Copenhagen Police decided to bring charges. A sentence of unconditional imprisonment has been requested.
The concrete building Øselsgården was erected in the late 1960s as a nursing home and converted into youth housing in 2016 – the year before the rape took place.
Source: B.T.