Germany's Hannibal the Cannibal to be Retried
Jim Kouri, CPP
May 04, 2006
In a court case that shocked all Europe, killer and cannibal Armin Meiwes will be retried after being convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to a mere eight years in prison after admitting he killed and ate a Berlin engineer he met on the internet. A German federal judge ruled the verdict and sentence were too lenient ordered a retrial.
Meiwes continues to maintain that his victim wanted to be eaten and that he died "a beautiful death," but prosecutors said Meiwes had a "fetish for human flesh" and could re-offend once released from prison.
Prosecutor Markus Koehler told the court in Frankfurt that Meiwes should be barred from parole after 15 years, as is usual for those serving life sentences in Germany. It's hoped by many that Meiwes will serve life without a chance for parole. The Germans do not have the death penalty.
Known as the "Rotenburg Cannibal," Meiwes placed a personal ad on the internet before meeting his victim, 43-year-old Bernd Juergen Brandes. The two men met at Meiwes's home in Rotenburg in March 2001, where they had sex before Meiwes cut off Brandes's penis, which both men then cooked and attempted to eat.
Later that evening, Meiwes stabbed and killed Brandes, before cutting him to pieces and keeping his body parts in his refrigerator. According to court records he later ate some of his victim's body parts.
His defense lawyers argue that Brandes willingly agreed to Meiwes's plans, saying the original internet ad clearly stated that he was looking for a volunteer to be "slaughtered and eaten."
"This was not murder. His [Brandes's] goal was to be eaten and that meant being killed," defense lawyer Joachim Bremer told the court with a straight face.
However, the prosecutor insisted that Meiwes killed Brandes "like a piece of livestock" and was obsessed with power and dominance.
Meiwes has admitted that he still fantasizes about killing when he sees pictures of attractive young people, a fact prosecutors used to stress that he is likely to kill again.
Psychiatric evaluations of Meiwes during his time in prison have suggested his behavior cannot be controlled by therapy, prosecutor Annette von Schmiedeberg told the court.
Meanwhile, a German court has banned the screening of a film based on the case of self-confessed cannibal Armin Meiwes. The state court in Kassel upheld a complaint from Meiwes, 44, against the film Rotenburg, which had been due for release in Germany. The court ruled that Meiwes' rights as an individual outweighed artistic freedom and that he should not become the object of a horror film.
The detective investigating the case told the court that he had stumbled upon a vast cannibal scene in Germany involving a number of professionals, according to the BBC.
"We are talking about dentists, teachers, cooks, government officials and handymen," federal investigator Wilfried Fehl told the court. "These are people who come from the middle reaches of society."
Among the most startling revelations of the trial was Meiwes' revelation that he had been in internet contact with dozens of people who answered his ad seeking a young man who wanted to be eaten. Bernd-Juergen Brandes "asked to be stabbed to death," according to Meiwes
Using the pseudonym "Franky", he inserted internet advertisements which read: "If you are 18-25 you are my boy, Franky from Germany" and "come to me, I'll eat your delicious flesh." But, clearly, not all of those who replied wanted to die. Some would have been hoaxers, others would have wanted to play out their sexual fantasies. Only four men -- other than the one who was eventually eaten -- were interested enough, the court heard, to travel to Meiwes' farm in central Germany to meet him. None of them went through with the killing and cannibalism.
Meiwes continues to maintain that his victim wanted to be eaten and that he died "a beautiful death," but prosecutors said Meiwes had a "fetish for human flesh" and could re-offend once released from prison.
Prosecutor Markus Koehler told the court in Frankfurt that Meiwes should be barred from parole after 15 years, as is usual for those serving life sentences in Germany. It's hoped by many that Meiwes will serve life without a chance for parole. The Germans do not have the death penalty.
Known as the "Rotenburg Cannibal," Meiwes placed a personal ad on the internet before meeting his victim, 43-year-old Bernd Juergen Brandes. The two men met at Meiwes's home in Rotenburg in March 2001, where they had sex before Meiwes cut off Brandes's penis, which both men then cooked and attempted to eat.
Later that evening, Meiwes stabbed and killed Brandes, before cutting him to pieces and keeping his body parts in his refrigerator. According to court records he later ate some of his victim's body parts.
His defense lawyers argue that Brandes willingly agreed to Meiwes's plans, saying the original internet ad clearly stated that he was looking for a volunteer to be "slaughtered and eaten."
"This was not murder. His [Brandes's] goal was to be eaten and that meant being killed," defense lawyer Joachim Bremer told the court with a straight face.
However, the prosecutor insisted that Meiwes killed Brandes "like a piece of livestock" and was obsessed with power and dominance.
Meiwes has admitted that he still fantasizes about killing when he sees pictures of attractive young people, a fact prosecutors used to stress that he is likely to kill again.
Psychiatric evaluations of Meiwes during his time in prison have suggested his behavior cannot be controlled by therapy, prosecutor Annette von Schmiedeberg told the court.
Meanwhile, a German court has banned the screening of a film based on the case of self-confessed cannibal Armin Meiwes. The state court in Kassel upheld a complaint from Meiwes, 44, against the film Rotenburg, which had been due for release in Germany. The court ruled that Meiwes' rights as an individual outweighed artistic freedom and that he should not become the object of a horror film.
The detective investigating the case told the court that he had stumbled upon a vast cannibal scene in Germany involving a number of professionals, according to the BBC.
"We are talking about dentists, teachers, cooks, government officials and handymen," federal investigator Wilfried Fehl told the court. "These are people who come from the middle reaches of society."
Among the most startling revelations of the trial was Meiwes' revelation that he had been in internet contact with dozens of people who answered his ad seeking a young man who wanted to be eaten. Bernd-Juergen Brandes "asked to be stabbed to death," according to Meiwes
Using the pseudonym "Franky", he inserted internet advertisements which read: "If you are 18-25 you are my boy, Franky from Germany" and "come to me, I'll eat your delicious flesh." But, clearly, not all of those who replied wanted to die. Some would have been hoaxers, others would have wanted to play out their sexual fantasies. Only four men -- other than the one who was eventually eaten -- were interested enough, the court heard, to travel to Meiwes' farm in central Germany to meet him. None of them went through with the killing and cannibalism.
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