Armin Meiwes killed and ate a man he met online (Image: AFP)
To his neighbours in the tranquil German village of Wüsterfeld, Armin Meiwes was an ideal neighbour. He kept to himself, maintained his front garden, and even lent a hand with car repairs.
However, behind closed doors, Meiwes was indulging in a macabre fantasy that would send shockwaves across the globe when it was revealed.
A computer technician from Rotenberg, Meiwes developed a fixation on the idea of murdering and consuming men from a young age.
According to Meiwes himself, this obsession began after a visit to a slaughterhouse as a child, shortly after which he contemplated asking schoolmates if he could sever and consume parts of their bodies, only refraining due to fear of social exclusion.
As a tech-savvy adult, Meiwes found access to a series of gruesome fetish forums, where users discussed the act of eating and being eaten by others. It was on one of these forums that he first made contact with his eventual victim, reports the Mirror.
Bernd Brandes, a 43-year-old engineer from Berlin, agreed to be killed and eaten by Meiwes in exchange for having his penis severed and eaten, a pact that would baffle and horrify even the most experienced criminal investigators.
Bernd Jürgen Brandes dreamed of being castrated (Image: undefined)
After an extensive online conversation, Brandes journeyed to Meiwes’ home. Astonishingly, the horrific events that ensued were recorded by Miewes, providing investigators with a clear account of what transpired.
Brandes agreed to be drugged, mutilated, and ultimately stabbed to death, after having his penis severed and eaten by the pair.
He was administered sleeping tablets before the duo consumed the macabre starter – Brandes’ penis.
The next horrifying dish was Bernd’s back, as he revealed to a documentary titled Docs: Interview With A Cannibal: « I took out my best dinner service, and fried a piece of rump steak – a piece from his back – made what I call princess potatoes, and sprouts.
« The first bite was, of course, very strange. It was a feeling I can’t really describe. I’d spent over 40 years longing for it, dreaming about it.
Miewes read to his victim while he was in the bath (Image: Channel 4)
« And now I was getting the feeling that I was actually achieving this perfect inner connection through his flesh. The flesh tastes like pork but stronger. »
Bernd subsequently took a bath whilst Meiwes read a Star Trek novel to him before fatally stabbing him in the neck.
Meiwes then cut up the corpse, suspending sections of it on meat hooks before preserving much of the tissue in his freezer. Throughout the following ten months, he prepared and consumed substantial portions of Brandes’ body, devouring an estimated 20 kilograms of human flesh.
Authorities later disclosed that Meiwes approached the meals with a chilling sense of routine. He utilised his finest silverware, and even lit candles and drank red wine whilst eating.
Officers reported discovering frozen human remains kept alongside ordinary groceries, as though part of his regular meals. The case sparked significant legal complexities in Germany, where cannibalism was not yet specifically outlawed.
Prosecutors instead sought to charge Meiwes with murder for sexual satisfaction and disturbing the peace of the dead.
During interrogation, some of Meiwes’ explanations sent shivers down the spines of even the most seasoned police detectives.
Describing his feelings whilst consuming his victim, he uttered nine haunting words: « With every bite, my memory of him grew stronger. »
Psychiatric experts informed the court that Meiwes had nurtured violent fantasies since childhood, which escalated following his mother’s death. Initially handed a manslaughter conviction, he was ultimately found guilty of murder after a retrial.
He remains behind bars, and his crime is still considered one of the most gruesome and disconcerting cases ever to be presented before a European court.
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