After Meiwes and the victim jointly attempted to eat the victim's severed penis, Meiwes murdered his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount of his flesh. In January , Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years and six months in prison. In a retrial in May , he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The house where the murder took place was destroyed in a suspected arson attack that occurred in the early morning of 17 April Armin Meiwes was born on 1 December , the only child of Waltraud Meiwes β He had two older half-brothers from his father's previous relationship with another woman.
His father abandoned Armin when he was eight, leaving him to be raised by his mother. During sessions with police experts, Meiwes had explained that his desire for cannibalism, related to the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel , had developed during his adolescent years. He had also described himself feeling "very lonesome" after "the family had fallen apart". Meiwes identifies as bisexual.
Looking for a willing volunteer, Meiwes posted an online advertisement stating that he was "looking for a well-built to year-old to be slaughtered and then consumed. Many other people responded to the advertisement but backed out; Meiwes did not attempt to force them to do anything against their will. The video shows Meiwes amputating Brandes's penis with his agreement and the two men attempting to eat it together.
Before doing so, Brandes swallowed twenty sleeping pills, and a bottle of cough syrup, likely causing an effect of slowed breathing and extreme tiredness. Brandes initially insisted that Meiwes should attempt to bite his penis off. This did not work, and ultimately, Meiwes used a knife to remove it. Brandes apparently tried to eat some of his own penis raw but could not, because it was too tough and, as he put it, "chewy". Meiwes then fried the penis in a pan with salt, pepper, wine, and garlic; he then fried it with some of Brandes' fat, but by then it was too burnt to be consumed.
He then chopped the penis up into chunks and fed it to his dog. Meiwes then ran Brandes a bath, before going to read a Star Trek book, while checking on Brandes every fifteen minutes, during which time Brandes lay bleeding in the bath, drifting in and out of consciousness. After long hesitation and prayer, Meiwes killed Brandes by stabbing him in the throat, after which he hung the body on a meat hook. The incident was recorded on a four-hour videotape, which has never been released to the public due to its gruesome contents.
