fishweewee
12-03-2003, 08:27 AM
Cannibal trial begins in Germany
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) --An alleged cannibal has gone on trial in Germany in a case that has both fascinated and repulsed fellow countrymen.
The trial of Armin Meiwes, which started on Wednesday, is the first case of its kind in Germany for allegedly killing and eating a man after advertising for a willing victim on the Internet.
The computer technician from Rotenburg-an-der-fuld, in central Germany, is charged with murder as no crime of cannibalism exists in Germany.
Dressed in a dark suit, he appeared relaxed as he sat down next to his lawyer at the Kassel state court Wednesday.
The story was splashed all over the tabloids last year when it broke, and the 42-year-old defendant has spoken to the press, reportedly saying "sorry."
He is alleged to have cut off part of the victim's body before the pair ate it together. The defendant is then alleged to have cut up the victim, storing his body in a freezer and eating it over the following months.
The defense is expected to argue that the victim, a 43-year-old computer technician identified only as Bernd Juergen B., from Berlin, agreed to the macabre event.
Police tracked down and arrested the suspect in December last year after a student in Austria alerted them to an advertisement Meiwes had allegedly placed on the Internet seeking a man willing to be killed and eaten.
"The German public on the one hand is repulsed, but of course, on the other is fascinated," said CNN's Berlin Bureau Chief Stephanie Halasz.
The alleged crime at the 18th century manor house happened in March 2001, prosecutors say.
A verdict from the court, which is scheduled to hear 38 witnesses, is expected in February.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/12/03/germany.cannibal.trial/index.html
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) --An alleged cannibal has gone on trial in Germany in a case that has both fascinated and repulsed fellow countrymen.
The trial of Armin Meiwes, which started on Wednesday, is the first case of its kind in Germany for allegedly killing and eating a man after advertising for a willing victim on the Internet.
The computer technician from Rotenburg-an-der-fuld, in central Germany, is charged with murder as no crime of cannibalism exists in Germany.
Dressed in a dark suit, he appeared relaxed as he sat down next to his lawyer at the Kassel state court Wednesday.
The story was splashed all over the tabloids last year when it broke, and the 42-year-old defendant has spoken to the press, reportedly saying "sorry."
He is alleged to have cut off part of the victim's body before the pair ate it together. The defendant is then alleged to have cut up the victim, storing his body in a freezer and eating it over the following months.
The defense is expected to argue that the victim, a 43-year-old computer technician identified only as Bernd Juergen B., from Berlin, agreed to the macabre event.
Police tracked down and arrested the suspect in December last year after a student in Austria alerted them to an advertisement Meiwes had allegedly placed on the Internet seeking a man willing to be killed and eaten.
"The German public on the one hand is repulsed, but of course, on the other is fascinated," said CNN's Berlin Bureau Chief Stephanie Halasz.
The alleged crime at the 18th century manor house happened in March 2001, prosecutors say.
A verdict from the court, which is scheduled to hear 38 witnesses, is expected in February.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/12/03/germany.cannibal.trial/index.html