No softies are the Germans on polite, Internet-enabled, sexual-homicidal-cannibalism! Just say nein to killing and eating your fellow man, mein herr.
Armin Meiwes, now 44, the "Rotenburg cannibal," was sentenced to life in prison today after he was found guilty of murder in a retrial of his infamous killing/cannibalism case. Meiwes had been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in 2004 after being found guilty of the manslaughter of Bernd Juergen Brandes, but a judge ordered a retrial after ruling the sentence for the apparently consensual crime was too lenient (and embarrassing).
The pair met after Berlin engineer Brandes, 43, replied to an Internet chat room notice in which Meiwes solicited "young, well-built men aged 18 to 30 to slaughter," in March, 2001. Meiwes apparently waived his demographic parameters in the interest of expediency.
The former German army sergeant had eaten 20kg of the former Brandes accompanied by potatoes and a pepper or wine sauce and served on "good crockery" before he was caught in December, 2002.
A two-hour videotape of the "encounter" shows Brandes preparing for his impending demise by drinking a large quantity of alcohol and cold medicine, and swallowing twenty sleeping pills. Brandes allowed Meiwes to sever his penis from his body and fry the unfortunate digit, before they attempted to dine on it together. Sadly, Brandes passed out from loss of blood before he could eat himself. Meiwes then stabbed Brandes in the neck, carved up the corpse, froze pieces of it, and continued eating Brandes for several months thereafter.
Prosecutors claimed Meiwes killed his victim for his own sexual gratification, saying in court he "slaughtered his victim like a piece of livestock and treated him as an object of his fancy." Meiwes' lawyer admitted his client had a fetish for human flesh, but claimed he was no danger to society; a claim somewhat contradicted by the flayed computer engineer and the cannibal's own admission that he still had fantasies about devouring the flesh of attractive young people.
On March 3, 2006, the state court in Kassel, Germany, upheld a complaint from Meiwes against the film Rohtenburg, which was due for release in Germany on March 9, ruling that "Meiwes' rights as an individual outweighed artistic freedom."
Quite seriously, Germany obviously got a very sobering look at itself as a result of the original trial — a perversely relativistic society where homicidal deviancy is winked at because a severely disturbed victim agreed to participate in the unspeakable — and decided to back away from the "consensual" murder precipice.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - sal m
The further outrage was committed by Meiwes in that the victim Brandes apparently had no say in how his penis was to be prepared. This is surely a breach of self-cannibalistic, sexual deviancy that cannot be tolerated...unless of course the German's are willing to stand by and let the world of self-cannibalistic sexual deviancy spiral out of control into a place where there are no rules.
It's also been rumored that Meiwes served white wine with the meal, when etiquette clearly calls for red.
2 - Eric Olsen
not only that, but the alleged "good crockery" was, in fact, microwavable
3 - sal m
outrageous!!!
4 - swingingpuss
Sure beats Mario Batali's signature pasta dish served with black truffles, coxcombs and duck testicles, priced at a modest $30.
5 - Eric Olsen
certainly more pricey than that, SP!
6 - Manon Maru
Wasn't there a similar case to this in the United States several years ago. I believe it was a woman who put out an ad in a chatroom or something saying that she wanted to be murdered. A guy answered the ad and she willing submitted to being murdered...I forget how the case turned out.
7 - Bill
Wow German people are pretty messed up! No wonder they lost the war.
8 - Eric Olsen
I don't think the fact that the crime itself took place in Germany is indicative of much, but the way the first trial was handled is. I think it's a very good sign that they changed the ruling
9 - Ritual Assault Counselor
Cannibalism like vampirism and necrophilia are practiced constantly with ritual assaulting branches of deviant fugitives in convoys of trolling identity thief gangs around the USA also. That Germany actually convicted a sexual predator is a signal to those who only now can strive to remind themselves: "Just don't do it again."
Supposedly becoming godlike is one motivating lure to those who consider eating higher up the food chain to require their destroying people. Taking persons' characters to continue to pretend to be them is far too sadly common.
Yet nobody who complains in the USA is admired. California has an anti-necrophilia law; other governments have measures to alert followers to stop torturing their weaker companions.
Generally, though, who would believe a victim wanting to cease being a savior affiliate of a porphyria excuser? What key executive who fell for the deviation of domination and bondage would relinquish his slaves? If worship of evil were the highest form of duplicity, then which secret members of communities where only masters and enslaved live would admit to second thoughts about the long-term wisdom of consuming vulnerable prey?
The excuse of the deceased co-operating was feeble to admit into the court hearings. Who was there to verify that the hapless soul wasn't bargaining with a captor who had surprised him?
Portraying himself like a regular guy which the convicted did has to be one of the most difficult aspects of the emblaming fluid addicts' lies. A series of articles on the necrophiliacs next door would be relief for the many struggling to exist while catering to the whims of randomly, persistently violent sadists. Germany definitely is not any different from this country.
10 - Eric Olsen
this is one of my favorite sentences in a long time: Cannibalism like vampirism and necrophilia are practiced constantly with ritual assaulting branches of deviant fugitives in convoys of trolling identity thief gangs around the USA also
11 - Victor Plenty
For its simultaneous offenses against grammar, clarity, and decency?
12 - Eric Olsen
it's jam-packed, that is for certain. This reminds me of Mad Max: "ritual assaulting branches of deviant fugitives in convoys of trolling identity thief gangs"
13 - Dawn
Huh?
14 - Eric Olsen
did you read #9?
15 - Purple Tigress
Some how the term blood sausage came to mind when I was reading this, but...if the cannibal had really cared, besides asking how the severed penis should be cooked, he would have applied a tourniquet.
I'm guessing there isn't a place sensitivity training for cannibals.
16 - manfred
man that guy is just sick in the head but then again the brain scene in Hannibal already made me wanna hurl *ugh*
-manfred
17 - Eric Olsen
PT, it does appear to be about sensitivity. "Blood Sausage": classic.
Manfred, the depths of human depravity seem truly boundless
18 - Dawn
Ewww, what possessed you to write about this?
19 - Eric Olsen
weirdness
20 - Tony Martin
Eating meat, any meat, is revulting.
21 - Jasmin Mukkath
Absoloutly revolting!!!!
22 - Dave Nalle
The revolting part is that he was convicted of murder as opposed to some lesser and more appropriate crime since his victim was willing.
Dave
23 - cassie
cannibalism is legal in germany so Brandes body belongs to Meiwes, i mean he gave himself willingly.
24 - jax
well i suppose he wasnt actually in the wrong by eating him.
techniaclly it was brandes decision wht he wanted to do with his own body.
no law enforcement in the world should tell you what you can or cant do with your own body and choices, thats just taking away freedom.
kinda funny really.
25 - jamal
i have never heard of anything like it before but, as far as i am concerned that man was psychopath trying to bury his feeling in the most profound manner , that man could sought help from a ritual slaughter counsellor. i am sure this middle-aged man was very lonely,depressed in some sort of way maybe he inherited cannibalism from his parents or someone he dearly loved that is why he commits such heinous crime ,a psychiatrist well adverted in this type of projects can maybe addto the latter,./