Kidnapped, raped, and murdered – now he has been sentenced to life imprisonment

33-year-old Philip Westh has been sentenced to life imprisonment for, among other things, murder, attempted murder, and rape.

The verdict was delivered on Friday by a jury at the Court in Næstved after 13 court hearings.

Philip Westh has been found guilty of, among others:

-Murder, attempted prolonged deprivation of liberty, attempted rape under particularly aggravating circumstances, and indecent handling of a corpse in connection with the disappearance of 17-year-old Emilie Meng from Korsør Station in July 2016,

-Threats with a knife, violence, attempted prolonged deprivation of liberty, and attempted rape of a 15-year-old girl in Sorø in November 2022,

-Severe violence, prolonged deprivation of liberty, attempted murder, illegal coercion, and rape under particularly aggravating circumstances of a 13-year-old girl who disappeared in Kirkerup in April 2023.

The prosecution demanded life imprisonment due to the serious nature of the case.

“This is an unusually serious and violent case, where the victims are very young. It is obviously terrible what they have been subjected to – this applies to the victims themselves, their relatives, and the bereaved. It is a case that has affected the entire country and the local community in particular,” says special prosecutor Susanne Bluhm, who, together with prosecutor Thea Høst, represented the prosecution at the South Zealand and Lolland-Falster Police.

“It has been important for us as prosecutors over the past weeks to present the result of the police’s extensive investigation in court in a comprehensible and proper manner. The court has now made a decision – and we are very pleased with the verdict and that a preliminary judicial conclusion has been reached in the case,” says Susanne Bluhm.

The cases have been known in the press as the Kirkerup case, the Emilie Meng case or the Korsør case.

The convicted individual admitted parts of the indictment concerning the 13-year-old during the trial but otherwise pleaded not guilty. He has chosen to appeal the verdict.

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