CANNIBAL GETS LIFE

A German man found guilty of murdering and eating a willing victim has been sentenced in Frankfurt to life in prison after being retried.

Armin Meiwes, 44, had admitted to the crime, but his defence argued that he should not be charged with murder but rather with “killing on demand”, because he was following his victim’s wishes.

The argument was rejected by Judge Klaus Drescher, who overturned a previous conviction of manslaughter, describing the killing as “a particularly perverse murder.”

Meiwes sought out a voluntary victim on the Internet to be eaten by him – apparently corresponding with over 400 people – in order to satisfy a sexual fantasy of eating another man. He finally found a willing partner in 43 year old Bernd-Juergen Brandes who met with Meiwes.

A videotape was made by the men that showed Brandes agreeing to be killed and eaten and making no attempt to escape. Meiwes cut off Brandes’s penis and testicles and, after sautéing them, the two men ate the body parts – apparently accompanied by a bottle of white wine.

After cutting his throat, Meiwes then chopped up Brandes’s body, eating it over a number of months while it was stored in a freezer.

The Judge described Meiwes – who is unrepentant – as psychologically sick but added that he was “…fully conscious of his actions and could control them”. He could be released after 15 years.