A former German police officer has been found guilty of murdering a businessman he met on a website catering to cannibalism fetishists. Detlev Guenzel, 56, strangled and dismembered 59-year-old Wojciech Stempniewicz at a bed-and-breakfast run by Guenzel in eastern Germany in 2013.
Prosecutors could not confirm that Guenzel had eaten any part of the victim, but some body parts were never recovered. The pair met in October 2013 on a website for slaughter and cannibalism fantasies, which described itself as the '#1 site for exotic meat' with over 3,000 registered members.
Guenzel initially confessed to cutting the victim's throat but later retracted the statement. The defence argued that Stempniewicz had a death wish and had hanged himself in Guenzel's cellar 'S&M studio' before Guenzel used a knife and electric saw on the bound man. Investigators could not definitively determine the cause of death due to the poor condition of the corpse.
A macabre home video made by Guenzel was played during the trial, showing him covered in blood while mutilating the body. In the video, he murmurs, 'I never thought I would sink so low.' The defendant reportedly broke down when the footage was shown, telling the judge he had made a mistake but was not a murderer.
Lawyers for Stempniewicz's family sought a 15-year sentence for Guenzel, who is a father of three and was described by neighbours as affable and courteous. The case echoes the 2001 murder of Bernd Juergen Brandes by Armin Meiwes, who is serving life for killing and eating parts of his consenting victim.
