Willing victim was eaten while still alive
Self-confessed cannibal advertised online for a victim and a man showed up, ready to be mutilated and eaten before death
BERLIN - The advertisement on the Internet read: 'Seeking well-built man, 18-30 years old for slaughter.'
The man who answered it was killed and eaten by German computer expert Armin Meiwes, 42, described by his lawyer as a 'gentleman of the old school'.
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Yesterday, Meiwes went on trial in a case of sexually inspired cannibalism so perplexing it could make legal history. He has confessed to the gruesome episode, and is charged with 'murder for sexual satisfaction'.
It is the first case of its kind in Germany. The problem is whether such consensual killing is really murder, as cannibalism is not a crime there.
The trial began with the court hearing how horror films had fuelled his childhood fantasies of eating school friends, the BBC said.
Meiwes, a former soldier, actually received several replies to the Internet advertisement he placed two years ago. Some were hoaxes.
Another man broke off contact after Meiwes sent him photos of the specially-built killing room in his 44-room home, said a report in the Independent on Sunday.
Eventually, a well-paid Siemens microchip engineer, Bernd-Juergen Brandes, wrote back: 'I offer myself to you and will let you dine from my live body. Not butchery, dining!! Whoever REALLY wants to do it will need a REAL VICTIM!!'
He then took one day off from his job, bought a one-way train ticket and met Meiwes in his home town of Rotenburg in March 2001.
Meiwes claims that Brandes demanded to be mutilated and killed the same day, and even fasted so that his intestines were clear, according to an interview he gave to the German news magazine, Stern.
Brandes took drugs to desensitise himself to the pain, and Meiwes got a kitchen knife, and turned on his video camera. Parts of the two-hour video are expected to be shown at the trial.
Meiwes first sliced off Brandes' penis, fried it, seasoned it with salt, pepper and garlic. Then he shared it with its former owner.
Stern reported Meiwes saying the dish was 'tough and unpalatable'.
Meiwes' lawyer Harald Ermel said it took the victim nearly 10 hours to bleed to death and that he had urged Meiwes repeatedly to keep on cutting him.
Meiwes cut up the body and stored parts in his freezer. 'He believes he ate about 20kg and there was about 10kg left over,' said Mr Ermel. 'He defrosted it little by little and ate it.'
Afterwards, Meiwes searched the Internet for more victims. The Independent said four more men answered. Meiwes wrapped each one in cellophane, and labelled each of their body parts like cold cuts.
But they were only interested in role-playing, not really being killed, so Meiwes let them go.
He was arrested last December, after a tip-off from someone who had spotted another of his online ads.
The prosecution will push for a life sentence on the grounds that Meiwes is too dangerous to ever be released. -- Reuters, AFP