The Rødovre Murders 2000: Peter Lundin Killed Marianne and Her Sons
Peter Lundin murdered his girlfriend and her two young sons, dismembered their bodies, and was sentenced to life in prison — the victims have never been found
Peter Lundin murdered his girlfriend Marianne Pedersen and her two sons on the night of June 16–17, 2000, at their home in Rødovre, a suburb of Copenhagen. He dismembered the bodies and was sentenced to life in prison on June 22, 2001. The case, known in Denmark as the Lundin murders, stands as one of the most brutal and widely covered criminal cases in modern Danish history. The bodies of Marianne and her sons have never been found.
The Victims
Marianne Pedersen was 36 years old and a widow at the time of her death. Born in 1963, she received disability benefits due to mental health problems and alcohol misuse. Together with her late husband, a former painter, she had run a small massage clinic in Copenhagen, where she also worked as a sex worker to support herself and her two boys.
Marianne lived with her sons Brian Allan Pedersen (12) and Dennis Jørgen Pedersen (10) in a house in Rødovre. Both boys were from her previous marriage. According to witness accounts, in the days leading up to the murders Marianne was growing tired of her relationship with Peter Lundin and wanted to end it. She was particularly frustrated by his continued ties to his ex-wife Tina, with whom he had fathered a child earlier that same year.
The Crime
The conflict between Marianne and Lundin escalated publicly on June 16, 2000, at a school event, where Lundin threw her to the ground during a fight. That same night, the murders took place at the family home in Rødovre.
According to Lundin's own confession, he flew into a rage because Marianne had spoken affectionately on the phone with another man. He broke her neck with his bare hands on the double bed, then killed the two boys, Brian and Dennis, in the same manner. However, the physical evidence at the scene did not fully match his account of killing them barehanded.
Afterward, Lundin set about concealing the crime. He dismembered Marianne's body in the basement and those of the two boys in the garage. Axe marks in the floor indicated the use of an axe, and an angle grinder was later presented as evidence and has since been displayed at the Copenhagen Police Museum. On June 19, 2000, he purchased plastic bags, rubber gloves, and cleaning supplies at a Metro store in Glostrup — receipts and surveillance footage later confirmed the purchase.
Despite police searching through 8,500 tonnes of slag from a waste incineration plant, the bodies of Marianne, Brian, and Dennis have never been found.
The Perpetrator
Peter Lundin — born Peter Kenneth Bostrøm Lundin — was 28 years old at the time of the murders. He already had a violent past: in 1991, he killed his own mother in the United States and served eight years for the crime before being deported to Denmark in 1999.
Lundin met Marianne Pedersen in the autumn of 1999 at the clinic where she worked. They became a couple and later moved in together. The relationship was marked by violence, and Lundin had also previously been violent toward his ex-wife Tina and their daughter. His father, Ole Lundin, said after the case: "There was no way to stop him — he was born to kill."
Lundin has since changed his name several times, including to Bjarne Skounborg and Thomas Kristian Olesen.
The Investigation
After Marianne and the boys were reported missing, police arrived at the house in Rødovre. Lundin told officers that the family had gone on holiday and that he had been asked to paint the house while they were away. He had also written forged notes about the family's supposed departure to cover up their disappearance.
A more thorough search of the property revealed signs of extensive cleaning in the basement, garage, and a shed in the garden. A recently cleaned freezer stood in the shed, and tests revealed traces of blood inside it. In the basement, investigators found axe marks in the floor and bloodstains despite the cleaning. DNA analysis matched Marianne, Brian, and Dennis.
Lundin's known criminal background from the United States immediately made him the prime suspect. He was arrested and charged with murder on July 30, 2000. On October 10, 2000, he confessed to causing the three deaths but claimed it had been an accident and refused to reveal where he had disposed of the bodies.
There were no eyewitnesses to the murders, but neighbors had previously observed Lundin's abuse of Marianne. On November 4, 2000, a member of the Danish parliament raised a formal question to the Minister of Justice about the failure to monitor Lundin after his arrival in Denmark.
The Trial
The trial against Peter Lundin triple murder opened on March 5, 2001, at the Eastern High Court in Copenhagen and lasted ten days under intense media scrutiny. The prosecution was led by State Prosecutor Erik Merlung, who sought a life sentence, citing the horrifying nature of the crimes.
Lundin was charged with the premeditated murder of Marianne Pedersen, the murder of her two sons Brian and Dennis, indecent handling of corpses, and theft from the home. His defense attorney, Bjørn Lund Hansen, argued that the deaths were accidental and asked for a maximum sentence of 16 years. Lundin maintained throughout that he had not intended to kill.
The prosecution emphasized the brutality of the dismemberment and the systematic effort to conceal the crime — the purchase of cleaning supplies, the forged notes about the family's travels, and the freshly cleaned freezer. The twelve jurors and three judges rejected the accident defense.
Verdict and Sentence
On June 22, 2001, Peter Lundin was sentenced to life in prison under Section 237 of the Danish Penal Code. The verdict was appealed, but the Eastern High Court upheld the life sentence on December 17, 2001.
Lundin was found fully criminally responsible, and there was no doubt as to his mental capacity. In 2005, he lost a defamation claim against the newspaper Information for calling him a "clinical psychopath" — the court ruled the description was justified in the context of the case.
The Case Today
More than two decades after the triple murder, Peter Lundin continues to serve his life sentence. The bodies of Marianne Pedersen and her sons Brian and Dennis have still not been found, making the case unique in Danish criminal history. Since the trial, Lundin has attempted multiple name changes and made media appearances, including reading poetry on television. He has also remarried while in prison.
The case has had a lasting political impact and became a catalyst for debate about how Danish authorities should monitor individuals with violent criminal histories who arrive in Denmark from abroad. It remains one of the most covered Danish true crime cases in modern times, and has inspired several podcasts and documentaries, including Born to Kill: The Unthinkable Crimes of Peter Lundin. The axe and angle grinder used in the dismemberment are on permanent display at the Copenhagen Police Museum.