Merlin the Magician
At the Start
This happened a few years ago but been brought back to court in FRANKFURT again...........Aint there a lot of sad people in this world.......... :angy:
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Prosecutors at the retrial of a German cannibal, jailed for eight years for killing a man and eating his flesh, said on Wednesday he should be jailed for life.
Armin Meiwes, imprisoned two years ago for killing a computer engineer who had begged to be eaten, is standing trial for the second time after Germany's top criminal court ruled his initial sentence for manslaughter was too lenient.
Prosecution lawyers said Meiwes had killed the man from Berlin to satisfy his sexual urges and his lust for power. Meanwhile, defence lawyers said Meiwes, 44, had killed at the request of the victim, a crime carrying a maximum 5 year prison sentence.
The final summing up marks the approaching end of a trial that captivated people across Germany and even inspired a film.
During the trial, the court heard how Meiwes made contact with Bernd-Juergen Brandes over the Internet and then met the 43-year-old at his home in the western town of Rotenburg.
Having severed Brandes's penis, both men tried to eat it, but without success, although Meiwes later ate flesh from the body.
After heavy bleeding, Brandes finally fell unconscious. Believing his victim to be dead, Meiwes laid his victim out on a bench and plunged a knife into his neck while videotaping it.
The prosecution said the act of slaughtering had reduced the human being to the level of a farmed animal and was not compatible with human dignity.
Meiwes's defence lawyer Joachim Bremer said there was no doubt the defendant had acted upon the clear request and under the instructions of his victim. Brandes even pushed Meiwes to go through with it, despite the latter's hesitations, Bremer said.
"You cannot rank this as a murder," he said.
The court is expected to issue its decision next week.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Prosecutors at the retrial of a German cannibal, jailed for eight years for killing a man and eating his flesh, said on Wednesday he should be jailed for life.
Armin Meiwes, imprisoned two years ago for killing a computer engineer who had begged to be eaten, is standing trial for the second time after Germany's top criminal court ruled his initial sentence for manslaughter was too lenient.
Prosecution lawyers said Meiwes had killed the man from Berlin to satisfy his sexual urges and his lust for power. Meanwhile, defence lawyers said Meiwes, 44, had killed at the request of the victim, a crime carrying a maximum 5 year prison sentence.
The final summing up marks the approaching end of a trial that captivated people across Germany and even inspired a film.
During the trial, the court heard how Meiwes made contact with Bernd-Juergen Brandes over the Internet and then met the 43-year-old at his home in the western town of Rotenburg.
Having severed Brandes's penis, both men tried to eat it, but without success, although Meiwes later ate flesh from the body.
After heavy bleeding, Brandes finally fell unconscious. Believing his victim to be dead, Meiwes laid his victim out on a bench and plunged a knife into his neck while videotaping it.
The prosecution said the act of slaughtering had reduced the human being to the level of a farmed animal and was not compatible with human dignity.
Meiwes's defence lawyer Joachim Bremer said there was no doubt the defendant had acted upon the clear request and under the instructions of his victim. Brandes even pushed Meiwes to go through with it, despite the latter's hesitations, Bremer said.
"You cannot rank this as a murder," he said.
The court is expected to issue its decision next week.
