German police arrest man suspected of murder and ‘cannibalism’

Victim’s remains found near suspect’s home in northern Berlin

A policeman with a tracker dog is searching for a missing man in Berlin, Germany (AP)

German prosecutors have said there is evidence of “cannibalism” in the murder of a man whose remains were found in a park in northern Berlin earlier in November.

Police arrested a 41-year-old man on Thursday on suspicion of murder with sexual motives at his home, which was located near the site where the victim’s bones were found.

The remains belonged to a 44-year-old man who went missing two months ago, according to German media.

A spokesperson for Berlin’s prosecutors’ office, Martin Steltner, told The Associated Press that the suspect had “an interest in cannibalism” and had “searched online for the topic”.

Mr Steltner said it was unclear whether the victim also had an interest in cannibalism. He said the two men, both Germans, had been in contact with one another online.

A police officer told Berlin newspaper BZ that one bone was “totally devoid of flesh”, adding that there were other indications “which make us strongly suspect that [the victim] was the victim of a cannibal”.

Sniffer dogs led investigators to the suspect’s apartment, where they reportedly found blood in a freezer, as well as a medical bone saw in the basement.

The case has been compared to that of Armin Meiwes, a German man who was jailed for life in 2006 for murder and disturbing the peace after he killed a man he had met online and ate him.

There was also the 2015 case of a German police who was convicted of murder for killing a man he met in an online forum devoted to cannibalism.

Prosecutors said at the time the victim fantasised about being eaten, but there was no evidence that the suspect actually consumed him.