'I froze his flesh in packets'
2002-12-12 18:41
Kassel, Germany - Authorities in Germany filed murder charges against a reclusive computer systems expert on Thursday amid reports his victim sold all possessions and willingly allowed himself to be "slaughtered" and cannibalised.
The 41-year-old suspect, identified only as Armin M, admitted having videotaped himself killing the man he had met via a gay internet contact advertisement.
Police knew of at least five respondents to the ad, besides undercover officers who answered it and quickly determined it was meant literally. In addition to body parts, police found the cellar full of slaughterhouse equipment.
The suspect said he cut up the body and cooked and ate most of the flesh, burying the rest on the grounds of his sprawling 17th Century estate in the idyllic central German town of Rotenburg an der Fulda.
Police used bulldozers and other heavy digging equipment Thursday to look for more potential victims, saying the murderer had placed 80 ads on the internet.
His 42-year-old victim, a computer chip developer at Siemens corporation in Berlin, apparently had willingly allowed himself to be led to the slaughter.
A photo of him appeared in Thursday newspapers, identifying him only as Bernd Juergen B, and showing a trim and bespectacled man with short-cropped hair.
The victim, described as an internet addict, had a lavish penthouse flat in Berlin outfitted with US$50 000 worth of state-of-the-art computer equipment, according to Bild newspaper.
Prior to his disappearance he reportedly sold all his belongings, including a sports car.
Witnesses saw him leave his flat on the morning of his disappearance in early 2000 wearing faded jeans, a green jacket and navy blue running shoes.
He had told his boss at Siemens he was taking the day off "to attend to some personal matters", and co-workers caught sight of him at a subway station in Berlin.
That was the last time he was seen alive. Several days later his family reported him missing.
According to "a lengthy and thorough" confession obtained by police, the victim travelled 300 kilometres from Berlin to the alleged murderer's half-timbered home near Kassel.
With the victim's permission, the man first cut off some of the victim's body parts before stabbing him to death and dismembering the body.
He froze the meat in "meal-sized packets" and ate most of it, burying the portions he did not eat.
Police said they got onto him when he placed more ads on the internet looking for new victims willing to be killed by him.
Obtaining a search warrant, investigators raided his home, where they found frozen human flesh, skeletal remains and about 50 incriminating videotapes. The cellar was a veritable slaughter house.
The murder suspect was described by neighbours as a pleasant and polite man who kept to himself.
A former childhood friend who also spent time with the suspect during a seven-year stint in the German military told N-TV news: "He was always good-natured and considerate."
Cannibalism per se is not a crime in Germany, so the suspect faces charges of murder.
The most notorious case of cannibalism in Germany involved the "Monster of Hanover", a butcher named Fritz Haarmann, who murdered at least 24 boys and youths between 1918 and 1924 and sold their flesh to customers seeking cheap meat.
His spectacular case was the inspiration for Fritz Lang's classic 1931 movie called M starring Peter Lorre as a serial killer of children at large in Berlin. - Sapa-DPA
- SAPA