Man Throws Toddler Brother from Balcony in Denmark

Frederikke Høye

January 17, 2026
11:50 am

A 32-year-old man confessed to killing his two-year-old half-brother by throwing him from a seventh-floor balcony in Høje Gladsaxe near Copenhagen. The shocking case has left Denmark reeling, now that the court has lifted restrictions on sharing trial details.

The Crime in Høje Gladsaxe

Three days before Christmas, tragedy struck in Høje Gladsaxe when a man ended his younger half-brother’s life by dropping him from a seventh-floor walkway. He told the court in Glostrup that he felt his father and stepmother favored the toddler over him and their other children. According to the indictment, the man calmly lifted the two-year-old, carried him outside, and released him from the balcony.

The local community was left in disbelief as police and forensics filled the area that same morning. Flowers and candles were later placed at the building entrance where the family lived.

The man’s disturbing admission was made public only after Østre Landsret, Denmark’s Eastern High Court, lifted a previous reporting ban. Before that, the media had been blocked from describing the man’s courtroom statements.

Details Revealed in Court

During questioning, the defendant admitted that jealousy fueled his actions. He acknowledged believing his father’s new family treated the youngest child as a favorite. Initially, when asked about his motive, he simply replied that it was because he was a criminal. Later, his defense attorney steered him into explaining how resentment and mental instability had shaped his decisions that December morning.

Investigators learned that he had traveled by bus from his apartment in Mørkhøj to his father’s home. He was invited inside by one of the other children and ate breakfast with the family in the kitchen. Not long after, the toddler joined him, unaware of what would follow.

When asked by the prosecutor whether the little boy had done anything to provoke the attack, the accused paused, then said he needed time to process what he had done.

Not the First Killing

Shockingly, this tragedy was not the man’s first. In 2014, he killed his own mother in the same apartment block. At that time he was 20 years old and later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The court then placed him in a secure psychiatric facility rather than standard prison.

While institutionalized, he received both therapy and medication. In 2022, a court altered his sentence to a less strict treatment order, allowing him to move to his own apartment but with ongoing psychiatric supervision. That arrangement officially ended in December 2024. Just a year later, after his care was lifted, he committed another killing within his own family.

As the hearing progressed, the man described how he picked up his half-brother under the arms like anyone lifting a small child would. Before stepping onto the outdoor walkway, he put on his shoes and jacket but dropped one shoe along the way. After carrying out the fatal act, he returned to the apartment only to retrieve the missing shoe.

Next Steps in the Trial

The Glostrup court has now ordered a new psychiatric evaluation. Determining whether he can be held criminally responsible will be crucial in deciding if he is sent to a psychiatric facility again or sentenced to prison.

This case, similar to another recent one where a man admitted to throwing a toddler from the seventh floor, has sparked a debate in Denmark about how the legal system handles individuals with severe psychiatric disorders once they leave monitored treatment. Many are now asking whether the psychiatric system failed to protect both the man and his family.

At the same time, Danish authorities face renewed questions about how courts assess risk before releasing people who have previously committed violent crimes due to mental illness. The tragedy in Høje Gladsaxe has become a grim example of what can happen when those safeguards fall short.

The suspect remains in custody while the evaluation continues. Further hearings are expected later this year, and prosecutors have confirmed they will pursue a conviction for intentional homicide.