Meiwes, who remained calm and collected throughout the trial, said he is writing a book on how he came to live his ultimate fantasy.Ī psychiatrist testifying in the case last week described Meiwes as fit to stand trial.
According to Köhler, Meiwes later used his video for sexual satisfaction and to admire his work as a "human butcher."
#ARMIN MEIWES VIDEO CANIBAL TRIAL#
Köhler added that the trial had proven that Meiwes murdered his victim (photo) or his sexual gratification and to fulfill his cannibalistic yearnings. "He slaughtered his victim like a piece of livestock and treated him as an object of fancy." Bernd Jürgen B. "The desire to slaughter a man and eat him up was the paramount motive for his action," Köhler said. The killer sought out his victim and the victim sought out his killer," he said.īut prosecutor Marcus Köhler said this week that Meiwes had been aware that his victim was suffering from a serious personality disorder and was unable to think rationally. "It is unique that we are leveling the severest charge of murder against someone and yet have to admit that the victim, whether disturbed or not, wanted it. Professor Arthur Kreuzer told Reuters news agency that the case was bound to make legal history. The video shows Meiwes slaughtering his victim in a scene straight out of the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," complete with meat hooks, a cage and a butcher’s table. Meiwes’ video of the killing, which made for chilling viewing inside the courtroom, has convinced prosecutors that Bernd-Jürgen B.’s death was voluntary. "There’s absolutely no way back for me, only forwards, through your teeth," one read. During the trial Meiwes’ lawyer cited emails in which the victim insisted on being killed and eaten. The case had been complicated by the fact that the victim had explicitly expressed the wish to die. His victim, identified in the case only as Bernd-Jürgen B., volunteered to be killed after answering an Internet ad placed by 42-year-old Meiwes seeking "young men for real slaughter and consumption." The defense lawyer, Harald Ermel had argued on Thursday that his client, known as the "cannibal of Rotenburg", should get off lightly because his victim had been willing to die and be eaten.Įrmel had said that the cannibal could only be prosecuted on a charge of assisted suicide, which would carry a maximum prison term of five years. State prosecutors, who had been pushing for a life sentence on a charge of murder motivated by sexual urges, failed to make their case. He will spend eight years and six months in prison. Armin Meiwes, accused of killing a 43-year-old computer specialist from Berlin, eating his genitalia, and then freezing the rest of his body to consume in later repasts, was convicted of manslaughter. Armin was arrested and tried for murder.The trial that has riveted Germany and the rest of the world for the past two months reached its culmination in a Kassel courtroom on Friday. They found a portion of Bernd’s body in the freezer and 4 hours of video showing the events of the evening. In December, someone called the police and directed them to the ad that Armin had posted. He buried the skull.īetween March and December, Armin ate approximately 44 pounds of Bernd. He chopped up Bernd’s body and stored it in the freezer. Armin MeiwesĮarly the next morning, Armin stabbed Bernd in the neck, killing him. While Bernd soaked, Armin read a book and checked on him regularly. Eventually, Armin just fed it to the dog. Armin tried eat it, but it was too chewy, so he cooked it, but it burned. In preparation for the real reason Bernd was there, he took 20 sleeping pills and drank some alcohol. The men met at Armin’s home, ate dinner and had sex. He placed an ad on the internet looking for someone who wished to be eaten. Armin had been obsessed with eating another person since childhood.