The terrifying cannibalism case of Armin Meiwes, who murdered and ate a stranger.

We review one of the most horrifying events studied in forensic psychology classes.

Acts of cannibalism, those in which individuals eat human flesh, have occurred throughout history in different cultures or peoples. The two main causes of this phenomenon are: survival, that is, situations in which it becomes necessary to feed on other human beings in order not to die of starvation, or different rituals or sacrificial ceremonies. But in the modern worldn the modern world, however, there are very few cases of this type of behavior.. In today's article, we will review the terrifying and famous story of a character who, after posting an ad on the Internet, managed to eat his victim, who voluntarily agreed to this macabre act.

First of all, it should be mentioned that throughout the history of mankind, isolated cases of cannibalism have been described, generally consummated by individuals with severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Cases of cannibalism due to drug use have also been reported, such as the one that occurred in 2012 in the United States, in which Rudi Eugene was gunned down for attacking and attempting to eat the face of a homeless man. If you want to know more about this shocking case, you can read our article: "Bath salts: discovering the terrible cannibal drug".

How the events occurred

The event we are going to tell you about today took place in Germany, and its protagonists are Armin Meiwes y Bernd-Jürgen Brandes. Armin posted an advertisement on an internet forum in which he was looking for an individual to gobble up. The text was not very long, but rather simple. It read: "Wanted is a young man, between 21 and 40 years of age, who wants to be devoured". Although many took this as just another joke, Brend-Jurgüen contacted Armin.

When they met, Brandes had a few drinks, had intimate relations with Meiwes, and then Meiwes slit his throat and left him to bleed to death.. Before dying, Brades asked his killer to bite off his penis after he had passed away. Meiwes tried but could not, so he used a knife to cut it off. He then tried to eat the piece of meat, but since he could not eat it raw (it was impossible to chew), he cooked Brades' member. Apparently he did not like the taste, and ended up feeding it to his dog. All this happened with the consent of Brades himself, who fulfilled his wish to die and have someone eat his flesh.

The story of cannibalism did not end here, because Meiwes kept Brend's body after cutting it up. He ate it little by little, and after a few months, he posted a note on the forum in which it could be read that he had made his dream come true and that the pieces of meat were running out. Therefore, he was looking for a new victim so he could do the same with her.

A user, concerned about the writing, contacted the police who, in 2002, arrested him.

You can watch the video of this story below:

Who is Armin Meiwes

Armin Meiwes was a computer scientist who was born in the city of Kassel (Germany) and lived a very lonely childhood.

His father was a hard man who was disinterested in his son and paid no attention to him. When Meiwes' parents separated, he was only eight years old. His father then abandoned the family never to contact them again. Later, when his son Meiwes was on trial, he told the courtroom that, despite all that had happened, his son had always been a good boy as a child and was very well-behaved. But that he became obsessed with the story of Hansel and Gretel, particularly the chapter where a witch fattened them up and tried to eat them.

A childhood with cannibalistic thoughts

When his father disappeared, he made his mother become both father and mother. His mother punished him and yelled at him in public and accompanied him everywhere. Lacking a father figure, Meiwes created an imaginary brother named Frankywith whom he shared his cannibalistic thoughts.. Franky was his escape route because he listened to him, something his mother never did.

At the age of 12 Meiwes began to fantasize about eating his friends, thus believing that they would become part of him and stay with him forever, a desperate solution for an only child who felt very lonely and misunderstood.

In 1999 Meiwes' mother passed away and left him a huge mansion in Amstetten, which belonged to her family. With no close family, no one to be intimate with, and now without his mother's watchful eye, he built a sanctuary in the house. According to police reports, there was a plastic mannequin in the mansion to keep him company.

All alone and isolated, he developed a keen interest in adult movies on the Internet, especially those with sadomasochistic content.especially those with sadomasochistic content that included torture and pain. Thanks to these communities, he found refuge in chat rooms. There he began to devise his story of cannibalism.

Another macabre story that became famous: the case of Carl Tanzer

Another terrifying story that became known is the case of Carl Tanzer, a radiologist who met a sick woman and took care of her. When the woman passed away, Tanzer exhumed her corpse to continue having relations with her. He was able to reconstruct her rotting body to continue to maintain her human figure. If you want to know this shocking story of necrophilia, you can visit our article: "The famous and macabre case of Carl Tanzler's necrophilia".