Back in December 2002 we reported on how the German cannibal Armin Meiwes found a willing victim on the Internet whom he slaughtered and ate -- with the victim's help. The trial just ended, the verdict is in, and the jurors have ruled that Meiwes is not guilty... of murder.
Since the victim, known only as Bernd-Juergen B., sent e-mail to Meiwes begging to be eaten, the jurors ruled that Meiwes cannot be guilty of murder.
One message contained phrase "There's absolutely no way back for me, only forwards, through your teeth."
The two men first cut off Bernd-Juergen's penis, fried it, and sampled the delicacy together. In a few hours the blood loss from the wound caused Bernd-Juergen to pass out, at which time Meiwes stabbed him to death.
Meiwes videotaped the entire episode. The tape was shown in court, and one newspaper said a woman almost fainted during the screening, which in one scene shows Meiwes chatting to Bernd-Juergen's severed head while he disembowels the body, which is hung from a hook.
Meiwes cut the body into pieces and froze it, defrosting, cooking and eating 45 pounds of human flesh over the next several months.
Meiwes' lawyer was trying to get the charge of murder dropped to "killing of request." Euthanasia is illegal in Germany, but it only carries a sentence of six months to five years.
In the end the jury found Meiwes guilty of manslaughter and he was sentenced to eight and a half years behind bars. They felt that a murder conviction was inappropriate, since Bernd-Juergen was literally asking for it.
His lawyer described him as a "model prisoner", and said he could be released on good behaviour by 2008.
