Denmark's First Murder Unit Reveals Hidden Cases
Newly published investigation into Rejseholdet's early decades uncovers the poet-priest killing and nine other murders that shaped Danish criminal justice
Quick Facts
Danish author Peer Kaae's new book *Rejseholdet: De første drabssager* (Special Unit: The First Murder Cases) pulls back the curtain on a century-old institution that fundamentally changed how Denmark investigated serious crimes. Published in September 2024, the 187-page work documents ten murder cases handled by Rejseholdet between its establishment in 1927 and 1948—drawing on original police reports that Kaae discovered in the Danish National Archives.
Rejseholdet, originally called the Rigspolitichefens Rejseafdeling (Chief of National Police's Travel Department), was created to support local police forces in particularly serious cases. Initially focused on economic crimes, the unit gradually specialized in murders with unknown perpetrators, becoming the country's de facto homicide investigation team.
Among the cases examined in the book is one of Denmark's most significant historical crimes: the 1944 murder of Kaj Munk, a celebrated poet-priest whose work had won international acclaim. Munk's killing occurred during Germany's occupation of Denmark and is characterized in the book as a "cynical liquidation." Rejseholdet's chief Otto Himmelstrup led the investigation into Munk's death, and Kaae's book contains previously unreleased information about how the case was ultimately resolved—details that have remained buried in archives until now.
Other notable cases detailed in the book include what Kaae refers to as "the seemingly perfect murder," as well as the liquidation of Gunnar Eliasen in Odense, another war-related killing. One case known as "Kirkegårdens hemmelighed" (The Cemetery's Secret) involved the murders of two young children, ages 5 and 7, in Esbjerg—a case that reveals the disturbing nature of crimes that early Rejseholdet investigators had to confront.
What makes Kaae's work particularly significant is his access to primary source material. Rather than relying on secondary accounts or published records, he worked directly with original Rejseholdet reports from 1927 to 1947, housed in Denmark's national archive. This approach allows readers to see how Danish criminal investigation evolved during a transformative period in the country's history—spanning from the post-war years through the Nazi occupation and into the early Cold War era.
