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My dinner with antrophagus

By Jina Moore (Trans.), Bernd-Jürgen Brandes, and Armin Meiwes

From a March 6, 2001, transcript of an online chat between Bernd-Jürgen Brandes (cator99) and Armin Meiwes (antrophagus), included in Interview with a Cannibal: The Secret Life of the Cannibal from Rotenburg, by Günter Stampf, published in Germany last fall. Brandes responded to an online advertisement Meiwes posted stating that he was seeking a “well-built man, 18–30, who would like to be eaten by me.” Meiwes videotaped himself slaughtering Brandes a few days later. He confessed to the act and was convicted of manslaughter in 2004. The ruling was overturned in 2006 on the grounds that the sentence of eight and a half years was too lenient. Meiwes was retried, convicted of murder, and resentenced to life imprisonment. Translated from the German by Jina Moore.

cator99: Hallllooooo????

antrophagus: Hi, Cator, what do you do professionally, that you are up so late at night?

cator99: I can’t sleep well anymore because of our meeting

antrophagus: That’s a sensible reason. Yesterday I was incredibly tired, it was a stressful day

cator99: I’m in telecommunications

antrophagus: Oh, that sounds interesting

cator99: I believe you

antrophagus: I’m looking forward to our meeting, it will definitely be really cool

cator99: I want it to be! I hope it’ll be really cool. Are you setting an alarm clock?????

antrophagus: It’s only a few days until March 9

cator99: Still, I would have rather met you yesterday and felt your teeth

antrophagus: One can’t have everything. There’s still some time before you really feel my teeth

cator99: I hardly know what to expect. Have you slaughtered a man before?

antrophagus: Unfortunately, only in my dreams, but in my thoughts I do it every night

cator99: So I’m the first? You have eaten human flesh before, or you haven’t?

antrophagus: No, you don’t exactly find it in the supermarket, unfortunately

cator99: How do you know if it will taste good to you, or that the blood won’t make you sick?

antrophagus: I’m readying myself with my dreams. Once I was so excited I grabbed a needle and drew my own blood so I could drink it

cator99: And your blood, it tasted good to you?

antrophagus: It was quite tasty. Once I was drilling some holes and the drill slipped right into my hand, that was a real treat. Blood is the juice of life. It contains everything a person needs for nutrition

cator99: Then I hope you won’t wilt, that you can really see it through without a problem

antrophagus: To bite into your penis will certainly not be easy—living flesh is somewhat more resistant than fried—but one thing is certain: our dream will be fulfilled

cator99: But there’s not so much in it as there is in muscle

antrophagus: Yeah, but the penis is principally a spongy material filled with blood

cator99: For both our sakes, I hope that’s true. I hope you have also already thought about what’s to be done with the rest. Fulfilling the dream shouldn’t become a nightmare for you. No one will know where I’ve disappeared to

antrophagus: After you’re dead, I’ll take you out and expertly carve you up. Except for a pair of knees and some fleshy trash (skin, cartilage, tendons), there won’t be much of you left

cator99: There will be a good bit, like the knees, I hope you have a good hiding place for them

antrophagus: I’ll dry out the knees and grind them up soon after

cator99: Okay, they’re good as fertilizer, I heard that once. I see you’ve thought about it. Good! Sounds like I’m the first

antrophagus: And you won’t be the last, hopefully. I’ve already considered catching a young person from the street, but I would rather kill only those who want to be killed

cator99: That also doesn’t sound bad. But yeah, seeing as it’s not so totally legal, this is in my eyes better than yanking somebody directly off the street

antrophagus: Exactly, I’d do it, if it were legal



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SEE ALSO: Meiwes, Armin; Brandes, Bernd-Jürgen; Cannibalism; Death and burial; Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Murder)
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