prosecutors demand life sentece for cannibal

Armin Meiwes killed Bernd Juergen Brandes "like a piece of livestock" in order to satisfy his need for power and dominance, Prosecutor Marcus Koehler told the court in his closing arguments.

Photo: prosecutors demand life sentece for cannibal

He asked for a murder conviction and life sentence, saying Meiwes had "a fetish for human flesh," and made a video of the killing for sexual gratification.

But defense attorney Joachim Bremer said his client was only following the wishes of Brandes, and said Meiwes deserved no more than five years in prison for killing someone at his own request.

Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter at an earlier trial in Kassel in 2004 and was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison. Prosecutors appealed the verdict, arguing that he should have been convicted of murder, and Meiwes is being tried again in Frankfurt, the AP reports.

Meiwes, 44, has argued that the March 2001 killing at his home in the central town of Rotenburg should be considered "death on demand." He said Brandes answered his Internet ad seeking someone for "slaughter and consumption" and told him that he wanted to "be eaten alive."

According to Meiwes, the 43-year-old Brandes wanted to be stabbed to death after drinking a bottle of cold medicine to lose consciousness.

Before Brandes was killed, the two attempted to eat parts of the man's body together. Meiwes, according to previous testimony, ate more after the killing.