ARMIN MEIWES: THE MAN WHO ATE HIS LOVER

“Looking for a well-built man for slaughter”, with this ad placed on a cannibal website one of the most shocking and horrifying true crime stories began. His name is Armin Meiwes and this is his story.

Armin’s upbringing made for a typical start for a deranged adult. He was born in Berlin Germany on December 1st 1961, as the youngest of three sons to a forty year old woman named Waltraud Meiwes. His father Dieter, who was only nineteen years older than his son, left when Armin was very young. By the time he was six all of his brothers had left, all he had in the world was his mother. As the last member of her family left, Waltraud decided to move. She and her son moved into a secluded farm house in rural Rotenberg. She was domineering, demanding and ordered her son around. This behavior instilled in him that he must be perfect. She would not let him out of her sight or think for himself. Whenever asked a question she would answer for him. For many years they lived as if they were the only two people in the world. Armin did find escape however, in the most unusual of place fairy tales. His favorite was Hestel and Gretel. He became consumed and obsessed with the story and the idea of eating someone. He would reenact the scene where the witch ate the two children over and over again, with his imaginary and only friend Franky. When he was old enough he joined the army. Since he was used to being ordered around this was a natural transition for him. He served as a model solider and even made it to leader. He was unable to lead because he could not take control, so he was dismissed with honors and thanks. Naturally he moved back in with his mother then got a job as a computer technician. Once again his life revolved around his mother, he even brought her along on the few dates he had. He was very content with his life until his mother died on September 2nd, 1999 at the age of seventy one.

He was alone in the world and fell into a deep depression; to help him cope with his loneliness he discovered the world of cannibalism online. Now that his mother was not there to stop him he was free to pursue his dark and unspeakable fantasies. He researched the subject with every spare moment he had, learning its origins up to those who still practiced it to that present day. He was very relieved to learn that he was not the only one who felt like this, and for the first time he felt like he belonged. Through his research he concluded that by consuming someone he would no longer be alone. He believed that by eating someone he would gain their intelligence and personality traits; he even believed that if the person spoke English his English would improve. His mind was made up, and all that was left to do was find the perfect victim. He only wanted someone who wanted to be killed and eaten. Since he was a gay male he did not want a woman, he believed that they were too important and that life could not go on without them. He spent his time in chatrooms placing numerous ads such as “Looking for a well-built man, 18-30 years old for slaughter”. When he started to receive responses, he decided to convert one of the rooms on the second floor of his house to a “slaughter room” equipped with a butchering table, various hooks and pulleys and even a drain in the center of the floor. He met with many young men but then learned that they were not really interested in going through with it, they just wanted to role play the experience. The few that made it to the slaughter room were wrapped in cellophane and marked for butchering, but soon decided that this was not what they wanted so Armin released them. He began to lose hope, until he read a message from Bernd Juergen Brandes.

Bernd’s story was similar to Armin’s with one very big difference, his mother. She was a nurse who took her job very seriously. One day she made a mistake and one of her patients died. She became depressed, self-loathing and eventually killed herself because she could no longer live with the guilt. Bernd grew up believing that the whole thing was his fault. He hated himself to the point where he decided that he wanted to die and leave behind no remains. The best way for this to happen, in his mind, was to give himself to a cannibal. The two became fast friends telling each other all their secrets and innermost fantasies. Things started to look up for Armin he finally found the perfect willing victim, but he still was unsure how serious Bernd was. His fear was laid to rest when Bernd wrote “there is absolutely no way back for me, only forward through your teeth”, after that message the two decided to meet.

Bernd quickly updated his will, leaving the bulk of his estate to his longtime lover Renee, and then deleted all evidence of the messages and the websites he had visited. “They will be better off without me”, Bernd thought as he erased the traces of his secret life. On the day of the meeting Bernd woke up before Renee, left quietly, and went to the train station leaving behind no trace of where he was going or where anyone could find him. Armin went to the store to pick up food for the two of them, and then headed to pick up Bernd. Finally the train came in; it was at last time to live his lifelong dream. The two met up and went site seeing through the country side, then went back to Armin’s house. The two did not even eat; they just got right down to business. They drank, talked and had sex before moving into the slaughter room, this was it, what they had been waiting for. Bernd begged to be castrated Armin hesitated causing him to leave. The two went back to the train station and Armin bought Bernd a ticket back home. While waiting for the next train, Bernd thought, could I really find someone else to carry out my final wishes? That was a chance he could afford to take, so he talked to Armin who reassured him that he could go through with it if given another chance, all he would need to do is buy some sleeping pills and more liquor. Bernd smiled and quickly took an entire box of sleeping pills on the way home. They arrived home eager to pick up where they had left off; this time would be more successful. Armin went through with the castration, even though he was not too interested in it, but he wanted to give Bernd what he desired most. After Bernd lifelong dream came true, it was time for Armin to experience his, He placed the frail and bleeding body of Bernd into a warm bath to make him comfortable while he waited for him to die. Armin checked on him every half hour and once he passed out he slit his throat. Bernd died around 4:45 in the morning.

Now that he was dead, it was time to do the bleeding of the body which had to be done for two days before butchering. He cut the body into numerous meal sized servings then placed the meat into a large freezer. His first meal was steak and potatoes, he was so proud of his handy work. He lived on Bernd’s meat for two months before going online to find another victim. He knew he could not go back to bland beef or pork now. He went back online calling himself a master butcher determined to find someone else; but he ran into the same problem no one was willing to go through with it. There was hope, while online he spoke to a young man who claimed he wanted to be eaten; Armin sent pictures of his handy work. This scared the young man so badly he unplugged his computer, thinking that the monster could see him, then went right to the police. The police went to the chat room and found the true identity of the self-proclaimed master butcher. They arrived promptly the next morning and searched the house, finding the meat in the freezer and the used slaughter room. Armin knew there was nothing he could do, so he called his lawyer confessed and turned himself in. His lawyer fell right off his chair when he heard the confession. Armin spent the next year in jail awaiting his trial he spent that time learning the law. When the news of what he did spread, it became a media frenzy. People waited outside the courthouse to receive tickets into the courtroom. The entire proceedings lasted thirteen days, and then it was time for the jury to decide the fate of the real life Hannibal Lector. The entire country of Germany eagerly awaited the sentence with much to say, it seemed like everyone had an opinion on what he had done and what kind of sentence he should receive. Luckily for him everyone’s voice could not impact the decision or change the law. There was no law in place against cannibalism, and they could not exactly place a charge on him. The jury rendered its verdict; it was manslaughter in the first degree. He was sentenced to eight years in prison with the possibility of parole in four years. He became a vegetarian while in jail and wrote a book hoping to deter others from making his mistakes. He was released and lived in Berlin. In 2005 a German court ordered a re-trial and he was sentenced to life in prison in 2006. During the trial he admitted to still having urges to eat human flesh. In 2007 he worked with German police to solve two unsolved murders. He lent his expert opinion on cannibalism and helped them convict the murder of two young boys. The story of the man eater of Rotenberg has fascinated the world, inspiring many books, movies and music.