A convicted German cannibal returned to court on Thursday for a retrial to determine if his killing and eating of a willing victim amounted to murder.
Photographers’ flashbulbs greeted the arrival in a packed court of a handcuffed Armin Meiwes, a computer repairman who had cut up and consumed a man he had met via the Internet.
Meiwes was first sentenced in January 2004 to 8-1/2 years for manslaughter, but the Supreme Court ruled last April that the judges had been too lenient and ordered a retrial.
The bizarre case of sexual fetishism and gory details of the crime have transfixed the public in Germany and beyond, while legal experts have argued over the definition of murder.
In a dark suit, and thinner than at his first trial, 44-year-old Meiwes listened again to prosecutor Marcus Koehler’s description of his crime.
Freed from the handcuffs, he sat back without obvious emotion, though he later exchanged smiles with his lawyers.
He has admitted killing Berlin-based computer specialist Bernd-Juergen Brandes but had been spared a murder conviction and a possible life sentence as the victim had yearned to be eaten.
Germany’s top criminal court said the first trial court had ignored the fact that Meiwes had filmed the slaying for later sexual gratification, a fact that could tip the scale in favor of a murder conviction.
His defense team countered that Meiwes had merely acceded to his victim’s wishes and that his crime was only “killing on request,” a form of illegal euthanasia that carries a maximum five-year sentence.
Lawyer Harald Ermel acknowledged his client had a “fetish for human flesh”, but said he was no longer a threat.
“Under the same circumstances he would never do something like that again,” he said.
Prosecutor Koehler told the court Meiwes brought Brandt to his home in Rotenburg, central Germany, in March 2001.
In a “slaughter room” fitted out with butcher’s bench, meat hook and cage, Meiwes severed Brandt’s penis and they both tried to eat it.
“Due to the consistency of the penis, this did not succeed, either raw or fried,” Koehler said.
When Brandt fell unconscious, Meiwes slit his throat, pulled out his organs and chopped off his head. The next day, he froze portions of his flesh, eating some 44 pounds of it over following months.
“He (subsequently) watched the video of the killing of Brandt for his sexual pleasure,” Koehler told the court.
Psychiatrists found Meiwes deeply disturbed but sane.
Meiwes’ lawyers pointed out that he had earlier released four other potential victims who changed their minds at the last minute and drove Brandt back to the station in the town of Rotenburg after the victim initially appeared to lose his nerve.
Lawyer Joachim Bremer said Brandt had made it quite clear through email, Internet chat and telephone conversations about his wish to end his life.
“He made this clear to others and left no doubt about the seriousness of this desire,” Bremer said.
Like fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter, Meiwes has become the subject of a film. “Butterfly” is due for release in Germany in March.