The Meiwes and Brandes cannibalism case

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German cannibal convicted of manslaughter last week for killing and eating a willing victim has received several inquiries from film companies about making a movie of the sensational case, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

But the lawyer dismissed reports British actor Hugh Grant, famous for his romantic comedies, had expressed an interest in buying the film rights and playing the lead role. Grant's spokeswoman, Karin Smith, called the reports "absolute rubbish."

The cannibal, 42-year-old computer repair man Armin Meiwes, filmed the fetish-induced killing on video tape and the gory details of the case have caused shock and fascination worldwide.

"We've had inquiries from Germany and the rest of Europe," said Harald Ermel, who defended Meiwes in the two-month trial in Kassel, central Germany. He did not name any film companies.

"There is also interest from media wanting interviews and from book publishers," said Ermel, adding that Meiwes was likely to require a ghost writer for the memoirs he plans to write.

Ermel rejected media reports in Britain and Germany that Grant, who looks nothing like the stark-featured Meiwes, was trying to secure the film rights.

"There has been no contact on this between Hugh Grant and Herr Meiwes or his defense... This is evidently an erroneous report," Ermel said.

Meiwes was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison last Friday but could be out in less than five years if he gets parole for good behavior.

Meiwes is popular with fellow inmates because he helps them write letters, Ermel has said.

A CANNIBAL has been caught by cops as he cooked his victim’s brain in a pan on the hob.

Horrified officers found the dismembered body of the dead man after they were called to a flat in East London.

Blood was splattered on the walls and floor — and the maniac was frying the brain in the kitchen.

The sickening discovery came after neighbours made frantic 999 calls about a “terrible attack”.

The body, believed to be that of the 45-year-old bachelor tenant of the flat, had suffered multiple injuries including dismemberment.

One police officer leaving the scene on Tuesday evening was reported to have told a neighbour: “It’s horrible. It’s terrible in there.”

A man was arrested at the flat in Walthamstow, East London.

Two women — aged 29 and 19 — were held in nearby Chingford but were both later freed.

Last night it was revealed that the murder suspect had been released hours earlier from a mental home. The victim, named by neighbours as Brian Cherry, is also believed to have received psychiatric treatment.

One neighbour said: “His mother died a few weeks ago. Brian didn’t work. He lived on his own.”

A number of weapons, believed to include knives, were seized at the scene and sent to forensic labs for examination.

A senior police source said: “One real possibility is that the body was being cut up and prepared for a meal.

“The brain was being fried in a pan on the hob when officers raided the flat. There are aspects of the Mental Health Act which are being addressed. Cannibalism is a motive that cannot be overlooked at this time.”

The crime has chilling echoes of the Hollywood movie Hannibal in which cannibal Hannibal Lecter, left, played by Anthony Hopkins, fried his victim’s brain.

It also comes after computer technician Armin Meiwes, 42, was jailed for 8½ years after he ate a man he befriended over the internet in Germany.

A 34-YEAR-OLD man was last night charged with murder and will appear before Waltham Forest Magistrates today.

The NHS launched an inquiry today after a psychiatric patient released from hospital was found in a flat in which a man had been hacked to death.

East London and the City mental health trust is looking into how the patient came to be discharged.

The victim was a man in his forties also believed to be a former psychiatric patient. Police said he had suffered "multiple injuries, including some dismemberment". One leg had been hacked from his body and his head cracked open with a blunt instrument.

Channel 4 says there will be no shots of pretend penises in a documentary about a German cannibal killer who fried his victim's member in garlic before eating it.

Bodyshock: The Man Who Ate His Lover, to be shown on March 1, will show how Armin Meiwes, who was jailed for eight years in January, killed Bernd Brandes and ate 20kg of his flesh over the next two years.

A Channel 4 spokesman told TV Plus: "The programme will not be graphic, there are no shots of pretend penises being cut off or anything like that."

It tells the story of how Meiwes, 42, contacted fellow German Brandes on the web. They met to indulge in extreme erotic cannibalistic fantasies which led to Brandes's death after his penis was severed, cooked and eaten.

The spokesman said: "It's a very intelligent look at the story with interviews with friends and neighbours of the men and psychologists."

Channel 4 is unlikely to screen a warning before the programme, reports TV Plus.

The spokesman said: "I don't think a warning will be required as there's nothing graphic in the film."

Bodyshock: The Man Who Ate His Lover

scary lady indeed.

CANNIBAL FED LOVER'S BODY TO HIS CATS

A cannibal who killed his lover before eating some of his organs and giving others to his cats has been jailed for 13 years.

The killer, identified only as Ralf M, met his partner through a gay website and agreed to satisfy their lust for sadomasochism, heard a court in Berlin, Germany.

In his online advert, he said he was looking for a "svelte man, around 30, for a holiday roast dinner".

The retrial of a German man who killed and ate a willing human victim begins today.

Armin Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter in January 2004 for cutting up a man he met via the internet.

The 44-year-old was given an eight-and-a-half year jail term.

However, Germany's Supreme Court ruled last April that the verdict was too lenient.

FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) -- A German cannibal who killed a man who wanted to be eaten told a court on Monday that he had only been carrying out his victim's wishes and had not expressly sought to kill him.

"I wanted to eat him, but I didn't want to kill him," Armin Meiwes, 44, told judges in three hours of testimony at his retrial.

Meiwes was sentenced in January 2004 to 8-1/2 years for manslaughter, but the Supreme Court ruled last April that the judges had been too lenient and ordered a retrial.

A verdict is expected in the retrial of a German man who killed and ate an apparently willing victim.
Not only did he kill and eat Mr Brandes, a 43-year-old engineer, but he did it apparently with his victim's permission.
Mr Brandes had agreed to the idea after making contact with his killer on an internet chatroom

"sure, i dont mind if you can kill me and eat me, what a great idea"

hard to argue that he was of sound mind really.

What I still haven't seen and perhaps only because I haven't read the case fully is how they determined that the victim was not of sound mind?

Having strange ideas or desires is not enough to make such a determination. If it was then as I stated previously both parties could be ruled as not of sound mind.

I knew something was askew, who ever heard of German food?