A verdict will be delivered tomorrow in the German trial of self-confessed cannibal, Mr Armin Meiwes.
The defendant's lawyer, Mr Harald Ermel, believes his client should get a light sentence because his victim wanted to be killed and eaten.
The two-month trial of Mr Meiwes in the central city of Kassel has attracted national and international attention as a chilling video of the event and other gory and bizarre details were heard in evidence.
State prosecutors are seeking a life sentence on a charge of murder motivated by sexual urges. But Mr Meiwes's lawyer wants him to be convicted of "killing of request", a form of illegal euthanasia carrying a sentence of six months to five years.
If the judge rejects the plea, Mr Meiwes could be convicted of manslaughter, with a term of between 10 and 15 years, according to Prof Arthur Kreuzer of the Institute for Criminology at Giessen University.
"It is unique that we are levelling the severest charge of murder against someone and yet have to admit that the victim, whether disturbed or not, wanted it. The killer sought out his victim and the victim sought out his killer," Prof Kreuzer said.
Mr Meiwes (42), who is writing a book, could then be out of jail in his early 50s. He said this week he regretted the deed and would not repeat it. "I had my big kick and don't need to do this any more," he told the court.
Mr Miewes killed and ate a 43-year-old Berlin computer specialist, Bernd-Juergen Brandes.
During the trial Meiwes's lawyer cited emails in which the victim insisted on being killed and eaten. One read: "There's absolutely no way back for me, only forwards, through your teeth."
Media and observers were kept outside while the tape was shown to the court. One newspaper said a woman almost fainted during the film, which shows Mr Meiwes talking to the severed head while he disembowels the body, hung from a hook.