Interview With a Cannibal: the Secret Life of the Monster of Rotenburg

German filmmaker and journalist Günther Stampf recalls his 30 interviews with Germany’s own version of Hannibal Lecter at the Kassel Federal Penitentiary. Armin Meiwes, a shy and soft-spoken computer technician in the German state of Hesse, has lived most of his life with a secret desire to consume human flesh. An overbearing mother and fear of abandonment created by the absence of his father and older brothers helped nurture Meiwes’ desire to consume a willing male victim and have that person live on inside Meiwes’ body.

Meiwes’ dark desire to consume human flesh began to grow stronger with the advent of the Internet and his ability to talk with people online who shared his interest in cannibalism. Meiwes chatted with other potential slaughter victims online, but all of them backed out the arraignment with Meiwes at the last minute. In 2000, Meiwes came across another willing victim, Bernd Brandes. Brandes, a successful computer engineer for the Siemens Company in Berlin, hid a dark sadomasochistic desire of wanting to be slaughtered and his flesh consumed.

Stampf’s interview with Meiwes’ sheds light on how an individual can go from a law-abiding citizen to a cannibal. This title includes some quite bizarre and gruesome facts, and is not for the faint of heart. A definite must read for anyone interested in criminal profiling. Click here to see an online interview with Armin Meiwes http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=391155

-- Jared, Main Library