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AUSTRIA - A man suspected of murdering a fellow homeless person and devouring his entrails killed the victim accidentally and cut open the body only because he wanted to see what was inside - not eat it - a lawyer said yesterday.
Philipp Winkler, the attorney for the suspect, a 19-year-old German whose name was not released, said his client aspired to study medicine and had a purely clinical interest in the victim's body parts.
"He wanted to see what we look like inside," Winkler said, adding that the suspect "only looked at" the victim's organs and brain.
Police interrogated the suspect this week for the first time since his arrest in August. Authorities said his mouth was smeared with blood and that a plate of entrails from his victim, a 49-year-old man, was found nearby.
Investigators said the suspected allegedly cracked open the victim's skull using a 10kg dumbbell and sliced open his body with a switchblade.
The suspect has been in psychiatric care since his arrest.
Winkler said the victim died during a dispute between the two men, and said the suspect characterised the death as an accident.
Officials said a forensic examination was still ongoing to determine whether the suspect ate any of the parts.
- AP
