The murder of Emilie Meng took place in the early hours of 10 July 2016, when 17-year-old Emilie Anine Skovgaard Meng from Korsør was strangled by Philip Patrick Westh near Korsør Station. In August 2024, Westh was sentenced to life imprisonment by Retten i Næstved for the murder as well as sexual assaults against two other young girls, under Section 237 of the Danish Criminal Code. The verdict has been appealed to Østre Landsret.
Emilie Anine Skovgaard Meng was born on 31 July 1998 and was 17 years old when she disappeared from Korsør railway station in the early morning of 10 July 2016. She had been out on the town in Korsør and was on her way home when she vanished without a trace. Her body was not found until nearly half a year later, on 24 December 2016, near Regnemarks Bakke in Køge Municipality close to Borup, where police confirmed at a press conference that same evening that a serious crime had been committed, according to Wikipedia.
Regnemarks Bakke
Sted
Korsør railway station, Korsør, Denmark
Offer
Emilie Anine Skovgaard Meng, 17 år
Gerningsmand
Philip Patrick Westh, 33 år
Forsvindingsdato
10. juli 2016
Sted
Korsør Station, Vestsjælland
Findested
Regnemarks Bakke, Borup (24. december 2016)
Dødsårsag
Strangulering
Anholdelse
Januar 2024
Dom
Fængsel på livstid (august 2024)
Status
Opklaret — anket til landsretten
Emilie Meng had no known connection to the man later charged; prosecutors consider it a random abduction. The case shook Denmark and prompted one of the largest criminal investigations in modern Danish history.
According to the indictment published in March 2025, Philip Patrick Westh is charged with murder, prolonged unlawful deprivation of liberty, aggravated rape and indecent treatment of a corpse in connection with Emilie Meng. Prosecutors allege that Westh raped Emilie Meng and then strangled her by sealing her mouth and nostrils with parcel tape, according to Viborg Folkeblad and Copenhagen Post.
Emilie Meng disappeared from the area around Korsør Station in the early morning of 10 July 2016. Surveillance footage from the station, released in June 2017, showed an indoor walkway and the station car park, according to Wikipedia. Her body was found after nearly six months near Regnemarks Bakke — more than 60 kilometres from Korsør — on Christmas Day, 24 December 2016.
Philip Patrick Westh, 32, a marketing manager by profession, is the defendant in the case. He was already sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2024 by Retten i Næstved for the abduction, rape and attempted murder of a 13-year-old girl in the Kirkerup case from April 2023, as well as the attempted abduction of a 15-year-old boarding school student in Sorø in November 2022, according to Wikipedia and Copenhagen Post. Westh did not appeal the verdict in the Kirkerup case.
It was the investigation into the Kirkerup assault in April 2023 that led police toward Westh as a possible perpetrator in the Emilie Meng case. Westh partially admitted to the charges in the Kirkerup case, including unlawful detention, violence, threats and sexual assault short of intercourse, but has denied murdering Emilie Meng.
The investigation into Emilie Meng's disappearance was one of the most extensive in Danish history. Police examined surveillance material from Korsør Station, carried out cell tower data extraction of mobile traffic in the areas around both the disappearance and discovery sites, and conducted forensic examinations of the location at Regnemarks Bakke, according to Wikipedia.
DNAevidence from the jeans: Police found DNA traces on Emilie Meng's jeans, which had been stored in a plastic bag outside. The DNA was degraded and the Department of Forensic Genetics was unable to produce a complete DNA profile. Professor Eske Willerslev analysed the material using so-called shotgun sequencing and concluded that the DNA originated from a male, most likely Philip Westh, his father, grandfather, brother or son, as described by Videnskab.dk and Copenhagen Post. Willerslev testified in court on 4 June about the analysis.
Parcel tape with DNA: During a search of Philip Westh's home, police found a roll of parcel tape on which Emilie Meng's DNA was identified. The break pattern on the roll matched the tape that had been found around Emilie Meng's neck, according to Copenhagen Post and Websleuths.
Additional evidence: Prosecutors also refer to cell tower data extracted near Korsør Station around the time of the offence, payment card records, purchases at Harald Nyborg and Westh's Hyundai i30, according to Viborg Folkeblad.
Police's own review later found that the original investigation into Emilie Meng's disappearance in 2016 had shortcomings, including a delayed transition from a missing persons case to a murderinvestigation, as described by Copenhagen Post.
The trial of Philip Patrick Westh for the murder of Emilie Meng opened on 14 May 2025 at Retten i Næstved, with 18 court days set aside, according to Viborg Folkeblad. Sentencing was scheduled for 28 June 2025.
The indictment covers a total of 10 counts, of which the central count 1 concerns murder, prolonged unlawful deprivation of liberty, aggravated rape and indecent treatment of a corpse in relation to Emilie Meng. The indictment also includes the counts from the Kirkerup case involving the 13-year-old girl and the assault in Sorø against the 15-year-old boarding school student.
During the trial, Professor Eske Willerslev testified about the shotgun sequencing analysis of the degraded DNA from Emilie Meng's jeans. However, the court had previously — in connection with related proceedings — declined to attach decisive weight to this specific DNAevidence due to uncertainty surrounding the analytical method, according to Copenhagen Post.
A final verdict in the murder case concerning Emilie Meng is expected to be handed down on 28 June 2025 at Retten i Næstved. Philip Patrick Westh has already been sentenced to life imprisonment by the same court in June 2024 for the charges in the Kirkerup case — kidnapping, rape and attempted murder of a 13-year-old girl — and that verdict was not appealed, according to Copenhagen Post.
Life imprisonment is the most severe penalty under Danish criminal law and is typically reserved for particularly serious murder cases.
The case against Philip Patrick Westh for the murder of Emilie Meng is one of the most high-profile Danish murder cases in recent times. It sparked significant debate about how police handle missing persons cases — particularly the delay in reclassifying Emilie Meng's disappearance as a murderinvestigation. The case has also drawn attention to the use of new DNA technologies such as shotgun sequencing, which in this case played a role in a Danish criminal trial for the first time.
The case has received extensive coverage from Danish media, including Berlingske, Politiken and Avisen Danmark, as well as internationally by Copenhagen Post. Faktalink has documented the case's significance for DNAevidence in Danish criminal proceedings, and Videnskab.dk has explained the method in detail in its article on shotgun sequencing in the Meng case. No verified books, documentaries or podcasts about the case had been published at the time of writing.
Timeline
31 July 1998
Emilie Meng født
Emilie Anine Skovgaard Meng bliver født i Korsør.
10 July 2016
Emilie Meng forsvinder
17-årige Emilie forsvinder fra Korsør Station tidligt om morgenen efter en bytur.
24 December 2016
Liget findes
Emilies lig findes juleaftensdag ved Regnemarks Bakke ved Borup. Dødsårsag: strangulering.
1 November 2022
Overfald på 15-årig
Philip Westh forsøger at bortføre og voldtage en 15-årig efterskoleelev i Sorø.
1 April 2023
Bortførelse af 13-årig
Westh bortfører, voldtager og forsøger at dræbe en 13-årig pige nær Kirkerup. Anholdelse kort efter.
8 January 2024
Sigtelse rejst
Politiet sigter den 33-årige Philip Patrick Westh for drabet på Emilie Meng.
14 May 2024
Retssag indledes
Retssagen mod Philip Westh starter i Næstved Retshus.
1 August 2024
Livstidsdom
Philip Patrick Westh idømmes fængsel på livstid. Dommen ankes til landsretten.
