'With every piece of flesh I ate I remembered him.'

A 42-YEAR-OLD German yesterday admitted killing, dismembering and eating the flesh of another man whom he had recruited on the internet but said his victim had been willing.

Armin Meiwes, a computer expert who lived in a half-timbered former manor in the town of Rotenburg, found his 43-year-old victim in cyberspace and killed him after they met in March 2001.

Prosecutors say the killing was sexually motivated and filed murder charges, despite concluding that the killing had the victim's consent.

Meiwes is accused of stabbing software engineer Bernd Juergen Brandes, 42, in the throat.

Some legal experts say a murder conviction could be difficult to reach as the victim wanted to be eaten.

Meiwes, a former soldier, appearing relaxed in a dark suit and tie, told the Kassel state court in detailed testimony yesterday that his victim arrived on March 9 2001, and soon undressed.

"Now you can see my body. I hope you'll find me tasty," Meiwes quoted his visitor as saying.

The victim later said he wanted to be stabbed to death after drinking a bottle of cold medicine to lose consciousness, Meiwes testified.

Meiwes said he stabbed his victim the next morning, believing he was already dead, and recorded his act on a videotape that is being used as evidence.

"I kissed him once more, prayed and pleaded for forgiveness," Meiwes told the court.

Defence lawyers argue Meiwes should not be charged with murder, saying the killing a form of mercy killing. Meiwes faces life in prison if convicted of murder.

Meiwes's lawyer Harald Ermel said it took the victim nearly 10 hours to bleed to death and that he had repeatedly urged Meiwes to keep on cutting him.

The computer technician then cut up the body and stored parts in his freezer. "He believes he ate about 20 kilograms and there were about 10 kilograms left over," said Mr Ermel. "He defrosted it little by little and ate it."

He buried other dismembered parts the garden. Police who searched Meiwes' home found human flesh and bones.

Meiwes said he ate about 44 pounds of his victim: "With every piece of flesh I ate I remembered him. It was like taking communion."

Of his victim, he said: "He told me he had the desire since he was a child to be slaughtered and eaten.

"He was very intelligent and I didn't see any sign that he was disturbed."

Meiwes said of the penis severing "It was important to him that his member be cut off and that he witness it. It gave him pleasure."

Meiwes also told the court he felt ignored by his father, and longed for a good-looking younger brother who he could eat.

"I had the fantasy, and in the end I fulfilled it," he said.

Police tracked down and arrested him last December after a student in Austria alerted them to an advert Meiwes had placed on the internet seeking a man willing to be killed and eaten.

Meiwes told the court he began placing internet ads seeking a man to kill and eat after the 1999 death of his mother, whom he described as domineering. He said he received up to 430 e-mails in return. About 200 people on the internet were offering to be slaughtered, 30 ready to do the slaughtering and 10 to 15 wanting to watch, he said.

In a statement to police Meiwes said Brandes was a more than willing victim who allowed his penis to be cut off under mild sedation. Then they ate it cooked with garlic, salt and pepper in a frying pan. The process was recorded on video.

After the meal, Brandes lay in a warm bath to drain his blood. Later that night he was carried to Meiwes's basement to be killed with an 11 inch long knife He was then systematically butchered. This was also videotaped.

Body parts labelled rump, steak and fillet were stored in the deep freeze and cooked on the barbecue over the following year. Police found recipes for human flesh including "the breaded liver of a young man" and "penis in red wine."

Meiwes confessed to washing down chunks of Brandes with South African Cabernet. The flesh, he said, tasted like pork.