Stefan Trogisch, 44, went missing after meeting the teacher on a gay hook-up app.
An alleged cannibal has appeared in court accused of murdering and eating his lover, Stefan Trogisch.
The 41-year-old secondary school teacher, identified only as Stefan R, went to trial on Tuesday (10 August). He has been charged in Germany with the murder of Trogisch, 43, and accused of eating parts of his body.
The two men met on a gay hook-up site on 5 September, 2020, prosecutors told the Berlin court, and hours later returned to Stefan R’s apartment to have sex.
Trogisch, a power line technician, was reported missing by his flatmates when he didn’t come home, but there were no leads until two months later, when a dog walker found the victim’s thigh bone in a park.
After the alleged murder, Stefan R is accused of chopping up Trogish’s body, eating parts of him, and dispersing other parts around Berlin.
Further body parts were gradually located around the city, but according to BZ Berlin some are still missing, including his penis.
When officers searched the home of the accused, prosecutor Martin Glage said police found a vast quantity of Trogisch’s blood in the house.
They also found a bone saw with human blood on it, chemicals “suitable for dissolving human tissue” and an empty cooler.
The accused had been posting about cannibalism on forums before he allegedly murdered Stefan Trogisch
Stefan R’s computer showed investigators that he had been discussing cannibalism on forums in the months leading up to Trogisch’s death, and that his username for a gay dating site was “MasterButcher79”.
Glage said the teacher killed Stefan Trogisch “because he was looking for sexual satisfaction through the killing and wanted to eat parts of the corpse”.
Although judge Matthias Schertz tried to question the defendant, who was hidden behind a screen in court, he refused to comment. The first day of the trial lasted just 16 minutes.
Stefan R is set to return to court on Tuesday (17 August). The verdict in the case is due on 21 October, 2021, and if Stefan R is convicted, he could face life in prison.