Berlin
Self-confessed cannibal Armin Meiwes was cleared of murder last week and sentenced instead to eight years for manslaughter. Meiwes killed Bernd Brandes—a man he met on the Internet after advertising for a willing victim—sautéed him in a bit of garlic, and washed him down with red wine. Judge Volker Mütze said the more serious murder charge was not appropriate because Brandes wanted to die and be eaten. The two men were “psychologically sick people who found each other,” the judge said. With good behavior, Meiwes could be free by 2008. He is already considering numerous offers for the film rights to his story.
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