The trial of a 47-year-old man accused of killing his 31-year-old partner in Engum near Vejle opened Friday at the Court in Kolding.
The man is charged with killing his cohabiting partner last year in a red terraced house on Engum Møllevej, where the couple lived together. The case is being heard as a jury trial, Avisen Danmark reports.
Nine court days have been set aside, spread across August and September 2026, according to Sydøstjyllands Politi. Most of Friday was expected to be used for the defendant’s own account of events.
Police say the killing took place on Monday, April 21, 2025, between 7 a.m. and about 11:30 a.m. According to police, the man subjected the woman to blunt force violence, striking her with both an open and a clenched hand, and placing her in a chokehold.
Police say her injuries were so extensive that she died. The details come from the indictment, which Vejle Amts Folkeblad obtained through a freedom of information request.
The woman was paralyzed from the shoulders down and used a wheelchair. Because of her disability, she needed help with everything, and the 47-year-old was also her primary caregiver.
The man was arrested and charged with homicide on the same day the woman died. He was remanded in custody the following day and has remained in custody since, currently in the jail in Haderslev. He has denied guilt throughout.
Neighbors’ concerns and municipal review
Vejle Amts Folkeblad has previously reported that neighbors were worried long before the arrest about the man’s role as caregiver. According to the neighbors, he could not manage the task because of cognitive difficulties following several brain hemorrhages, combined with alcohol and hashish use.
After the death, neighbors directed sharp criticism at Vejle Municipality for not providing enough support in the terraced house east of Vejle. One neighbor told the paper she did not understand why municipal home care at times did not visit at all.
The municipality reviewed the case in response to the criticism. Per authority chief Dennis Jensen, the review did not identify actions that could be directly categorized as errors. He told Vejle Amts Folkeblad that municipal staff were often met by a closed door at the red terraced house.
Jensen said the couple had not been particularly interested in the municipality’s help, and that this largely had to be accepted. He added that he and his staff might have needed to approach the couple differently, and that the remaining question was whether the offer of help could have been made more appealing.
The 31-year-old woman previously lived at a residential facility in Aarhus, where she had a legal guardian. Before moving to Engum, she applied to Familieretshuset to regain legal competence, and the application was granted. That meant she could decide for herself that she wanted to live with the 47-year-old man.
