The Armin Meiwes/Bernd Brandes tape (lost death/dismemberment footage; 2001)

DISCLAIMER:
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS NSFL CONTENT; PLEASE BROWSE WITH CAUTION.

File:Meiwestape.jpg

Status: Lost

Date found: N/A

Found by: N/A

On the 9th of March, 2001, in Rotenburg, Germany, Armin Meiwes (then working as an IT technician) and Bernd Brandes (an engineer) met after organising over the internet to have Brandes killed and eaten by Meiwes, who had developed a fetish for cannibalism over his lifetime.

The two originally corresponded through a fantasy cannibalism forum (fantasy in that the forum advised anyone "incapable of separating artistic fantasy from reality" to "leave this site") after Meiwes posted an ad seeking a willing victim to be methodically killed for the purpose of human consumption. An archive of the forum in question, (ie. The Cannibal Cafe), can still be accessed today via The Wayback Machine; Meiwes' posts (under the alias "Franky") are also available via said archive, including the ad that Brandes responded to, (ultimately resulting in his death).

After several failed attempts to bait a victim (at least one of which resulted in a potential victim meeting up with Meiwes, though later backing out), Meiwes' post eventually caught the attention of Brandes, who also had a cannibalism fetish, although differing from Meiwes' in that rather than consuming human flesh, he desired to be consumed.

Alleged screenshots

The following images have had their thumbnails pixellated on account of their NSFL content:

• Meiwes pixellated 1.png
• Meiwes pixellated 2.png
• Meiwes pixellated 3.png
• Meiwes pixellated 4.png

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After posting a few advertisements requesting someone that wished to be eaten, he received a reply, and even met up with at least one other man, who bailed out and left. Brandes also replied to Meiwes; like Meiwes, Brandes also had a cannibalism fetish, but in the way that he desired to be consumed. Brandes, still consenting, requested that Meiwes bite his penis off, although it was too difficult and eventually had to be cut off. Brandes attempted to eat his penis raw, but couldn't because it was "too chewy". Meiwes then fried it with Brandes' fat, and other spices, but burned it, and couldn't eat it. He then chopped it up and gave it to his dog.

Meiwes read a Star Trek book for 3 hours as Brandes bled out in the bathtub. He gave Brandes alcohol, sleeping pills and painkillers, kissed him on the forehead, and stabbed him in the throat. In a room specially made for the event, Meiwes hung the body, and slowly dismantled it. The whole scene was found recorded on a two hour tape in Meiwes' videocamera upon his arrest in Decemeber 2002 (having been reported by another user of the forum Meiwes posted his ads in). Over the 10 months following the killing, Meiwes stored the body parts in his freezer, and is said to have consumed up to 20 kilograms of Brandes' flesh.

The video that the authorities found was shown to a jury, and some journalists at Meiwes' trial, some of them needing therapy after the viewing. 4 alleged screenshots of the video have leaked online, and a user from 4chan's /x/ board stated that he was once granted viewing to 2 additional screenshots, and an audioless snippet of the video with a transcript (Meiwes talks about how difficult it is to do the dismantle the body in said transcript). The two extra screenshots were said to be of Brandes' head in a bucket, and another of his leg being butchered in a similar fashion to which his arm is in the leaked screenshots; this recount, however, is entirely unconfirmed.

Meiwes is currently serving a life sentence in Kassel Prison, Germany.