25. 01. 12. - 13:00

• more Germany in Focus news
• RSS Feed Germany in Focus

25. 01. 12. - 13:00

Cannibalism Suspected In Berlin

Police in Berlin have arrested a suspected cannibal killer who murdered a city bank worker and cooked his head on the top of the stove.

Carsten Schmidt, 37, vanished in the German capital on New Year's Eve.  On Monday he was found in pieces in the flat of pervert Michael Schneider, 43, who attempted to kill himself in the moments before police broke down the door.

The victim's body parts were found strewn around the apartment wrapped in baking foil and paper.  Police say the men knew each other and believe that Schmidt wanted to help his friend out of financial difficulties.

"It was a horror show," said a police official.  "The body parts had been sawed, hacked and sliced.  He put them all over the apartment as if saving them up for a rainy day.  But only the head was cooked, bobbing in a stewpot on top of the cooker."

Detectives believe he went to his apartment on December 31 with a sum of money that Schneider believed was not enough.  Police believe that a "sexual motive" lay behind the killing which happened within minutes of Schmidt arriving.

Schmidt, who was gay, was due to go on to a party that evening with his friend who alerted the police.  As enquiries led them to the gruesome apartment Schneider slashed his wrists with a knife but his life was saved by an emergency medic.

He lies under guard in hospital charged with murder.  He will be quizzed about whether he ate parts of his victim when he has fully recovered from his suicide attempt.

Cannibalism as a sexual practice is widespread in Germany.  It first hit the headlines in 2001 when Armin Meiwes killed, butchered and ate a computer technician called Bernd Brandes at his remote farmhouse home in Rotenburg near Kassel.

At his trial several men who harboured fantasies of eating human flesh, or being eaten themselves, testified to the court that there was a large network of like-minded individuals in society who connected through cyberspace to try to satisfy their fantasies.

German Herald

Chelsea Thugs Target Champs League Final
Anti-soccer thug police have warned that a hard core of violent fans are heading for Chelsea's Champions League final against Bayern Munich on Saturday - despite British police issuing more than 80 travel bans on suspected hooligans.

Old Banger
A cabbie whose gas-powered car exploded just after he'd fuelled up survived with barely a scratch when he was blown clean through the open window, say police in Schwabing, Germany.

Scared Stiff
A burglar fled an apartment in terror when he came face to face with the mummified corpse of the of a woman who'd died unnoticed five years earlier, say police.

Dirty Politics
A grandstanding politician came down to earth with a bump - when a 40 ton digger he'd insisted on driving overturned on top of him.

Ewe Brutes
Callous art students who planned to behead a helpless sheep are being investigated by prosecutors in the German capital Berlin over animal cruelty allegations.

Wedding Lift
A serial car crook found with stolen wedding presents worth more than 150,000 GBP has confessed to pinching them from cars parked outside churches and hotels.

Hot Cross Huns
Naked sauna-goers were among the two hundred guests that fled when a sauna and thermal spa resort in Fichtelburg, Germany, went up in flames causing 25 million GBP of damage.

Wedding Crasher
Boozed up Stephan Pfeifer, 20, was a real wedding crasher after wandering into a community centre attic space to find somewhere to sleep - and plunging 30 foot through the floor to land in a shower of debris in front of bride Annett Friedman in Unterfranken, Germany.

Off Their Trolley
Staff at a Kaufland supermarket in Duisberg, Germany, had to apologise to customers after thieves made off with their entire stock of 150 shopping trolleys overnight.

Piggy Back
Dad Lucas Bergmann who was burgled and his his kid's money boxes and toys stolen while the family were at a New year's Eve party has had the lot returned - complete with an apology note from the thief at Neufahrn in Bavaria, Germany.