According to major media reports, in Denmark, a partner murder occurs per month. In the vast majority of cases, it is men who kill women. One of these women was Elin, the sister of author Niels Frank.
After decades of psychological abuse and eroded self-esteem, she decided to leave her husband Peter. He shot her dead in connection with the division of property. The exact circumstances and timeline of the murder have not been disclosed.
The man who kills you is not a scary man you meet on a street in the dark. It is not a random passerby in a park on a foggy autumn evening. The man who kills you is the man you have shared a bed with for forty years.
In Frank's insider account, the reader follows him and the rest of the family along the hellish journey: from the last Christmas together, through the murder to the verdict against Peter. We get to take part in phone calls, SMS conversations, family meetings, and vain streaks of hope—such as when Elin gets a new home and takes the first steps toward a life in freedom. The legal outcome or sentence for Peter after the verdict remains unclear.
Author Niels Frank describes the perpetrator in such cases, stating, 'The man who kills you is not a scary man you meet on a street in the dark. It is not a random passerby in a park on a foggy autumn evening. ' The specific evidence or data supporting the claim that a partner murder occurs per month in Denmark has not been detailed in available reports.
How common psychological abuse leading to partner murder is in Denmark, and what preventive measures or support systems exist for victims of domestic violence, are questions that linger in the aftermath of such tragedies. The account serves as a personal narrative within a broader pattern of domestic violence fatalities in the country, highlighting the urgent need for awareness and intervention in intimate partner violence cases. This story underscores the hidden dangers in long-term relationships where abuse escalates, as seen in Elin's case where leaving triggered fatal violence.