Warning: Article contains content some readers may find disturbing
In a new Channel 5 documentary, we get to witness the messages exchanged between the real-life Hannibal Lecter and the stranger, who arrived at his house to be eaten.
The shocking story of notorious German cannibal Armin Meiwes has been documented in new film, The Cannibal Next Door, which airs on Channel 5 tonight.
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Viewers will witness how the killer lured victim Bernd Brandes, of whom he found on an internet forum, to his remote farmhouse in rural Germany in March 2001.
Former computer technician Meiwes, now 61, posted an advert looking for a man to be 'slaughtered then consumed'.
In 2001, Brandes, 43, responded to his advert and visited a location in Rotenburg.
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The pair began by trying to eat Brandes' penis - which Meiwes sauteed in salt, pepper, garlic and nutmeg.
Meiwes eventually killed Brandes by stabbing him in the throat, with the whole process being videotaped.
He subsequently chopped up Brandes and froze his flesh, which he ate over the course of 10 months.
And now, the new documentary reveals the sinister messages between the pair before their fatal meeting. Some of which sees Brandes refer to himself as 'your dinner', revealing the fantasy of having his penis bitten off.
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He said: “I’d like to feel and see your teeth. Then I’ll be ready for slaughter.”
Crime expert Professor Mark T. Hofmann told The Sun that these online forums can encourage people to live out their fantasies.
He said: “Some people believe these forums prevent crimes by giving people a chance to fantasise and get some gratification without actually doing it.
“In reality, what they do is fuel a fantasy with pictures, videos and extreme dirty talk and that makes it more likely that people will go further and further and act out these fantasies.
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“Even if it's unlikely, and I would say 90 per cent of members in these forums won’t do anything extreme, there are people who may do it and the forums make that more likely.”
The professor believes Meiwes was not driven by the thought of killing, but of butchering the body afterwards.
“It was a post-mortem fantasy, of cutting up a dead body and removing the inner organs," Hofmann added.
“On the one hand, it was a desire to combat loneliness by having someone inside that never leaves, and that’s what he likes to talk about because it sounds more peaceful. But at the same time, there was clearly a sexual component.”
In January 2004, Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years and six months in prison.
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But after a retrial in May 2006, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The synopsis for The Cannibal Next Door reads: "The shocking story of Armin Meiwes, one of the world's most notorious cannibals, told by those close to the case.
"Uncovers how both the killer and the victim came together on one fatal night."
The show airs on Channel 5 tonight (26 April) at 9pm.
Featured Image Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo / Channel 5Topics: Crime, True Crime