German ‘cannibal victim’ bled to death after penis was severed, court hears

A man suspected of being the victim of an alleged German cannibal killer died from severe blood loss when his penis was chopped off, a court has heard. 

Stefan Trogisch, 43, was allegedly murdered by school teacher Stefan R, 43, in the latter’s apartment on Parkstrasse, Berlin, on September 6 last year. 

An autopsy on Tuesday revealed the cause of death was a fatal loss of blood from the pelvic area due to a severed artery, reported German newspaper Bild. 

The horrific revelation contradicts the defendant’s claim that he found Mr Trogisch, an electrical mechanic, lifeless on his couch after a drug and alcohol-fuelled sex session. 

It also counteracts his earlier testimony that he cut off the victim’s penis after he found him dead – because he feared his saliva would be found on Mr Trogisch after he performed oral sex on him and ‘it would have come out that I am homosexual.’ 

The maths and chemistry teacher previously told the court:  ‘I shook him, he didn’t react. 

‘I panicked and did cardiac massage and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.’  

The defendant added that he believed the cocktail of narcotics and alcohol may have led to the victim’s sudden death.

But Michael Tsokos, a forensic specialist, told the court that the autopsy finding ruled out any alcohol or drug-related hypotheses. 

Trogisch is believed to have met suspected cannibal murderer Stefan R (pictured), 41, at his apartment after meeting on a gay dating website

Stefan Trogisch, 43, (left) was allegedly murdered by school teacher Stefan R (right), 43, in the latter’s apartment on Parkstrasse, Berlin, on September 6 last year. An autopsy on Tuesday revealed the cause of death was a fatal loss of blood from the pelvic area due to a severed artery, reported German newspaper Bild.

Stefan R cited his fear of being outed for his decision to not call emergency services. 

He decided instead ‘that the body must go’ and to separate the deceased man’s genitals from the rest of the corpse and bury them separately.

The teacher had met the victim just hours before the alleged murder on a dating app.

The trial, which started on August 8, revealed that the defendant appeared as ‘Spieltrieb1976’ on dating forums and ‘Serenus’ on human slaughter forums, and sought an answer to the question: ‘Does skin grow over a penis once it’s removed?’

The court heard how after looking up online terms associated with cannibalism such as ‘long pig’ and ‘fatten and slaughter people’ on the dark net, the suspect learned from an online friend that a freezer could help put his dark plans into action.

He bought a €176 (£150) freezer five days before his date with Mr Trogisch and told his sister he planned to keep pizza in it when she asked what he wanted it for.

The court heard how the suspect prepared for the date by placing a three-part butcher knife set and a bone saw next to his bedroom cupboard and a sex swing in the living room.

Cops later found that he had left a sign on a window ledge that said: ‘Instructions for emasculating and slaughtering a person.’

The alleged victim (pictured) had been reported missing by his flatmates in early September

The alleged victim (pictured) had been reported missing by his flatmates in early September

Unaware of the teacher’s plan, Mr Trogisch took a cab and headed to the defendant’s address, where it is alleged he was later chopped into pieces that were dumped in various locations around the German capital.

Just hours after committing the crime, the suspect is alleged to have logged back into the human slaughter forum where he proudly told a man from the city of Bremen: ‘I have it [the penis] now!’

The suspect was caught when police found 25 kilogrammes (55 lbs) of a sodium hydroxide cleaning agent in his apartment that was described by the police as ‘suitable for dissolving human tissue’.

Investigators also found traces of the victim’s blood in the hallway after body parts began to appear around the city.

The teacher, who was also active on gay forums, was charged with murder on May 18.

The suspect maintains his innocence and claims that his references online to cannibalism were just fantasies and he never planned to carry them out in reality.

The trial against him is still ongoing with the next hearing scheduled for November 12.  

Mr Trogisch had been reported missing by his flatmates in early September last year after leaving his apartment in Lichtenberg shortly before midnight on September 5 and failing to return. 

After the pieces of leg bone were found in a park on November 8, police had two sniffer dogs independently follow the trail from different points in the city. 

Both of the dogs led investigators to Stefan R’s flat in Pankow, where detectives reportedly found a bone saw with human blood on it as well as a supply of chemicals and an empty cooler.

The suspect initially told police he wanted to use the chemicals to make soap. 

Traces of the alleged victim’s blood were also found at the apartment after forensic tests, according to the Berliner Morgenpost, leading to Stefan R’s arrest.   

Detectives immediately found evidence from Stefan R’s internet history which suggested he was interested in cannibalism. 

On one forum, he was answering other people’s questions about whether it was possible to survive a genital amputation – saying that ‘in my experience’ some people desired it in order to feel like women or to take masochistic pleasure in it.  

‘The suspect had an interest in cannibalism,’ said prosecutors’ office spokesman Martin Steltner. ‘He searched online for the topic.’  

In addition, the bare bones found by pedestrians in the park raised suspicion that the flesh had been artificially removed. 

‘Because of the completely fleshless bone, and other evidence, we strongly suspect that Stefan T was the victim of a cannibal,’ a police spokesman said at the time.  

Mr Trogisch had not told his flatmates where he was going when he left his East Berlin flat. 

However, authorities had previously stated that he was known to use dating apps to meet male and female partners. 

The case has sparked comparisons to a notorious early-2000s cannibal murder in which the killer said his victim was a willing participant. 

Armin Meiwes is serving a life sentence over the 2001 killing of Bernd Juergen Brandes, who he claims answered his online call seeking a young man for ‘slaughter and consumption’. 

The case has sparked comparisons to that of self-confessed cannibal Armin Meiwes (pictured) who murdered and ate a man in 2002

The case has sparked comparisons to that of self-confessed cannibal Armin Meiwes (pictured) who murdered and ate a man in 2002 

Brandes, an IT manager, had posted an advert for someone to ‘obliterate his life and leave no trace’. 

After Brandes travelled by train to meet Meiwes, the killer videotaped himself severing his visitor’s genitals with a knife before both men tried to eat them. 

‘Bernd came to me of his own free will to end his life,’ Meiwes claimed, saying his victim had wanted to be stabbed to death after overdosing to lose consciousness.

Meiwes was originally convicted of manslaughter in 2004, but federal judges later quashed that verdict and he was found guilty of murder at a retrial in 2006. 

The court in Frankfurt said Meiwes was psychologically ill but fully aware of his actions. 

Judges also rejected the defence’s argument that the act was similar to euthanasia, which is illegal but would have carried a shorter sentence. 

Two years ago, a court rejected Meiwes’s bid to leave prison after 15 years, saying there was ‘currently no favourable outlook’ for his future behaviour. 

In a separate case, a German police officer was convicted of murder in 2015 for killing a man he met in an internet chat forum devoted to cannibalism. 

Prosecutors said the victim had fantasized about being eaten, but there was no evidence the suspect actually did so. 

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