Armin Meiwes is probably well-known for his infamous cannibalistic consumption of a willing partner, but where did he come from before that?

As Harpers magazine recounted,  Meiwes past doesn’t give away any clues to his later atrocious behaviour.  Unlike gay serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer or Dennis Nilsen, there is no thorough account of his childhood available which would suggest the development of a psychopathic personality profile.  Before the murder of his accomplice, Armin Meiwes led a quiet life after the breakup of his parent’s marriage, living alone with his abusive mother Waltraud, until her death. She may well have physically and psychologically abused him, but there are no detailed accounts from German child protection services about any aberrant behaviour which would suggest this.

For whatever reason, Armin Meiwes began to develop fantasies about human cannibalism, and started posting to “Cannibal Cafe,” a now-inoperative website for those who wanted to shock people with lurid fantasy accounts of  would-be anthropophagy (cannibalism).  However, Meiwes was deadly serious, although some of his would-be accomplices balked when they realised that he wasn’t joking.

In 2001, though, Meiwes met Bernd-Jurgen Brandes, another computer programmer. Reputedly, Brandes was involved in the computer and hardcore SM sex scenes, and may have harboured suicidal intentions beforehand. Accordingly, the two got together. Initially, and with Brandes’ full consent and knowledge, Meiwes tried to bite his genitalia off before finally and succesfully castrating him. Brandes then laid in Meiwes bath, until they grew impatient about the amount of time it was taking for Brandes to bleed to death, and with Brandes’ consent, Meiwes then stabbed him in the neck. Using a butchers hook, he then carved Brandes up into pieces and is believed to have eaten about twenty kilograms worth of his willing victim.

Meiwes was apprehended in December 2002 after an abortive ‘date.’ In January 2004, he was found guilty of manslaughter, and in 2006, he was retried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Reportedly, Meiwes is now a vegetarian.

 Recommended:

Roger Payne: “A Grimm Dinner Date” DNA 101: June 2008: 70-73.