Armin Meiwes

Armin Meiwes was born December 1, 1961 in Essen, Germany. Growing up Armin lived a very lonely childhood. At the age of 8, Armin's father left and never spoke to the family again. Armin became obsessed with the children's tale Hansel and Gretel, particularly about fattening Hansel up to cook and eat him. At age 12 Armin had his first fantasies about eating human flesh. He explained that when you eat someone they become a part of you forever. In 1999 Meiwes' mother died leaving him alone for the first time in their Rotenburg mansion. Armin constructed a shrine in memory of his mother which included a plastic mannequin that he would lay on a pillow every night. He was then free and unsupervised to do as he pleased. Temptations took over and Armin became obsessed with torture/pain Internet porn sites and chat rooms. He discovered a chat room called The Cannibal Cafe where he posted a advertisement that stated " Looking for a well-built 18-30 year old to be slaughtered and then consumed. " A man named Bernd Jurgen Brandes answered the ad. On March 9,2001 the two met at Meiwes' home. Brandes agreed to be killed and consumed but the deal was Meiwes must start by eating his penis before doing anything else. Bernd began by consuming many sleeping pills and glasses of Schnapps. Armin then took a kitchen knife and chopped off Bernds penis, taking several tries before succeeding. After applying a bandage to the bloody stump where Bernds' penis used to be, the two went downstairs to the kitchen to fry and eat the severed penis. Armin described the penis as "chewy". The two then went back upstairs and Armin assisted Bernd into a tub where he proceeded to lose blood at a rapid rate. After 8 hours Bernd slipped into a coma. Armin then plunged a knife several times into Bernds' throat then hung his lifeless body from meat hooks that hung down from his ceiling. He then began the butchering process by first removing the head then skinning the body and gutting the carcass. He stored the flesh, that he planned to eat over the next few months, in pizza boxes and put them in a freezer. He filmed the entire process so he could watch the slaughter over and over again. Meiwes was arrested in December 2002, after a man saw and reported Meiwes' advertisements looking for people to slaughter and eat. Police searched Armins home and found the pizza boxes full of human flesh and the video tape of the killing. January 30, 2004 Armin Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter and given eight and a half years in prison. This case led to a huge debate about the conviction due to the fact that Bernd agreed to be killed and eaten. On May 10, 2006 his sentence was changed to life in prison. To this day Armin Meiwes is still alive in prison and is said to be a practicing vegetarian.