Cannibal in movie deal talks
From correspondents in Kassel, Germany
December 13, 2003
A GERMAN cannibal is in talks over a movie deal about his story, his defence lawyer said overnight, as a court heard further grisly details of how he killed and ate his apparently willing victim.
Armin Meiwes has already begun writing a book in prison about his life and actions, his lawyer Harald Ermel said during a break in the trial.
He said a number of movie offers had been made, but denied that one of them was worth potentially millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, a forensic scientist testified today that Meiwes' victim would have been still alive, albeit barely conscious, when his throat was cut.
"He was moving his head about, he was still breathing and there were mouth movements," Manfred Risse said after watching Meiwes' home-made videos of the killing.
Meiwes, 42, a computer expert, has admitted he killed Bernd-Juergen Brandes and ate most of his flesh, but claims his victim was already dead when he cut his throat.
But Risse challenged that version, saying the accused must have known that Brandes was still alive at that point.
Meiwes is accused of murder for the purposes of sexual satisfaction, which carries a life sentence, and disturbing the peace of the dead. Cannibalism is technically not a crime in Germany.
His defence claims that he is guilty, at worst, of killing on demand, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Ermel said Brandes, a 43-year-old engineer, had a death wish and would have chosen someone else to kill and eat him if he had not met Meiwes on the Internet.
He said Brandes had also been in contact with three potential cannibals in the United States.
Earlier this week, the court in Kassel, central Germany, sat behind closed doors to watch three 90-minute videos which Meiwes took of his actions, again apparently with the victim's consent, during March 10, 2001.
"I felt like I was in a pathology lab," a court official said today.
She said everyone had been forced to look away at some point because of the grisly nature of the videos, except Meiwes who often grinned.
"For him it's normal," she added.
In evidence today, toxicologist Harald Schuetz said Brandes was under the influence of a mixture of whisky, sleeping tablets and anti-cold medication on the day he died.
However, he said it was unclear if that combination rendered him incapable of making a free choice, as much of the effect might have worn off during the 10 hours he was in Meiwes' house before his death.
The accused insists Brandes was fully aware of what was going on and agreed to it.
Meiwes met him after advertising on the Internet for someone willing to be killed, butchered and eaten.
At his home in Rotenburg, near Kassel, and allegedly by prior arrangement, he cut off Brandes' penis, which they both tried to eat.
Afterwards he killed his victim, carved up the body, stored some flesh in a freezer for later consumption and buried bones and the skull in the garden.
Ermel criticised reports that have described Meiwes as a "monster", saying that while what he did was reprehensible, he was entitled to a presumption of innocence as he "did nothing against the will of anyone else".
A police official told the court that fellow workers described Meiwes as a good work colleague and a friend.
The hearing was
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