GEMANY: A Berlin man who killed a music teacher and stored his body parts to satisfy cannibalistic fantasies was convicted of murder yesterday and sentenced to 13 years.
Ralf M (41), confessed in court to stabbing Joe R (33) with a screwdriver during a sexual encounter at his apartment in Neukölln in southern Berlin.
He then cut up and stored body parts in his fridge, but was too disgusted to eat them as originally planned.
The Berlin court concluded that the accused was psychologically disturbed and had developed increasingly pronounced human-flesh-eating fantasies over the years.
The prosecution had sought a sentence of almost 15 years for the killer (an unemployed painter), but the court handed down a lesser sentence on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
It also ordered his temporary confinement in a psychiatric clinic.
The defence lawyer claimed his client had been influenced by the case of Armin Meiwes, the "cannibal of Rotenburg", who created a worldwide media sensation after he confessed to killing and eating a willing victim in 2001.
Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter in 2004, but faces a retrial on a murder charge later this year after the Supreme Court ruled that the evidence justified reconsideration of the charge of murder "for the satisfaction of sexual instinct", which carries a life sentence.
Like Meiwes, Ralf M met his victim via the internet butdeceived the man about his true intentions, the court said. - (Reuters)