Top 10 Most Notorious Cannibals

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Of all the most heinous and revered crimes fathomable, it would seem that cannibalism is very near the top of the pile. The act of orally consuming a member of one’s own species, cannibalism is a concept most un-orthodox with human beings. While many of the creatures with which we share this Earth see little problem in eating a friend, associate or family member, if not purely in the name of survival, we humans hold a prolonged and immovable dissatisfaction with the idea. Well, for the most part. Throughout history both ancient and contemporary there have been several cases involving human cannibalism, usually alongside murder, which I suppose is unsurprising. Aside from myths of cannibalistic indigenous tribes of the Pacific and the Amazon, there are a string of recorded cannibalistic acts, and their prime culprits, which we may draw upon in order to compose this list. Each one selected possesses a back story which I feel to be worthy of noting, though I’ll be first to admit that they all kinda do end in the same way…

10. Alexander Spesivtsev

Born in Kemerovo Oblast, south western Siberia in 1970, Alexander Spesivtsev is believed to have murdered as many as 82 people before being apprehended by authorities in 1996. While many of the stats and facts associated with Russians heinous crimes are hazy, as is common in such instances of high-scale homicide, it is confirmed that he cannibalized at least 19 of his victims. Primarily preying on children, Spesivtsev was first convicted of murder in 1991 after detaining, torturing and as a result directly causing the death of his then girlfriend, after she attempted to break up with him. Following this instance, the young man was diagnosed as being schizophrenic and let off lightly with a mere three year stint in a psychiatric clinic. He was released after showing signs of improvement, though soon embarked on a murderous spree with the help of his own mother.

9. Joachim Kroll

Joachim Kroll was a murderer and cannibal born in southern Germany in 1933. Committing a series of atrocious crimes throughout the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, he was convicted upon trial of murdering a total of eight victims, though admitted to fourteen. Of all his victims, only one was male- and died as a result of an attack Kroll launched on both him and his girlfriend. Despite there being much evidence to suggest that Kroll was of below average intelligence, it was his deceptive and careful methods when committing his crimes that allowed him to evade the authorities for so long. A total of 21 years were allowed to pass between his first crime and his last- with him being caught in 1976 following the investigation into the disappearance of his last victim, four-year-old Marion Ketter. The majority of Kroll’s crimes are believed to have been sexually motivated.

8. Yoo Young-chul

A native of Gochang, South Korea- Yoo Young-chul was born in 1970, though did not start acting on his murderous urges until the age of 33. Committing a series of previous, less severe crimes throughout his formative years, this culminated in Young-chul taking some 21 lives between September 2003 and July 2004. Mainly targeting prostitutes and wealth elderly men, it is believed that his primary motivation was a growing disillusionment with societal tendencies in his homeland. Following the murder of his sixth victim in the Spring of 2004, Young-chul failed to alternate his methods of both seizing and disposing of his victims (luring a call girl to his home, dumping her body on a construction site) while simultaneously increasing his murderous productivity. He was soon caught and sentenced to death.

7. Big Lurch

Born Antron Singleton in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1976- ‘Big Lurch’ is a rapper perhaps known more-so for the crime he committed eleven years ago than the music he created prior to this time. In the April of 2002, he was apprehended by police while standing fully naked in the middle of a Los Angeles street, covered in blood and staring at the sky. The day previous to this occurrence he is believed to have murdered and partly cannibalized a female friend of his after the pair had indulged in Phencyclidine (PCP).

6. Armin Meiwes

While the name may not ring a bell instantly, many of you may already be aware of the crime committed by 51-year-old German man Armin Meiwes back in 2001. Upon posting an advert on the website ‘Cannibal Café’ requesting that a ‘well-built’ 18-30 year-old offer themselves up in order to be ‘slaughtered and then consumed’ by the lowly computer repair technician, he, somewhat surprisingly, is said to have received many responses. All but one of these would be volunteers did eventually back out, except his eventual ‘victim’, fellow German Bernd Jurgen Brandes. The two soon arranged to meet and carry out their agreed activity- with Meiwes first severing Brandes’ penis and attempting to eat it, before stabbing him to death, butchering him and proceeding to eat over 40lb of his flesh over a 10-month period.

5. Andrei Chikatilo

Born in Yablochnoye, Ukraine (USSR), in 1936, Andrei Chikatilo is one of the most infamous criminals in his nation’s history. Admitting to the sexual assault, murder, mutilation and cannibalism of some 56 women and children between the years of 1978 and 1990- Chikatilo was convicted of 52 counts and sentenced to death in October 1992. He was executed via method of single gunshot on 14th February, 1994.

4. Jeffrey Dahmer

Convicted of murdering a total of seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most loathed criminals in contemporary American history. Born in West Allis, Wisconsin in 1960- Jeffrey led an increasingly secluded existence throughout his earlier years, displaying many of the tell-tale signs now synonymous amongst professionals with potential killers. Following high school Dahmer attended Ohio State University for a short time and even served in the Army before being kicked out as a result of his growing problems with alcohol. He committed his first murder aged 18 in the summer of 1978 after picking up a hitchhiker (Stephen Hicks) with the intention of drinking beer and having sex with him. Presumably he kept the latter activity to himself as when Hicks tried to leave, he was bludgeoned to death with a dumbbell and buried in the yard. Nine years passed before Dahmer killed again, though after all that time the nature and intent of his crimes appeared to have remained the same. Incarcerated after an extensive trial which saw the likes of rape, dismemberment, necrophilia, cannibalism and of course murder come to light - he was beaten to death by a fellow inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institute in Portage, Wisconsin while serving fifteen life terms.

3. Stella Maris Rugby Team

Another extremely famous tale of cannibalism, however one motivated by sheer urge for survival as opposed to menacing impulsion. On Friday October 13th 1972, a Rugby team comprised of alumni of the Uruguayan Stella Maris College, as well as their coaching staff and selective friends and family, were aboard a private flight when it crashed into the Andes on its way to Santiago, Chile. While around one quarter of the 45 people on board were killed upon impact, the survivors remained stranded in the punishing sub-zero conditions for over two months. Surviving by consuming the flesh of the crashes fatalities, the story of the Andes Flight Disaster have since been immortalized in several works of literature, TV and film.

2. Issei Sagawa

The story of Issei Sagawa is one which acts to fully immerse, astonish and somewhat disgust most of those who hear it. Born in Kobe, Japan in 1949, Issei left his home country aged 28 to travel to Paris in order to study for his PhD in literature. When in the French capital, he met a young Dutch woman by the name of Renee Hartevelt, befriended her, murdered her and proceeded to eat parts of her. Born with several defects, Sagawa stands under 5ft in height and has always considered himself weak and puny. He states that he selected his victim on account of her beauty and health, believing that by consuming her he may too possess such traits. He was soon caught after attempting to dispose of Renne’s remains in a nearby lake and detained by French authorities. Though held for a couple of years in France, he was extradited to his home land- where he served a short time in a mental facility before being released. Today he holds minor celebrity status in Japan, and has made a living through providing interviews and media detail of his crime.

1. Albert Fish

Travelling farther back in time than we have done so previous to this top spot, we arrive at Albert Fish, a famous American serial killer known by many as the ‘Gray Man’. Born in Washington DC in 1870, Fish came from a family with a known history of severe mental illness, and as a child soon displayed signs that he too would follow suit. What began as bizarre acts of self-harm and perversion soon manifested into the infliction of violence and grief upon others, in particular children. In the 65 years of life as a free man Fish enjoyed up until his arrest in 1935, he claimed to have ‘had a child in every state’, stating on several occasions that his victims numbered in the hundreds. Tried and convicted with the kidnap and murder of just one victim, a 10-year-old girl by the name of Grace Budd, Fish was executed by electric chair on January 16th, 1936. Surely a testament to how much crime-fighting has developed in the past century.

~Blog Admin~