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2
weeks ago, Armin Meiwes was convicted to 8 years and 6 months
prison. The Computer Technician from Rothenburg in the German
Federal State of Hessen has reached international fame as the
Cannibal. Also Enkidu has written about him several times in the
last year. The German News Magazine Stern has made a home call to
Meiwes estate and presented pictures from his home in their last
edition. Meiwes lived alone together with his dominant mother
until she died when he was 38 in 1999. The father had disappeared
from their lives when Meiwes was 9 years old. His
half-brothers also moved out at the same time, and thereafter
Armin spend his childhood, adolescence and most of his adulthood
alone with his mother in a huge, old villa with 46 rooms in the
picturesque little town Rothenburg ob der Taube in the heart of
Germany. A frequently overheard comment in German bars and at
dinner tables, wherever the incident in Rothenburg is discussed
these days, is that this entire thing is a horror example of what
can happen if you let your adult single children stay at home too
long… Meiwes has
become proverbial… Werner with whom I share my apartment in
Frankfurt told me the other day, after having observed me enjoying
a delicious piece of tartar (raw meet) for a while: “thank
goodness, your mother got you off to boarding school on time”.
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The
pictures in Stern Magazine also show obvious penetrating traces of
Meiwes’ mother and the peculiar tastes of a woman reaching
adulthood and maturity in post-war Wirtschaftswunder
Germany everywhere in the house even now: Pernickety lacework
table cloths… 60’s and 70’s Kitsch, old family photos… The
compulsory piano that characterized decent post-war middle class
homes… His mother never really let her son reach adulthood and
she continued haunting him even after her death. She could not let
go of him, nor could he let go of her. After her death, Meiwes
started walking around in her cloths, frequently even imitating
her voice… Not until after her death, Meiwes could finally start
the process of shaping a home for himself, putting his own stamp
on the framework of his own domestic life. He hesitated. Most of
the home continued to reflect his mother first of all. The only
dramatic change took place on the attic, where Meiwes build his
own house-butchery…
Meiwes
had fantasies about eating schoolmates whom he liked already at
the age of 8, he told the court and the press. Meiwes placed an ad on the Internet searching for young, well-built men between 18
and 30 to be butchered and digested. Several men were attracted to
the add and replied. According to Der Spiegel 204 interested
individuals responded to Meiwes’ add. He corresponded with 29 of
them. The addresses of the respondents were found by the police in
Meiwes’ address book on his computer during the investigation of
the case, and prints of the e-mails were made available to the
court. In addition to Brandes, Meiwes also made appointments with
4 other men, but (un)fortunately, they did not match Meiwes’
expectations and tastes. The men came from Essen, Kassel, Odenwald
and London, England. Brandes was a resident of Berlin. The
youngest of the respondents was Alex. He was just 18, and
interested in being digested on the condition that Meiwes cut off
his head.
However,
Meiwes was not attracted to him. Alex was too fat. Besides, there
was not sufficient mutual sympathy and attraction, so nothing
happened. Meiwes admitted having been very attracted to another
respondent: Jörg, 31 years old, working as a professional cook in
a restaurant in Kassel. They had met for a session in a hotel room
in Kassel, the capital of the federal state of Hessen. Meiwes was
really looking forward to a hot encounter and it started out very
promising. Jörg even let himself be tied up, but when Meiwes
wanted to start the partitioning of him, Jörg changed his mind to
Meiwes’ disappointment. He untied him and they left the hotel.
Everything was spoiled. Meiwes was sorry, but the consent of his
partners was important to him, which was emphasized several times
during the court proceedings.
He
therefore always insisted on a written statement confirming their
consent and age in cases where he was uncertain about a
respondent’s desire to be digested or suspected that they were
underage. The investigation further revealed that Meiwes had been
very committed to his cannibalistic fantasies. He had fried
puppets on several occasions and also prepared small figures in
marzipan and digested. The investigators emphasized in their
report the care and dedication Meiwes had demonstrated in the
preparation of these detailed and quite realistic small marzipan
figures.
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Among
those responding to the ad, Bernd Jürgen Brandes, computer
engineer at Siemens, 41 years old corresponded best with Meiwes’
fantasies and they started an e-mail exchange. After an evaluation
of the available evidence, the psychological experts of the court
concluded that he had been in a state of mental imbalance caused
by traumas during childhood. When he was 5 years old, he had
experienced his mother committing suicide. However, he seemed
perfectly aware and clear in his e-mails to Meiwes: “I do hope
that you are serious about this, that you’ll kill me, take out
the innards, cut me off, and eat me”.
The
two men met in March 2001. They were both willing and knew what
would happen. Their encounter resulted in one of the most
incredible cases in German Criminal History. The most incredible
about the entire thing, is perhaps that every detail is recorded
on video. Brandes came to Meiwes’ house on March 9th.
First, he took 20 sleeping pills and half a litre of hard liquor
to milder the pain that he knew would follow. Meiwes started the
process by cutting off pieces of Brandes’ penis, which he then
fried in a pan. The two of them ate the penis meat together before
Meiwes aided Brandes to the bathroom, where he took place in the
tub. Here he would bleed slowly to death. Meiwes told the court
that this was a practical measurement considering all the blood.
Brandes spent 10 hours in the tub. He was still conscious when the
second part of the process started as can be seen on the
videotape. However, he could not walk very well anymore. Meiwes
therefore had to carry him up to the attic, to the house butchery.
Here, Meiwes took his knife and placed it in Brandes’ throat,
finally ending his life. During the following days, Meiwes
consumed about 20 kilo of Bernd-Jürgen Brandes.
Armin
Meiwes smiled a lot in court. He seemed quite content finally
having an audience for his stories. He also enjoyed hearing
witnesses telling stories about the sad lives of the involved
characters in this drama. The court concluded that this incident
could not be considered murder. The judge, Volker Mütze
underlined that this had been an action between two consenting
adults. The chief prosecutor argued that this was about sexual
fetishism. His defender, agreed in principle, but emphasized in
his plea that even though it is true that Meiwes had butchered and
eaten someone. Meiwes was not just a cold-blooded murderer, driven
by perverted sexual desires, but he was himself a victim of his
own sexual structure.
Meiwes’
fantasized about eating men, but he confirmed to the court that he
also had had several one-night stands with women. Martina, 39
years old, with whom Meiwes had once attempted to start a
relationship, told the court that he had always been very kind and
considerate to her, and marvellous to her children. Her friend
Nicole could confirm this impression and admitted that she had
felt that the two of them would have made a great couple. He
seemed sympathetic and funny, a perfect partner for Martina,
Nicole said. They were dating for about 3 weeks, but the chemistry
between them did not develop the way they had anticipated, and
after he had confessed that he preferred men, they split up.
Meiwes however, protested to this version of the story, confronted
Martina with several questions and episodes from the time they had
been dating and told the court that the real reason why they spit
up was that Martina was sterilized. “When I want a woman, I want
one who is complete” he said to the court. “That’s why we
split up”. Both women did also indeed confirm that they had the
impression that he had a strong desire to marry a woman and
produce several children.
He
was finally convicted to 8 years and 6 months in prison. If he
behaves well, and there is no reason to doubt that he will, he
will be out again after 5 years and a free man.
Thereafter, he will return to the family estate in
Rothenburg, where he can continue the process of building up a
life of his own. Several movie producers have contacted Meiwes’
lawyer Harald Ermel about the rights for the story. Meiwes is
negotiating with several producers and there is no doubt that he
will get a good deal. He also is planning to publish a book about
the incident, which certainly will become a bestseller. During the
next 5 years in prison, he will finally have the time and
opportunity to finish his manuscript. Meiwes has expressed to the
press that he will use the money the movie rights and the book
bring him to renovate and redecorate the family estate in
Rothenburg. It is an old beautiful half-timbered building, and an
important part of the local cultural heritage. The money for the
film rights will therefore contribute to restore an architectural
treasure to its old glory to the benefit of the entire
neighbourhood.
© LIOWLB/ Enkidu
(Sources: Stern.de/Der
Spiegel/FAZ/BZ December 3003 - February 2004)
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Los
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