A former police officer who was sentenced to almost nine years in prison for killing a man he met on an internet site devoted to cannibalism, is considering his next legal moves, including an appeal, his lawyer said.
A court in Dresden found Detlev G. guilty of “murder and disturbing the peace of the dead” on Tuesday. Police had found the dismembered remains of a man buried in his garden in 2013.
“The court said it could not establish what exactly had happened in that cellar – which made a suicide possible. And it continued to say that a suicide could not be ruled out,” defence lawyer Endrik Wilhelm said.
Dresden police said Detlev G. and his victim met through an online chat room on the website “Zambian meat.” They had had extensive contact via email, text messages, but also over the phone and arranged a meeting for Nov. 4, 2013. The victim was said to have wanted to be “slaughtered.”
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After meeting at the central train station in Dresden, they went to the accused’s address, a bed and breakfast near the Czech border, and agreed on the killing, the prosecution said.
According to German media, the defense team had argued the victim had hanged himself. There was no evidence that any act of cannibalism had taken place.
Detlev G. told police he caused a life-threatening injury to the victim with a knife, which also caused the death of the victim. Afterwards he chopped the body of the victim into pieces and buried the body parts.
The investigation recalled the case of Armin Meiwes, dubbed the “Cannibal of Rothenburg,” who killed and ate parts of a man who had advertised on the Internet for someone to kill him “and leave no trace.”
Meiwes, who filmed the act, received a life sentence in 2006.