Anthropophagy by Agreement
It is a history teacher’s reverie theoretical, the sort of story everyone would giggle at as an instance so mindboggling as to be impossible. Presuming two middle-aged youth, a man and a woman meet over a renowned social media platform. One had a prolonged yearning to eat another human being; the other had experienced an enduring yearning to be eaten. These youth have engaged in deep, repeated conversations exchanging consent, videotaping their agreement, signing an official ‘willingness pact’, and executing other actions showing the final determination of the man-eater as well as the victim. Presuming, further, that the victim lures the cannibal to complete his heinous act upon the latter losing his nerve. What if both agree to capture the entire progression on a videotape? Presume that the man-eater, who is sound-minded, had previously released multiple potential victims because they apparently failed to give him the same level of repeated, autonomous, and free consent.
What if, while both youths displayed some level of emotional unwellness, they could uphold friendships, embrace executive level responsibilities, and take on numerous daily duties and tasks? What if, finally, these men lived in a legislative government that did not penalize flesh-eating but considered assisted suicide attracting light punishment? May the man-eater devour the ‘victim’ under such conditions? Such a horrifying case happened in Spain between 2008 April 6th -18th. The trial and the facts thrilled the country and a significant proportion of the globe. Two Spaniard youths, Greg Mendes and Carolyn Sanchez, were involved in this type of deed, resulting in Sanchez’s slaughter and ultimate consumption.
One can narrate the exhausted cliches about Carolyn’s troubled family background and how her timid, unresponsive father duped the family when she was still quite young. About her mother, a determined dominatrix of a lady who rose over the family clan, rejecting and commanding her closest family and allies. Carolyn loved feigning that she had been slain and often spread tomato ketchup across her body to look like blood and recently torn flesh. At ages thirteen and fourteen, she would lie on the ground for hours with mutilated dolls, tomato sauce oozing across her neck and dripping across her body. On the foundation of her imagination alone, Carolyn affirmed that, “I have realized that my greatest desire is to be a cannibal’s meal at some point in my life”.
Witches are wicked, a spring of sin, foulness, adulteration, pollution, the disgusting odor of blood, and the declaration of bereavement. This was the most commonly taught Spaniard tradition. Most individuals would typically escape from these affiliations. Still, as an adolescent, Mendes was drawn into the dark world by Bernus von Levi, the most renowned witch and Demonic priest in entire Spain. Bernus integrated his mythical interests with an appetite for esoteric spirituality and alchemy. The field, as Bernus comprehended it, deliberated on those bold enough to initiate close interaction with the occult, join its ranks of bizarre concealed powers, and with the aptitude to work with profound spiritual and natural transformations. Mendes learned these strange lessons and incorporated them into his daily activities.
Bernus took a warm fondness to the inquisitive adolescent Mendes since they were close neighbors. His home, located next to Mendes’ family residence, was coated in profuse black and red paint. The doorbell was a skull’s head with a tongue popping out on the red-painted front door. He used Lucifer’s pictures to decorate his walls and established an altar to the devil, complete with candles, a dagger, and a black mirror. Von Levi frequently invited Mendes to his home to spend time together, introducing him to his Satanic illusions about the Brothers Grimm and the entire occult realm of the dark world. Von Levi steered him into the red-painted, finely-polished inner sanctum that contained the altar to the Devil and celebrated Fiendish masses, asking the spirits of Hell to unveil their power. Mendes was quite inquisitive asking, “Why do you love human flesh?” and Von Levi responded, “I love the taste of human flesh and blood because it is the source of my extra-terrestrial powers.” This enhanced Mendes’ desire for human flesh, but Mendes did not want to devour people who did not want to be eaten, unlike Von Levi.
On 6th April 2008, Carolyn Sanchez said to Mendes, ‘I would like us to initiate an in-person meeting with you because my greatest desire is to be eaten by a fellow human being’ Mendes and Sanchez had met on social media, conversing, and connecting a few weeks earlier. Mendes responded, “Let us meet in the evening, I will send you the exact location in the afternoon, I desire to eat your flesh because you have willingly consented.” Interestingly, Carolyn recorded their conversations on her mobile device and stored them on her personal computer. Both parties agreed to meet at Bernus von Levi’s house for the deadly procedure. They concurred to capture the entire procedure on a tape after both had exchanged their consents and signed a mutual agreement. However, Carolyn did not inform Mendes that she had shared her computer logins with Willis Silva, her colleague.
Carolyn visited Mendes at Von Levi’s house for the fatal and excruciating procedure. Little did they know that recording such heinous acts would expose Mendes and Von Levi’s cruelty and love for human flesh. Upon entry into Von Levi’s house, Carolyn saw human hands, legs, skulls, bones, and freshly cooked soup containing human body parts; these were Von Levi’s recent victims. Mendes welcomed her asking, “Are you ready to be my dinner?” Carolyn answered, “Yes, I am ready and willing”. She took out the camera, placed it at the right spot for optimal recording, and asked Mendes to sign the agreement after she had signed it. Von Levi was out of the house when all this happened, but he would never allow anyone to video record his house, posing a higher risk of exposure to the public. Mendes shackled her victim and started cutting off her ears, nose, and mouth, boiling them and eating them as he watched her wailing in pain. The tape recorded the cry of an emaciated and famished Carolyn, undergoing slow but agonizing slaughter. The video was stored on Carolyn’s Google Drive, a cloud-based storage system linked to her personal computer.
Carolyn’s sudden disappearance raised concerns at her workplace, home, and among her friends, who all resorted to looking for her since she had not explained her departure and disappearance to anyone. Von Levi also joined Mendes in devouring Carolyn’s fresh flesh without knowing that Carolyn had placed a hidden phone in the room. The concerned parties filed a missing person’s report to the local police department to ensure that Carolyn returned home safely. Her personal computer was retrieved to assist in the ongoing investigation. Willis Silva collaborated with the police, logging in to Carolyn’s Google Drive account, and everyone was dismayed by the discoveries they made. Carolyn had used her phone to record the deadly Mendes procedure uploading it directly to her Google Drive. However, the phone’s battery was depleted less than 12 hours after the initiation of the procedure, but the crucial evidence was already saved.
This event raised a million questions in the police officers’ minds and perplexed anyone else who saw the video. Unfortunately, Carolyn had already died due to over bleeding caused by her sustained injuries. The video led the police to the crime scene, which led to the arrest of both Mendes and Von Levi, who were taken into custody for questioning. Von Levi confessed, “I kill human beings for food and also sell their vital body parts.” This is because checks and money were recovered in his house despite seeming insane. On the other hand, Mendes affirmed, “I have not committed a criminal offense because it was Carolyn’s lifelong wish to be eaten by another human being.” Mendes believed that Von Levi possessed the power of death and life itself. Von Levi added, “I have sent more than twenty-five people to everlasting damnation through a sacramental distance killing.” He bewitched them to their demise and made each instance seem like a coincidence. After their apprehension, a court-appointed psychiatrist assessing Mendes concluded that all happenings in Mendes’ life occurred at a fantasy level. He added, “Mendes’ affiliation with Von Levi provided little assistance in differentiating illusions from reality.” Having Von Levi as a guide and mentor made it tedious to uphold a close linkage with the reality of the here and now. Both men were tried at a Sociedad magistrate court while remanded at the Madrid maximum prison. Both were sentenced to fifteen years in prison despite pleading that they were innocent.
