Germany gripped by another cannibal trial

BERLIN - A Berlin man has confessed to killing a music teacher he met via the Internet to fulfil his cannibalistic fantasies.

Defence lawyer Detlev Binder said the case of a notorious German cannibal had ignited the fantasies his client had contained for 15 years.

"Until the act, I wrongly thought I had my fantasies under control," Ralf M. said in a statement read in court by his lawyer. "Now I know that I was commanded at least at times by the darker side of my ego."

The 41-year-old is accused of tying up Joe R, 33, and stabbing him with a screwdriver in a crazed sadomasochistic attack in October 2004.

Prosecutors say the accused cut out the music teacher's organs and stored the hacked off penis in his fridge to be eaten later. In the end, he did not eat any of his victim.

The case of Armin Meiwes, who killed and ate a willing victim, fascinated and repulsed Germany and the world after it came to light in 2002. Originally convicted for manslaughter, he faces a murder charge at a retrial later this year.

"The case of a cannibal of Rotenburg was a catalyst for my client," Binder said.

Binder told the court the accused, who turned himself in to police a day after the attack, required psychiatric treatment.

- REUTERS