Real Monsters: Cannibal Killer Armin Meiwes

October 28, 2022

Written by Kelli Marchman McNeely

Kelli Marchman McNeely is the owner of HorrorFuel.com. She is an Executive Producer of "13 Slays Till Christmas" which is out on Digital and DVD and now streaming on Tubi. She has several other films in the works. Kelli is an animal lover and a true horror addict since the age of 9 when she saw Friday the 13th. Email: horrorfuelinfo@gmail.com

Warning Graphic Descriptions Ahead!

 

Armin Meiwes was born to a cold controlling mother. At seven, his father abandoned his family. Was this the start of Armin’s issues? During early adolescence, Meiwes’ fantasies of consuming human flesh began.

 

At 19 he joined the West German army but at 32 he was kicked out and forced to return to his abusive home where his craving only grew. In 1999 after finding his mother dead, he began searching for a victim, one who would volunteer. He posted on cannibal sites. He posted on Cannibal Cafe that he was searching for a volunteer between 18 and 29. Enter Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes, who wanted to be eaten.

 

On March 9, 2001, the two met at Meiwes’s home where he had made preparations for everything. The two had sexual relations. Then, Meiwes gave Brandes some sleeping pills and a bottle of cough syrup so that he wouldn’t feel any pain. Meiwes set up the camera and began to record. Brandes confirmed on tape that he was a volunteer. He lay on a table. Next, Brandes’ penis was cut off. Meiwes then cut it into two pieces and seasoned it with salt, pepper, and some garlic before frying it and sharing it with his victim. Much to the men’s disappointment, Meiwes had overcooked it. It was “chewy” and inedible.

 

Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes

 

Meiwes read a Star Trek book while Brandes lay in the bathtub, bleeding out. It was taking too long for him to die, nearly 3 hours had passed, so Meiwes ended it by cutting Brandes’ throat. He then went to work dismembering the body to preserve what he could. The body was hung from the ceiling like a deer. The organs were removed, and he was cut into smaller pieces. Following the dismemberment, Meiwes set the table and fried a strip of meat from his victim’s back. Potatoes, sprouts, and a glass of red wine made the meal complete.

 

Crime Scene Photo

 

“After I prepared my meal, I ate it. The first bite was, of course, very strange. It was a feeling I can’t really describe. I dreamt and longed for it for over forty years. And now I was getting the feeling that I was actually achieving this perfect inner connection through his flesh. The flesh tastes like pork but stronger.” Armin Meiwes said.

 

He spent the next 10 months snacking on the volunteer, consuming more than 44 lbs. before he was arrested in December 2022 after posting requests for another volunteer. An Austrian student who saw the request and other posts and notified the police.

 

When police searched his home on December 10th, 2002, they found human meat in his freezer, a skull in the garden, and the videotape of the murder and dismemberment. He confessed to his crime and in January of 2004, Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. It proved problematic for the German legal system, which found that cannibalism was not illegal in Germany’s penal code. On May 10th, 2006, Meiwes was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison art a retrial. He is still serving his sentence.

 

With Brandes being a volunteer, do you think Meiwes deserves life in prison?

 

A new horror movie, Feed Me, based on the story of Armin Meiwes and his victim with a dark comedic twist is out now.

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