I first heard about this case a few years ago from a reddit user. They had linked to a documentary (which I will try to link below) and I found it extremely fascinating.
I think the craziest part of it all is that he technically got away with it and is now free to roam the streets of Japan and on top of that, he's kind of become a celebrity!
Issei Sagawa was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1949. He was born premature and as a result developed an illness called enteritis, so growing up, he wasn't in good health. That's important to keep in mind.
Almost right from the start, he recalled having cannibalistic desires. In an interview with Vice, he mentioned seeing a classmate's thigh while in 1st grade and having the urge to taste it. He also mentioned that aside from his cannibalistic urges, he also partook in bestiality with his dog; though he doesn't mention how old he was or how long it went on for.
At the age of 23, Sagawa decided to succumb to his urges when he decided to follow a German woman home with the hopes of stealing a bit of her flesh to finally get a taste. His plan was to wait until she was sleeping, break into her apartment and cut a bit of her flesh off and leave without being detected. Unfortunately for him, the woman woke up as he was carrying out his plan and understandably, freaked out. She pushed him to the ground and the cops were called. He was charged with attempted rape and he decided not to confess as to what his true motives were.
A few years later, in 1977, Sagawa moved to France to study in Sorbonne in Paris in hopes of obtaining a Ph.D in literature. He admitted that while he lived in Paris, he used to bring prostitutes home almost every night with the sinister plan to shoot them and feast on their flesh but he said that before anything could happen, he "froze" and was unable to pull the trigger.
In 1981, at the age of 32, he would finally get his chance to taste human flesh. On June 11th Sagawa invited his classmate, 25 year old Renée Hartevelt to his apartment under the pretext that he needed her to translate some poetry for a school assignment. His plan was to take her home, shoot her, and then eat her flesh. According to him, he chose Renée because of her beauty and apparent health. He always said that he felt that if he consumed the flesh of an attractive, healthy person, he would "absorb their energy" thus improving his overall wellbeing. Renée sat down at his desk and began reading the poetry. Since her back was facing him, he took the opportunity to shoot her in the neck using a hunting rifle. He admits that he fainted due to the shock of finally having shot someone. When he awoke, he realized there was no turning back and that his plan had to continue.
He started by having sex with her corpse and then tried to bite off a chunk of her flesh but when he realized that it was tougher than he originally expected, he decided to go and purchase a butcher knife.
He returned to his apartment and began carving her body. He primarily consumed her breasts and face, meanwhile, he made sure to document his macabre actions by photographing each step. Once he felt satisfied with what he consumed, he decided to save some of her body parts in the fridge for later. Sagawa realized that he couldn't eat her entire body so he devised a plan to get rid of the evidence. He stuffed the remainder of her body in 2 suitcases and attempted to dump them at Bois de Boulogne but was immediately caught and arrested by French police.
Sagawa's father (who was very wealthy) provided him with criminal defense. He waited 2 years for a trail and finally was found to be 'legally insane' and therefore unfit to stand trial per the French judge Jean-Louis Bruguière. He was sentenced to be held in a mental institution for an indefinite period of time. After all of the attention the case received, Issei Sagawa started gaining notoriety and was even interviewed by a Japanese author who later published the story of his kill under the title In the Fog. It is speculated that due to all of the attention he was receiving, the French government decided to deport him back to Japan. Once back in his home country, he was immediately placed in Matsuzawa hospital where he later underwent a psychiatric evaluation and was deemed sane. According to his report, the sole purpose of his killing was classified as sexual perversion. Because the charges in France were dropped and the records were sealed, he wasn't able to be detained by Japanese authorities and he subsequently checked himself out of the mental institution on August 12, 1986.
Issei Sagawa remains free and is now in his 70's. His freedom has been widely criticized by many.
I'm not able to attach the video directly into this post, but if you click on the link you should be able to see the full 33 minute video.
Before I post the documentary, I want to warn you that there's extremely graphic imagery. If you're squeamish or easily disturbed, do NOT watch the video.
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