Armin Meiwes
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Armin Meiwes (born December 1, 1961) is a German cannibal who achieved international notoriety for eating a man's penis as the "Rotenburg Cannibal" or "Metzgermeister" (The Master Butcher) after arranging to meet, kill, rip his penis off and eat a man he met over the Internet.
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[edit] The Case
Meiwes posted an advertisement on the Internet, looking for a willing victim. The post stated that he was “looking for a well-built 18 to 30-year-old to be slaughtered”. Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes responded to the advert. Brandes was known for his interest in mutilation and his activity in the homosexual prostitution scene of his home city.
As is known from a videotape the two made when they met in March 2001 in Meiwes' home, Meiwes amputated Brandes' penis and the two men ate the penis together before Brandes was killed. Brandes had insisted that Meiwes bite his penis off; this did not work, so Meiwes used a knife. Brandes apparently tried to eat his share of his own penis raw but could not because it was too tough and, as he put it, "chewy". Meiwes then sautéed the penis in a pan with salt, pepper, and garlic. According to journalists who saw the video (which has not been made public), Brandes may already have been too weakened from blood loss to actually eat his share of the penis. Meiwes apparently gave him large quantities of alcohol and pain killers, and then killed him in a room that he had installed in his house for this purpose. After stabbing Brandes to death in the throat, he hung the body on a meathook and tore hunks of flesh from it. The whole scene was recorded on the 2-hour video tape. Meiwes ate the body over the next few months, storing body parts in his freezer and consuming up to 20kg of the flesh.
Meiwes was arrested in December 2002, after apparently posting new advertisements for victims on the Internet. Investigators searched his home and found body parts and the videotaped killing.
Meiwes was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. The case attracted considerable media attention and led to a debate over whether Meiwes could be convicted at all, given that Brandes had voluntarily and knowingly participated in the act; there were also complications as cannibalism itself was not illegal in Germany at the time.[1]
Meiwes has admitted what he has done, accepted his guilt and reportedly regretted 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. Surprisingly, a number of 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. He believes there are about 800 "cannibals" in Germany.[1]
In April 2005, a German court ordered a retrial after prosecutors appealed his sentence. They believed he should have been convicted of murder, not manslaughter, and given a life sentence. Among the questions courts answered is whether Brandes agreed to his killing, and whether he was legally capable of doing so at the moment of killing, taking into account his apparent mental problems as well as his significant intake of alcohol and drugs. 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."[2] On 9 May 2006, a court in Frankfurt convicted Meiwes of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
[edit] Similar case
A similar Internet-mediated consensual homicide is the 1996 case of Sharon Lopatka, who sought and found a male (Robert Frederick Glass) who would torture and kill her by strangling her to death.
[edit] Cultural impact
The song "Mein Teil" by German Tanz-Metall band Rammstein was inspired by the case. "Teil" is German slang for penis. The chorus of "Mein Teil" includes the line, "Denn du bist was du isst," which translates to "Because you are what you eat."
Other songs inspired by Meiwes' story include "The Wüstenfeld Man Eater" by American death/thrash metal band Macabre and "Eaten" by Swedish death metal band Bloodbath.
Rock artist Marilyn Manson has identified Meiwes as inspirational in the titling of his album, (due to be released June 12, 2007), Eat Me, Drink Me. Manson explained in an article what this story meant to him: "Although I can't relate to the relationship those two had, I found the story very compelling in a romantic way. I think a lot of people wouldn’t look at it as romantic, but it was to them in some sick way, and it is to me in some sick way, too."[3]
Feature film Butterfly: A Grimm Love Story (aka Rohtenburg) was scheduled for German release in March 2006. However, it was banned in that country after Meiwes complained that his "personality rights" had been violated. The American film, which is fictionalized, stars Keri Russell and, in the role inspired by Meiwes, Thomas Kretschmann. 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 Uli Lommel's Cannibal.
[edit] References
- ^ a b BBC News: German 'cannibal' tells of regret
- ^ BBC News: German cannibal guilty of murder
- ^ Dan Epstein. Feeding Frenzy, Revolver, reported by The Heirophant May 2007. Last accessed March 23, 2007.
