Armin Meiwes

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Armin Meiwes (English pronunciation: /rmn mavs/;

born 1 December 1961) is a German man who
achieved international notoriety for killing and eating
a voluntary victim whom he had found via the
Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly
attempted to eat the victim's severed penis, Meiwes
killed his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount
of his flesh.[2] Because of his acts, Meiwes is also
known as the Rotenburg Cannibal or Der
Metzgermeister (The Master Butcher). His main
occupation was working as a computer repair
technician.

Armin Meiwes
Born

1 December 1961
Essen, West Germany[1]

Criminal
charge

Murder (previously manslaughter)

Criminal
penalty

Life imprisonment (previously eight

and half years imprisonment)

Criminal
status

In prison

Contents
1 Killing and cannibalism
2 Arrest, trial, and conviction of manslaughter
3 Retrial and murder conviction
4 Consultant in criminal cases
5 Cultural impact
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Killing and cannibalism

Looking for a willing volunteer, Meiwes posted an advertisement on the website The Cannibal Cafe.
Meiwes's post stated that he was "looking for a well-built 18- to 30-year-old to be slaughtered and then
consumed".[3] Bernd Jrgen Armando Brandes, an engineer from Berlin, then answered the
advertisement. Many other people responded to the advertisement, but backed out; Meiwes did not
attempt to force them to do anything against their will.[4][5] As is known from a videotape the two made
when they met on 9 March 2001 in Meiwes's home in the small town of Rotenburg, Meiwes amputated
Brandes' penis and the two men attempted to eat the penis together before Brandes was killed. Brandes
had insisted that Meiwes attempt to bite his penis off. This did not work and ultimately, Meiwes used a
knife to remove Brandes' penis. Brandes apparently tried to eat some of his own penis raw, but could not
because it was too tough and, as he put it, "chewy". Meiwes then fried the penis in a pan with salt,
pepper, wine and garlic; he then fried it with some of Brandes' fat but by then it was too burned to be
consumed. He then chopped it up into chunks and fed it to his dog.[2]

According to court officials who saw the video (which has not been made public), Brandes may already
have been too weakened from the blood loss to eat any of his penis. Meiwes read a Star Trek book for
three hours, while Brandes lay bleeding in the bath. Meiwes gave him large quantities of alcohol and
pain killers, twenty sleeping pills and a bottle of schnapps, kissed him and finally killed him in a room
that he had built in his house for this purpose, the Slaughter Room. After stabbing Brandes to death in
the throat, he hung the body on a meat hook and tore chunks of flesh from it. He tried to grind the bones
to use as flour. The incident was recorded on the two-hour video tape. Meiwes ate the body over the next
10 months, storing body parts in his freezer under pizza boxes and consuming up to 20 kilograms (44 lb)
of the flesh. According to prosecutors, Meiwes committed the act for sexual enjoyment.[6]

Arrest, trial, and conviction of manslaughter

Meiwes was arrested in December 2002, when a college student in Innsbruck phoned the police after
seeing new advertisements for victims and details about the killing on the Internet. Investigators
searched his home and found body parts and the video tape of the killing.
On 30 January 2004, Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison. The
case attracted considerable media attention.[7]
Meiwes has admitted cannibalizing Brandes and has expressed regret for his actions. He added he
wanted to write a book of his life story with the aim of deterring anyone who wants to follow his steps.
Websites dedicated to Meiwes have appeared, with people advertising for willing victims. "They should
go for treatment, so it doesn't escalate like it did with me", said Meiwes. While in prison, Meiwes has
since become a vegetarian.[8] He believes there are about 800 cannibals in Germany.[9]

Retrial and murder conviction

In April 2005, a German court ordered a retrial after prosecutors appealed against his sentence. They
believed he should have been convicted of murder. Among the questions courts answered is whether
Brandes agreed to his killing, and whether he was legally capable of doing so at the moment, taking into
account his apparent mental problems as well as his significant intake of alcohol.
Other aspects of the retrial determined whether Meiwes killed to satiate his own desires (in particular
sexual desires), and not because he was asked to, which Meiwes has repeatedly rejected during
testimony. At his retrial, a psychologist stated that Meiwes could reoffend and still "had fantasies about
devouring the flesh of young people".[10] On 10 May 2006, a court in Frankfurt convicted Meiwes of
murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.[11]

Consultant in criminal cases

According to a Bild report from October 2007, Meiwes was helpful in the analysis of two suspected
cannibal murders from 1998 and 2000, in which two young boys were found mutilated.[12]

Cultural impact
Rock musician Marilyn Manson has identified Meiwes as inspirational in the titling of his album Eat
Me, Drink Me.[13]

The German industrial metal band Rammstein wrote a song called "Mein Teil", which specifically talks
about this case, and was hugely controversial when it was released.
Swedish death metal band Bloodbath wrote a song called "Eaten", which voices Bernd Jrgen Armando
Brandes' desire to be eaten alive, all while witnessing the act.
Short Film "An Appetite for Bernard Brady" (2005) directed by Chris Mangano and written by Todd van
der Ark and Chris Mangano, was loosely based on on the case, but strictly takes the point of view from
the victims perspective, as the character comes to terms with the idea of being eaten. The film was
nominated and won multiple Tracy Awards at Montana State University School of Film and
Photography's 2005 Tracy Awards -wins included Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay and
Audience Award. The film also won the 2005 Seattle Student Film Festival's audience choice award.
Feature film Butterfly: A Grimm Love Story (aka Rohtenburg) was banned in that country after Meiwes
complained that his personality rights had been violated. The ban has since been lifted by Germany's
highest civil court on appeal and has been released in German cinemas. The film won multiple awards at
the 2006 Festival de Cine de Sitges, including Best Director, Best Actor for the two male leads, and Best
Cinematography. Other films based on the case include Rosa von Praunheim's Dein Herz in Meinem
Hirn (Your Heart in My Brain); Marian Dora's Cannibal; and Ulli Lommel's Diary of a Cannibal. In
2006, the film Cannibal was released, reconstructing the event. The film is directed by Marian Dora and
stars actors Carsten Frank, Victor Brandl and Manoush. The film was banned in Germany.[14]
Season 2, Episode 3 of sitcom The IT Crowd, titled "Moss and the German," parodies the Meiwes case.
The character Maurice Moss, thinking he is starting a German cookery course, goes to a Johann's home
(a German cannibal), where the error is revealed, the fault lying with Johann's poor grasp of the English
language when writing the 'cooking' advert. Later, when Moss tells the story to his colleagues, he also
tells them of Johann's home cinema system, where he and Johann watched Ocean's Eleven after the mixup was revealed. In an attempt to watch the Quentin Tarantino film he has been trying all episode to see,
Roy pretends to want to be eaten and goes to the Johann's home with Moss. They are all arrested when
the police raid Johann's home, but instead of being questioned for cannibalism, they are accused of video
piracy.
In 2008 the distributor MORE Music and Media released the four-hour interview and documentary from
RTL Extra on DVD as "Der Kannibale von Rotenburg"; it was released in the UK as Armin Meiwes:
The Cannibal.[15]
Season 1, Episode 1 of the TV series Rake titled "R V Murray" features an accused cannibal who eats
his volunteer in similar circumstances to the Meiwes case.[16] Also, Season 1, Episode 4 of the 2014
American remake of Rake titled "Cannibal" features an accused cannibal.[17]

See also
Internet homicide
Cannibalism
Vorarephilia

References
1. ^ Armin Meiwes (http://www.nndb.com/people/675/000044543/) NNDB

2. ^ a b "The Man Who Ate His Lover"

(http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/S/science/body/bodyshock_cannibal.html). Body Shock
(Channel 4 TV, UK). http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/S/science/body/bodyshock_cannibal.html.
3. ^ "German cannibal tells of fantasy" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3286721.stm). BBC News. 3
December 2003. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
4. ^ Germany awaits verdict in 'cannibal' trial (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4039034)
5. ^ Cannibal trial reveals perverse intimacy
(http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/19/1074360665924.html)
6. ^ BBC News: German 'cannibal' tells of regret (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3075897.stm)
7. ^ BBC News: German 'cannibal' charged with murder
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3230774.stm)
8. ^ Jewkes, Yvonne; Yar, Majid (2013). Handbook of Internet Crime (http://books.google.com/books?
id=GSPhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA376&lpg=PA376&dq=meiwes+vegetarian&source=bl&ots=gV1xMM2Dxp&
sig=7yf5bAE902FkdEzrqbu4zujn8_8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IQypU6nKKcGFogShoYLQDA&ved=0CGQQ6A
EwDA#v=onepage&q=meiwes%20vegetarian&f=false). Routledge. p. 376. ISBN 9781134030590.
9. ^ BBC News: German 'cannibal' tells of regret (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3230774.stm)
10. ^ "BBC News: German cannibal guilty of murder (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4752797.stm)",
BBC
11. ^ "NBC News: German court sentences cannibal to life in jail
(http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11909486/ns/world_news/t/german-court-sentences-cannibal-life-jail/)", NBC
12. ^ Kannibale half Polizei bei Jagd auf Menschen-Fresser
(http://www.bild.de/BTO/news/2007/10/22/kannibale/polizei-ermittlung-unterstuetzung.html)
13. ^ Dan Epstein. Feeding Frenzy, Revolver, reported by The Heirophant (http://www.mansonusa.com/phpbin/news/fullnews.php?id=419) May 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
14. ^ http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0910548/
15. ^ Review zu Der Kannibale von Rotenburg bei DVD-Sucht (http://www.dvd-sucht.de/movie.php?id=4793)
16. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/episodes/ep01.htm
17. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3202864

External links
Interview with a Cannibal: Introduction (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3443803.stm)
Profile: Cannibal Armin Meiwes (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3443803.stm), BBC
News
Guardian Unlimited article about the case
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1099477,00.html)
Cannibal film banned in Germany (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4769884.stm)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Armin_Meiwes&oldid=618884513"
Categories: 1961 births Living people People from Essen German cannibals
German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Germany German people convicted of murder
People convicted of murder by Germany Manslaughter trials

This page was last modified on 28 July 2014 at 22:52.

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