How Armin Meiwes lured a willing victim to his home and committed an act that shocked the world
In March 2001, Armin Meiwes, a 39-year-old computer repair technician living in the Wüstefeld area of Rotenburg, Germany, committed one of Europe's most shocking crimes—with the full cooperation of his victim.
Meiwes had posted an advertisement on The Cannibal Cafe, an online forum, seeking "a young, well-built man who wanted to be eaten." The ad received 430 responses. Among them was Bernd (Jürgen) Brandes, a 43-year-old engineer from Berlin, who accepted the invitation.
**The Crime**
Internetannonce
Armin Meiwes opslår annonce på kannibalisme-forum, hvor han søger en person til slagtning
Drabet på Bernd Brandes
Bernd Brandes rejser til Rotenburg og dræbes efter eget samtykke i Meiwes' hjem
Anholdelse
Politiet anholder Meiwes efter tip fra østrigsk studerende om kannibalisme-aktivitet online
Første retssag begynder
Retssagen starter ved domstolen i Kassel med international mediedækning
Første dom
Meiwes dømmes for manddrab og idømmes 8,5 års fængsel
Mordomsafsigelse
Efter appel dømmes Meiwes for mord og idømmes livstid ved anden retssag
Afslag på prøveløsladelse
Meiwes afslår selv mulighed for prøveløsladelse efter 15 år
When Brandes arrived at Meiwes' home, the two men filmed what would follow. Brandes consumed 20 sleeping pills, apparently to ease his fate. What happened next was methodical and brutal: Meiwes amputated Brandes' penis using knives, a hatchet, and a meat grinder—tools he had selected after consulting a butchering guide. The two men attempted to eat the severed organ together.
Brandes died from blood loss. Meiwes then killed him and began consuming the body systematically. Over the next 20 months, he ate approximately 44 pounds (20 kilograms) of Brandes' flesh, storing the remainder in a freezer. Parts he could not eat—including the skull—were buried in his garden.
**The Investigation**
Meiwes remained free for over a year. To those around him in Rotenburg, he was an ordinary neighbor who mowed lawns, helped with car repairs, and hosted dinner parties. This façade cracked in November 2002, when the District Court of Rotenburg issued a warrant for his residence based on a crime report related to "representation of violence" (Gewaltdarstellung). Police searched his home on the same day.
Meiwes immediately confessed to his lawyer, Harald Ermel, and then to police. He turned himself in at Ermel's office in Rotenburg. Despite his confession, authorities initially released him due to insufficient evidence for remand—a decision that would soon be reversed.
**The Trials**
Meiwes' first conviction came in 2004 for manslaughter, a verdict that reflected the unusual nature of the case: Brandes had consented, and prosecutors could not establish a traditional murder motive.
That verdict did not stand. In May 2006, the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court retried Meiwes and convicted him of instead. The , which began on January 12, 2006, included testimony from psychologists who highlighted Meiwes' ongoing fantasies about consuming young people and his high risk of reoffending. A 4-hour video documenting the mutilation was entered as . On May 10, 2006, Meiwes received a .