Marcel Lychau Hansen (born October 2, 1965), better known as the Amager Man (), is a Danish

serial rapist A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes, whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms ''sexual predator'', ''repeat rape'' and ''multiple offending' ...

and twice-convicted murderer who was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

for one robbery and one murder by a jury in the

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

City Court on December 22, 2011. Hansen has also been convicted of six rapes, one of them being a quadruple rape, committed from February 16, 1987, to September 25, 2010. Hansen was born on October 2, 1965, growing up at Tilburg Allé in

Dragør Dragør () is the main town of Dragør Municipality, (Denmark), which includes the village of Store Magleby. The city hall and seat of the municipal council lies on Kirkevej 7 (postal code 2791 Dragør) in Store Magleby, which has enough space ...

, on

Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...

. He attended the Skelgårdsskolen in

Tårnby Tårnby () is a town in Denmark, the seat of Tårnby Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark. It is located approximately south of central Copenhagen on the island of Amager. Neighbouring settlements include the Copenhagen suburb of S ...

, and later had a family in

Kastrup Kastrup () is a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark, on the east coast of Amager in Tårnby Municipality. It is the site of Copenhagen Airport. In Danish, the airport is often called ''Kastrup Lufthavn'' (Kastrup Airport) or ''Københavns Lufthavn, Kast ...

in 1988 with a young girlfriend. They never married, and separated after nearly 20 years of cohabitation in 2007. The couple has two sons.

Past employment

In the 1980s, Marcel Hansen worked in the furniture moving business for the company 3x34, and until his arrest, for approximately 12 years he worked as a janitor for the

Scandinavian Airlines The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), commonly known as Scandinavian Airlines, is the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is part of SAS Group and is headquartered in Solna, Sweden. Including its subsidiaries SAS Link and ...

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup (, ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, as well as the wider Øresund Region, including Zealand and the southern Sweden, Swedish province of Scania. In 2023 it was the largest ai ...

. In addition, he was an active football player in the Sundby Ball Club, and was an active football coach for

FC Amager FC Amager (or FCA) was a Danish football club, formed on 1 July 2008, which declared itself bankrupt on 30 March 2009.

Murders

Edith Andrup

On February 16, 1987, Hansen broke into the

Valby Valby () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, 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, area ...

apartment of 73-year-old widow Edith Louise Andrup. He knocked her out using

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R� ...

, before proceeding to strangle her with his bare hands. After the murder, he stole her jewelry and money, leaving behind a lit candle as well as four open gas taps in the kitchen, in an attempt to blow up the apartment. Marcel Lychau Hansen was employed to help her move furniture about a month before her killing. He was questioned several times by police in 1987, but only charged with her murder in 2010. At the Copenhagen City Court on December 22, 2011, he was convicted of the murder, and also of attempted arson that could endanger other people's lives.

Lene Rasmussen

On August 29, 1990, the 40-year-old schoolteacher Lene Buchardt Rasmussen was riding home to her apartment in Peter Sabroesgade, in Copenhagen's southwest quarter. She had brought a pair of binoculars, as she wanted to study birds at the Kalvebod Fælled. But when she did not return home that evening, her husband notified police. The following day, a police search was initiated, aided by helicopters and cadaver dogs. On September 3, the police helicopter found her bicycle, left by a tree in Fasanskoven, and later that day, Rasmussen's body was found. She had been raped and subsequently strangled, with her killer having stolen her silver ring and watch, probably as trophies. The case had stalled for a long time, as

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

evidence from semen found on the victim couldn't be matched to a perpetrator. On November 1, 2010, police reported that the man who had murdered Lene Rasmussen is the same person who committed two rapes in 2005 and 2010, as the DNA from the three crime scenes matched. At the Copenhagen City Court on December 22, 2011, Hansen was convicted of this murder.

Rapes

Marcel Lychau Hansen was additionally indicted for seven rapes.

1995 quadruple rape

On October 19, 1995, he broke into a villa in Amager, where he raped two 14-year-old girls, another 15-year-old and a 23-year-old woman. After the rapes, he stole silver and jewelry, worth about 65,000 kroner at the time. He also stole a

Dankort The Dankort is the national debit card of Denmark. Today it is often combined with a Visa Inc., Visa card or Mastercard (depending on issuing institution) and functions as a Visa or Mastercard debit card abroad and in stores that don't accept Dan ...

card, from which he withdrew 2,000 kroner at various ATMs in the area. Some of the jewelry was later found to be in possession of Hansen's elder son, during a December 2011

search and seizure Search and seizure is a procedure used in many Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law legal systems by which police or other authorities and their agents, who, suspecting that a crime has been committed, commence a search of a person ...

2005 college rape

On May 3, 2005, he broke into a dorm room at the Amager College near

Ørestad Ørestad () is a developing city area in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the island of Amager. The area was developed using the new town concept, closely linked with the M1 (Copenhagen), M1 line of the Copenhagen Metro. Economically, income for the plan w ...

, where he raped a 24-year-old woman for two hours, forcing the victim to wear a blindfold under the threat of a knife. He had also drank milk from the woman's refrigerator. Lychau Hansen was indicted for the rape after DNA traces were found on the milk carton, as well as handprints on the right doorlock of the victim's bathroom door.

2007 rape

On July 22, 2007, a 47-year-old woman was pulled into a green area at the Vangede Church, near

Gentofte Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...

, during which Hansen took off her belt and wrapped it around her neck, while forcing her into oral sex. During the assault, he continuously strangled her with the belt. Lychau Hansen was charged with the rape, but due to a lack of DNA evidence and material, he was acquitted of this charge by the Copenhagen City Court.

2010 allotment garden rape

On September 25, 2010, a 17-year-old was threatened with a knife, assaulted and raped orally at an

allotment garden An allotment (British English), is a plot of land made available for individual, non-commercial gardening for growing food plants, so forming a kitchen garden away from the residence of the user. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of ...

in Amager. While fleeing the scene, the perpetrator dropped a condom a few meters from the victim. Police later found that the DNA was identical to the one found on the milk carton in the 2005 rape, as well as that on the Lene Rasmussen's body in 1990.

Prosecution

Arrest

Marcel Hansen was arrested on November 12, 2010, at 3:23 PM at his Valby residence, charged with the two rapes and the Rasmussen murder. The next day, he was given a constitutional hearing in the Copenhagen City Court, where he remanded in custody until December 8. Hansen was transferred to Vestre Prison, where he put in solitary confinement. Subsequently, his stay was extended after he was charged with the other murder and six more rapes. On the day of his arrest, Marcel's home was thoroughly searched, with police finding a package of "Thin" brand condoms, manufactured by the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

company RFSU. The same brand was on the condom found at the 2010 rape.

Trial

Marcel Lychau Hansen's trial began in the Copenhagen City Court on November 2, 2011, lasting until December 22nd. He pled not guilty to all charges. The prosecutor demanded life imprisonment, while the defendant asked for a

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

. Hansen was convicted of the two killings and six rapes on December 19, as well as attempted arson. Three days later, a sentence was announced - life imprisonment, which Hansen did not appeal.

Prison

Marcel Hansen remained in Vestre Prison for some time, before being transferred to Herstedvester Prison in June 2012, but on July 23 of that year, he was forcefully moved to the State Prison of East Jutland. The reason for this was the belief that he would escape, and his refusal of some of the prison's offers, such as therapy, psychologists and psychiatric assistance.

'Semen plan'

On December 15, 2011, it became known to police that Hansen had smuggled letters with his own semen from Vestre Prison, where he was being held in custody. His son's girlfriend delivered four letters, as well as a clipped tip from a rubber glove with the son's own semen, to the Northwest Zealand Police in

Frederikssund Frederikssund () is a Denmark, Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden with a population of 17,583 (1 January 2025).

. Marcel had sent a total of eight letters to his son with semen, salive and hair wrapped in rubber nappies, instructing the son to assault a random woman and put the delivered material on the body. That way, the police would find his DNA, while he was in prison. According to him, this would apparently prove that there was another person with the corresponding DNA to his own, making his sentence invalid. In one of the letters, he had written the following instructions: "Do not kill anyone for me, at most knock someone out and plant the DNA". The Hansens were both charged, but the authorities subsequently abandoned the charges in court. Marcel admitted that the DNA was his, and he was convicted of complicity to commit rape. He was not given an additional sentence, as he is already serving the highest possible sentence in Danish law, but the ruling may become relevant if he is ever to be put on

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

. Hansen did not appeal the verdict.

References

Bibliography

* ''The case of the Amager Man - The hunt for a serial offender'' (ed.: Claus Buhr and Vicki Therkildsen –

Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal (), is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...

(2012).

External links

Map of the crimes Marcel Hansen committed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Marcel 1965 births Living people 20th-century Danish criminals 21st-century Danish criminals Danish male criminals Danish people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Denmark Danish people convicted of rape People convicted of arson People from Dragør Municipality