German 'cannibal' facing murder trial

The retrial of a German whose conviction for killing and eating a man was overturned after prosecutors appealed in hopes of securing a tougher sentence has begun in Frankfurt.

Armin Meiwes, 44, could face life in prison if convicted of murder in a case that both appalled and fascinated Germans. The trial is expected to continue until early March.

In early 2004, a court in the central city of Kassel convicted Meiwes of manslaughter and sentenced him to eight-and-a-half years in prison.

He was spared a murder conviction, with the court arguing that both perpetrator and victim used each other as means to an “ultimate climax”.