A German police officer suspected of murdering a willing victim he became acquainted with over the Internet went to trial on Friday. Authorities claim that the suspect and the deceased met on a cannibalism fetishist's website, in which both purportedly agreed to create a home-made macabre pornographic video. The suspect was arrested in November 2013 after a police search of his garden, in which investigators found the buried chopped-up body of the victim. Local media sources reveal that authorities are yet to locate the genitals of the deceased. Despite the overwhelming evidence, however, the accused stands firm on his stand that he did not murder the victim.

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According to reports, the German police officer, Detlev Guenzel, 56, butchered Wojciech Stempniewicz, 59, a Polish business consultant from the northern city of Hanover, after initially making contact in the cannibalism fetish website. The cut-up body parts of Stempniewicz were found at Guenzel's home in Gimmlitztal, which is near Hartmannsdorf-Reichenau and south of Dresden. The prosecutors of the case claim that the suspect first murdered his victim and then proceeded to mutilate the body. He subsequently buried the victim in his garden to conceal the crime. With respect to the motive, prosecutors believe that Guenzel did these grisly acts to "satisfy his sexual lust". However, no proof was given to establish whether the suspect ate any body part of Stempniewicz.

"He killed and dismembered him to get sexual stimulation and then later to get sexual stimulation by watching the video he made," described chief prosecutor Andreas Feron to the regional court in the eastern city of Dresden.

On the other hand, defense lawyer Endrik Wilhelm states that Stempniewicz committed suicide by hanging himself. Wilhelm cited the pathology report released after investigating the purported victim's death, which reveal that Stempniewicz died from asphyxiation. Leaning on the strength of this report, the lawyer assures the court that his client, who has been married to his partner for 10 years at the time of the purported murder, is not a killer. Moreover, Wilhelm argued that Stempniewicz had long expressed his desire to die, which he eventually accomplished by hanging himself in Guenzel's custom-designed "S&M studio". The lawyer emphasizes that it was only after Stempniewicz' death did his client take a knife, then an electrical saw, to dismember the body.

The prosecutors are set to present the 50-minute video showing Guenzel butchering Stempniewicz. Wilhelm, however, deems that the clip will strengthen his argument regarding the victim's suicide. He points out that Stempniewicz' knees were bent while he hung. His mouth was also taped shut and his hands were bound behind his back with his consent. "It is clear he could have extended his legs to touch the floor, in which case he would still be alive," Wilhelm claimed.

A member of the police force for 30 years, Guenzel met Stempniewicz a month prior to the alleged crime. The two got to know each other at a chatroom on a cannibalism website, which takes pride as "the #1 site for exotic meat". According to the website's page, over 3,000 people are registered members. After talking in the chatroom, the pair then exchanged a series of text messages. Investigators also found the men's email exchanges entitled "Schlachtfest". This is the German word for a country feast after the slaughter of a pig. They eventually agreed to meet on November 4 at Dresden's main railway station. Guenzel fetched Stempniewicz from the location, then brought him to Hartmannsdorf-Reichenau, where he ran a bed-and-breakfast place.

The trial is scheduled to last until November. In addition to the video, prosecutors intend to present testimonies from roughly 20 witnesses, which also include Stempniewicz' estranged wife. If found guilty of murder and "disturbing the peace of the dead", Guenzel could be sentenced to 15 years in prison.

TagsDetlev Guenzel, Wojciech Stempniewicz, cannibalism, fetish, Dresden, Andreas Feron, S&M, Schlachtfest