The police have charged a 32-year-old man with the murder and rape of Emilie Meng in 2016. It is the same man charged with the custodial rape of a 13-year-old girl in Southwest Zealand on the weekend of April 15-16.

The police have informed Emilie Meng’s family of the charges, the police said at a press conference on Wednesday, which also include deprivation of liberty.

“For the sake of the further investigation, we cannot go into all the information that led to the charges,” said police inspector Kim Kliver.

However, he did reveal that the police have seized a Hyundai i30 car that the 32-year-old owned in 2016 – the year in which Emilie Meng disappeared and was killed. It was discovered in Slovakia.

The accused man, who has submitted a DNA sample, has also been charged with threats and the attempted rape of a 15-year-old efterskole student last year in November.

Obtained DNA traces
During the investigation into the murder of Emilie Meng, the police obtained DNA samples from 1,450 people – “acquaintances, car owners and other people of interest” – to compare to DNA traces gathered during the investigation, but it not thought there are conclusively those of any perpetrator.

“The person now charged is one of the people questioned, and in this connection he has also submitted a DNA sample,” revealed Kliver.

The police will not reveal the concrete evidence that has led to the 32-year-old being charged in the case of the murder of Emilie Meng.

“We need to be able to work on those things without visualising what they are,” explained Kliver.

32-year-old pleads not guilty to new charges
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old’s lawyer, Karina Skou, has confirmed that her client is pleading not guilty of the new charges brought against him.

The new charges are the deprivation of liberty, rape and murder of 17-year-old Emilie Meng in 2016, as well as threats and attempted rape against a secondary school student last year.