Human-eatting tragedy staged in Germany
( 2003-12-04 16:24) (Agencies)
A German confessed to killing
and eating a willing victim in a case that could make legal history, telling a
shocked courtroom the experience was "like taking communion" in a religious
service.
At the start of his murder trial in Kassel, central Germany, Armin Meiwes,
42, offered a full account of the killing that has gained him worldwide
notoriety as "The Cannibal of Rotenburg" after the town where he lived.
Meiwes said there were "hundreds, thousands" of people seeking to fulfil
their desires to eat humans or be eaten via Internet advertisements in forums
called "Cannibal Cafe", "Guy Cannibals" and "Torturenet".
In testimony so frank it drew gasps from the public gallery, Meiwes said he
had kept his victim's skull and plastic bags of flesh in his freezer. He ate
about 20 kg (44 lb) of the flesh, defrosting it bit by bit.
"With every piece of flesh I ate I remembered him," Meiwes, a self-assured
and well-spoken computer repair man, told the judge. "It was like taking
communion."
The killing took place in March 2001. Meiwes was arrested in December 2002
after police received a tip-off from someone who had seen one of his Internet
adverts seeking a slaughter victim. The trial is expected to last until the end
of January and some 40 witnesses will be called, including some of Meiwes's
Internet contacts.
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