Posted on 02/21/2004 10:05:27 PM PST by quidnunc
The recent judgment in the case of Germany's most notorious criminal case since the Meinhof gang has revealed deep cracks in the soul of modern Germany, and in the souls of people at large.
I am referring to the case of Armin Meiwes, Germany's "cannibal killer," the soft-spoken and polite computer technician who supped on — and with — one who volunteered himself to be cannibalized, computer programmer Bernd-Jergen Brandes.
Germany's prosecutors pursued Mr. Meiwes with blutlust. It did not matter that Germany's criminal code did not address the specific act of volunteerism (except in the case of Germany's mysterious and bizarre law on "Mercy Killings" or "Killing by Request") with regard to death. To German prosecutors, the spirit of the law was what was important. That geist was that no matter what Meiwes's victim requested (and no matter if he was the "dominant figure" in Meiwes's grisly amateur video), there are certain things that society and law forbid. Further, to the extent that Meiwes was simply living out a fantasy (something which he readily conceded), the death of Meiwes's victim could not be considered a "Mercy Killing".
Whether requested or not, the act of homicide and first-degree murder depend on the mens rea of the perpetrator, and not on the wishes of the victim. To the extent that Meiwes's fantasy was conceived over the course of several months through e-mails and the erection of a special "butchery room" in his spacious home, executed through a carefully planned trip to Berlin to meet his victim, and consummated through a supper and eventual execution, Meiwes not only evinced premeditation in his crime, but possessed no "charitable" motives. By his own admission, his primary motive was self-gratification.
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(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
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