# An old colleague of mine was voluntarily cannibalized and killed. TM friggin' I. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 3, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236 "2003-04-03T17:00:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Silver\_Serpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@Silver\_Serpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Serpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/161 "2003-12-02T19:16:26Z")
So, is it the "personal’ relationship with the, hehe, cow, or the mutilation of genetalia? Hmm. People raise animals (and can have close [but not “close,” perverts] with the animals, of a sort) and then eat them. But even without a personal relationship, people still freak out about eating human flesh. I used to hang out at a Denny’s in TX, er, way too much to be healthy, and there was a very . . . naive - the best word I’m coming up with in my sleep-deprived state - waitress who worked there. One of my friends always joked about getting some meat from ManBeef, which freaked her out quite a bit. No relationship with the BeefPeople that would be consumed (not that you can actually BUY human meat from ManBeef, but whatever). Is it that people can talk? Most people don’t think about this much, do they? Hehe. ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/162 "2003-12-02T19:35:10Z")
the whole thing with eating humans is the eating of one’s own species which can result in all sorts of nasties the most media covered of which is “mad cow diesease” which was (i think) a result of caows being fed the spinal cords and brains etc. of their own species. the other thing is that it is a social taboo (i cnat say why on that one but considereing how many other irrational taboos there are…) i heard about this a while back, it was mentioned on british news more than once. its not a nice thing to happen, but humans are freakish. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/163 "2003-12-02T19:39:34Z")
AnimistDragon, would you like to end up as dinner? No?, I thought so… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/164 "2003-12-02T20:17:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nitroglycerine \* - > Be honest now…how many of you, through morbid curiosity, want to see this video? Are you kidding? After this thread, I won’t even be eating Girl Scout cookies this year. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![BellaDellaItalia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BellaDellaItalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellaDellaItalia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/165 "2003-12-02T21:15:46Z")
Thank youuuu so much for ruining my appetite when I have a full bowl of stracciadella soup sitting right in front of me at this very second. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/166 "2003-12-02T22:01:49Z")
I wouldn’t have any problem eating a human–if I **HAD** to. Like if I were stranded somewhere and it was the only chance for survival. So, in that case, I don’t see a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/167 "2003-12-02T22:11:07Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Serpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@Silver\_Serpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Serpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/168 "2003-12-03T07:22:33Z")
I THINK mad cow comes from feeding cows infected sheep bits, which infect the cows, and then when bits of infected cow are recylced into the food of other cows, it gets spread along. Am I correct on this? Anyway, some animals are cannibalistic with no apparent ill effects. From personal experience with animals while living on a farm I know for certain that the following animals will eat each other if not prevented from doing so: Cats, rats, and mice (mostly moms eating newborns), and chickens (you have to raise chicks under a red light, just in case one of them gets injured - without the red light, the other chicks would see the blood and swarm the injured one. At least. that’s what my dad said. I have seen adults peck each other to bloody messes). But you never hear of, ahem, Mad Chicken Disease. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/169 "2003-12-03T15:36:18Z")
Well, it’s on CNN now that the trial started. [http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/12/03/germany.cannibal.trial/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/12/03/germany.cannibal.trial/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/170 "2003-12-03T16:02:56Z")
**AnimistDragon** [Here](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0410_030410_cannibal.html) is a link that explains how human cannibalism might have led to gene mutations to protect against the prion diseases associated with eating one’s own species. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/171 "2003-12-03T16:46:07Z")
Eww. I think it was the “voluntarily” part that made me click on this post … And I think I’m sorry I did it! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/172 "2003-12-03T18:28:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Malthus \* > \*\*So - according to the OP link, the cannibal fellow was charged with murder. > > Is this appropriate, if the evidence conclusively proves the acts were consensual? > > If it was murder, it was obviously premeditated - I don’t know what the penalty for that is in Germany, but in Canada that means an automatic life sentence (25 years before parole is possible). > > Would this be appropriate in this case? If so, why? Should the gruesomeness and perversity displayed result in a harsher sentence than someone who assisted another to commit suicide - without the additional sexual and cannibalistic rituals? > > Curious as to what others think … \*\* The CNN link sheds some light on the question: > [@](#): > > The defense is expected to argue that the victim, a 43-year-old computer technician identified only as Bernd Juergen B., from Berlin, agreed to the macabre event. > > The defense is believed to be seeking a charge of killing on demand, which carries a maximum five-year sentence if proven, rather than murder which holds a possible life sentence. ---
**Author:** ![LauraLittlePony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LauraLittlePony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LauraLittlePony)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/173 "2003-12-04T02:07:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ale \* > \*\*AnimistDragon, would you like to end up as dinner? > No?, I thought so… \*\* I wouldn’t, but apparently this guy didn’t mind. 🙂 Actually, I don’t much care what happens to my corpse after I’m dead, so long as no one murders me. I’d just as soon be food for people than for worms. I like most people better than most worms, anyway. Sheesh, you guys. If you think this is disgusting, NEVER visit [crimelibrary.com](http://crimelibrary.com) or [rotten.com](http://rotten.com)! I must have grown a thick skin, because I read this thread during lunch. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/174 "2003-12-07T05:01:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally posted by Cavalier > > I don’t see anything wrong with it. > > > > We all have our own sexual kinks, his were just a bit stranger than most. > > > > If only we all knew what we wanted as clearly as he did, and were as fearless in expressing it, we would all be happier. > > Umm…no. Uh, yes. We _would_ be happier. Of course, we wouldn’t have the scientific (and other) achievements that we have know since those have resulted from cooperation between people, which obviously requires a suppression of negative feelings toward others. The question is what do you think is better: for everyone to be on more or less the same level, or for everyone to do as they like. The first would create more genuine happiness; the latter would allow us to understand everything to a greater extent but would require us to repress our destructive urges. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > Yes. Because there’s more to life than just being happy. You also have an obligation to be useful to your fellow humans and someone who is so deluded as to believe that he’s going to be Emperor of Antarctica isn’t going to do much that is useful to others. So…if I spend all day watching TV, I don’t deserve to live? Uh-huh… ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/175 "2003-12-07T07:36:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by welby \* > \*\*I swear, why in the fuck won’t somebody reboot the damn world? This version is beyond repair. \*\* Can I second that? The world is just too fucked UP! Can we get an upgrade please? ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/176 "2003-12-07T09:26:11Z")
From now on i’m gonna be damn careful who I say ‘eat me’ to. I also really want to now which chatroom he was frequenting? Where on earth do you find people who want to eat their own penises before being killed and eaten? Once again i’m utterley astonished by events in the world, indeed truth is stranger than fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/177 "2003-12-07T19:31:34Z")
Ok, [www.snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com) has this to say about “snuff” films: > [@](#): > > All the fretting about it aside, not so much as one snuff film has been found. Aren’t we getting into semantics here? Armin M obviously made a snuff film. The tape of Daniel Pearl’s murder was a snuff film. Isn’t it time Snopes updated their page? ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/178 "2003-12-07T21:40:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Equipoise \* > \*\*Aren’t we getting into semantics here? Armin M obviously made a snuff film. The tape of Daniel Pearl’s murder was a snuff film. > > Isn’t it time Snopes updated their page? \*\* Snopes specifically says that, in the definition of a “snuff” film, the motive for the muder itself has to be profit. Films made for the purpose of “reliving” a murder that would have happened anyway, whether a camera was rolling or not, don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/179 "2003-12-09T11:47:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kung fu lola \* > \*\*Snopes specifically says that, in the definition of a “snuff” film, the motive for the muder itself has to be profit. Films made for the purpose of “reliving” a murder that would have happened anyway, whether a camera was rolling or not, don’t count. \*\* You are incorrect. From the [Snopes page on snuff films](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/snuff.htm) (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > Definition of the Term: As to what is or is not a snuff film, according to Kerekes and Slater, authors of Killing for Culture, the bible on the snuff film rumor: > Snuff films depict the killing of a human being – a human sacrifice (without the aid of special effects or other trickery) perpetuated for the medium of film and circulated amongst a jaded few for the purpose of entertainment. > It’s a simple definition, but a workable one. > > Some will further claim that a profit motive must exist, that the final product has to be offered for sale (as opposed to being passed around without charge within a select circle, or remaining solely in the possession of its maker). **That detail is extraneous. It’s the recording of the death itself which constitutes the “snuff” in snuff films, not who makes a buck out of it.** > > Likewise, claims that the filmmaker must have had no other motivation than the production of the film should be dismissed. A psychopath who tortures and murders solely to satisfy his personal demons but who videotapes the event to create a reliveable record of the experience has produced a snuff film. By that definition, the Armin M and Daniel Pearl tapes are snuff films. Snopes should update. (I can’t believe I’m actually devoting brain cells to snuff films…ack!) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236/180 "2004-01-30T19:57:25Z")
Update: "A German cannibal was convicted of manslaughter but not murder Friday for killing and eating a man who had asked to die, and he was sentenced to eight and a half years in jail. The court rejected the prosecution’s plea for a murder conviction and life sentence because the victim had instructed Armin Meiwes, 42, to kill him. The act of sexual fetishism, which he recorded on video tape, has sparked shock and fascination around the world. " [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&e=2&u=/nm/20040130/od\_nm/germany\_cannibal\_dc](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&e=2&u=/nm/20040130/od_nm/germany_cannibal_dc) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-colleague-of-mine-was-voluntarily-cannibalized-and-killed-tm-friggin-i/166236.md?page=10)