Armin Meiwes, 42, killed and ate Bernd Brandes, 43, after the latter answered his ad for someone who wanted to be killed and consumed – and now the home where it happened has been burnt down
In a horrifying case of cannibalism, a killer devoured his consenting victim over 10 months following a macabre pact between the two.
Armin Meiwes infamously consumed Bernd Brandes’ flesh with his consent, in a gruesome saga that lasted almost a year.
Meiwes had placed a ghastly advertisement titled ‘Dinner – or your dinner’ on a German internet forum, seeking someone willing to be eaten.
Bernd, a 43-year-old engineer, responded to the ad in 2001. Then 42, Meiwes welcomed him to his Rotenburg home in southern Germany.
There, Meiwes gave Bernd a powerful mix of sleeping pills and schnapps to numb him before cutting off his penis, which they both ate, reports the Mirror US.
As reported by the Mirror, what ensued was another horrific act involving Bernd’s back meat. In the documentary Docs: Interview With a Cannibal, Meiwes said: “I took out my best dinner service, and fried a piece of rump steak – a piece from his back – made what I call princess potatoes, and sprouts.”
Meiwes narrated his initial experience of human flesh as an extraordinary feeling. He said: “The first bite was, of course, very strange. It was a feeling I can’t really describe. I’d spent over 40 years longing for it, dreaming about it.”
He added: “And now I was getting the feeling that I was actually achieving this perfect inner connection through his flesh. The flesh tastes like pork but stronger.”
In a chilling ritual, Meiwes carefully arranged his dining table with candles, ready to indulge in the forbidden feast he had craved his entire life. Following the meal, Bernd, who was still conscious, was placed in a bath while Meiwes recited from a Star Trek book until he committed the final fatal deed, stabbing Bernd in the throat and ending his life.
Meiwes then horrifically butchered his victim and buried the body parts in his garden, saving some of the flesh in his freezer for later consumption over ten months. He was caught in December 2002 and concocted a tale for the police, alleging the meat in his freezer was wild boar.
The former IT worker had a long-standing morbid obsession with cannibalism, a dark fantasy that began in his youth.
In court, he maintained that the engineer “came to me of his own free will to end his life. For him, it was a nice death.”
Investigations later revealed that the deceased had an extraordinary wish to be disfigured and had seemingly agreed to Meiwes’ gruesome craving as a compromise – fearing that he might be committed if he chose to continue living.
Over a month, the duo exchanged messages daily, meticulously crafting their grim agreement, which culminated in Bernd selling his car, wiping his computer clean, and leaving his possessions to his partner via a handwritten note before he left.
In January 2004, Meiwes was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years and six months behind bars. Following a retrial in May 2006, he was convicted of murder and handed a life sentence, where he remains locked up at the age of 63.
In April 2023, an arson attack razed Meiwes’ former residence, the scene of the horrific crime, to the ground.