Palle Mogens Fogde Sørensen (26 March 1927 – 1 February 2018) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

convicted murderer who shot and killed four police officers in 1965 on his way home after a break-in.

Early life

In 1949, shortly after his release from juvenile detention, Sørensen broke into the headquarters of Danish labor union ''Dansk Arbejdsmands Forbund'' (today, '' 3F''), where he blew open a safe with explosives stolen from a quarry and stole 130,000 kr., all of which he spent shortly after. He later committed several burglaries and instances of insurance fraud, but was eventually caught and received a 5-year prison sentence. After his release from prison, Sørensen was hired to produce aerials for the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, and for a while managed to bring his criminal lifestyle to a halt. However, in 1964, Sørensen encountered his former cellmate Norman Lee Bune, and resumed his former criminal activities of mainly

burglaries Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...

. Sørensen was early on known for his engineer-like prowess with technology and mechanics, and a 1958 article from the tabloid ''

Ekstra Bladet ''Ekstra Bladet'' is a Danish tabloid newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen.About
(in Danish) ''E ...

'' described Sørensen as a man with a skill for cracking safes. He had a gun collection in his mother's basement.

Shootings

On 17 September 1965 Sørensen and Bune were caught breaking and entering by the house's owner, who subsequently called the police. The men fled the scene and police officers pursued. During the chase, Sørensen reached for his Browning P-35 and shot four policemen, all of whom died from the sustained injuries. The incident resulted in a major search operation, which ended as he after 48 hours turned himself in, commenting " made the mistake of ylife."

Sentence

Sørensen was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

on 24 August 1966. Despite being a peaceful prisoner, he was considered the most dangerous convict in Denmark for many years, and police unions pressured the authorities to grant him neither parole nor pardon. He was granted parole after 32 years and eight months in prison – at the time the longest period anyone had served in a Danish prison in modern history.

Life after prison

Sørensen went to live in

Valby Valby () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, and has a mixture of different types of housing. This includes apartment blocks, terraced housing, areas with single ...

for the remainder of his life, confessing to a journalist he was still fascinated with safes. He died on 1 February 2018.

Legacy

Palle Sørensen's crime eventually led to the arming of Danish police officers. The four murdered officers were given State funerals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorensen, Palle 1927 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Danish criminals Danish male criminals People from Copenhagen Danish people convicted of murdering police officers Danish people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Denmark Danish prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Denmark People paroled from life sentence