German teacher convicted of ‘cannibal fantasy’ killing

German teacher convicted of ‘cannibal fantasy’ killing


A policeman with a tracker dog searches for a missing man in Berlin in November 2020.

Stefan R., 42, has been sentenced to life in prison for murder and cutting off the victim’s genitals to be eaten The body was cut into pieces and scattered across part of Berlin, only to be discovered when human bones were found in a park

A Berlin court on Friday found a former teacher guilty for murdering a man as part of a cannibal fantasy after meeting him online, sentencing him to life in prison.

The presiding judge noted the acute severity of the crime committed by Stefan R., who was convicted for murder and desecrating the victim’s corpse.

The judge said in court Friday the killing was carried out by Stefan R. “to realise his cannibalistic fantasies”.

According to prosecutors, 42-year-old Stefan R. made contact with the victim via a dating app before luring him to his house.

A 42-year-old German teacher covers his face during the “cannibalism trial” in Berlin on Friday. Photo: dpa
A 42-year-old German teacher covers his face during the “cannibalism trial” in Berlin on Friday.

Once there, the victim was sedated with drugs before his throat was slit and his genitalia cut off to be eaten.

The corpse was then cut into pieces and scattered across the northeastern Pankow district of Berlin.

The case first came to light in November 2020, after human bones were found in a park in the neighbourhood. Police identified the remains as those of 43-year-old missing Berliner, Stefan T.

Through the victim’s phone records, investigators were led to the murderer’s address, where they found traces of blood, more remains and a set of suspicious work tools.

Stefan R. was silent as the trial began but spoke during proceedings to reject the accusations.

The case recalls that of Detlev Guenzel, a German ex-police officer convicted of murdering a willing victim he met on a website for cannibalism fetishists and chopping him up in an S&M chamber.

Guenzel, 58, had cut the body into small pieces in a slaughter chamber he built in his cellar before burying them in his garden. There was no evidence that he ate any part of his victim.

In another case that shocked Germany, Armin Meiwes, nicknamed the “cannibal of Rotenburg”, was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 for killing and partially consuming a willing victim.