Palle Sørensen

Born in 1927, Palle Sørensen's life changed dramatically when he was arrested on September 19, 1965 for murdering 4 Danish police officers during a bank robbery in Copenhagen. On August 24, 1966 he was sentenced to prison for life. In Denmark prisoners serving life-time sentences serve a maximum of 16 years, the average has since 1955 been pardoned after 13 years. But Palle Sørensen's case was different. By taking the life of 4 police officers, which no one had ever done before in Denmark, and never has since, he now had not only the court of law against him, but also the Minister of Justice and the entire Danish government. To pardon him even after the maximum of 16 years seemed highly unlikely, and through the 80s and 90s it seemed like he would never regain his freedom. Thus he sat in prison for more than 32 years before he was eventually pardoned in 1997, a few days before he turned 70.