Music, movies, and other forms of entertainment can portray many things, be they good or bad. It is necessary to discuss a broad diversity of things because the reality of life includes the beautiful as well as the horrible. However, it is a good reminder that while focus is important, too much focus on a particular topic can bring about unhealthy results, and this effect becomes compounded if the nature of the topic itself is unhealthy. For some people, such types of compulsive focus can result in pathologies, addictions, and even deadly consequences for oneself or for others.
In the case of one student, he became abnormally interested with the film Silence of the Lambs, and then tried to replicate the actions of Hannibal Lecter. He turned up the music in his room and told his victim that a package had arrived for him. When the other student arrived, he attacked him and beat him with a hammer in his head until he died. He then carved up the student’s body and put the parts into plastic bags. However, he made sure to carefully remove the liver of the deceased, which he then ate:
A Hannibal Lecter fan confessed to caving in a fellow student’s head with a hammer before allegedly eating his liver, a court heard.
Lawyer Christian Stuenkel, who represents the family of the victim, said the fictional serial killer was the accused’s biggest idol and he “watched all the films and series again and again.”
The suspect, who was only identified as 24-year-old Vietnamese student Nhat T., appeared for the first time in the district court of Gera in the German state of Thuringia.
Like his hero Lecter, the main character in the series of novels written by Thomas Harris and portrayed onscreen by Anthony Hopkins, Nhat T. was handcuffed as he was led into the courtroom.
Lacking Lecter’s trademark face mask, which covers his mouth and nose, he instead hid his face inside his hoodie.
In August 2018, the student, who attended university in the central German city of Jena, gave himself up to cops and reportedly admitted to killing his Chinese classmate Chenxi L earlier the same month.
During the trial, the court hopes to find out what Nhat T. did with the body after he allegedly smashed the victim’s head in with a hammer.
Investigators found the body of the Chinese student, 27, hacked to pieces and stuffed into plastic bags.
Some body parts were found by a special diving team in the River Saale while the victim’s head was found under a bridge.
Prosecutor Martin Zschaechner confirmed that the victim’s liver was missing from its body and an autopsy showed signs of it being removed by a sharp instrument such as a knife.
As the liver was never found, prosecutors believe the suspect might have eaten it given his great fondness of his flesh-eating hero Lecter.
“The film ‘Hannibal’ definitely played a big role in the defendant’s life. The liver was selectively removed (from the body),” Zschaechner said.
The prosecutor was referring to the 1991 Oscar-winning movie “The Silence of the Lambs” when the infamous cannibal psychiatrist says his famous line: “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”
According to the prosecutors, Nhat T. lured Chenxi L. into his student flat by telling him that a package had arrived for him, turning up the music volume and striking him with a hammer.
Afterward, he allegedly hacked the body into pieces in the bathtub.
Prosecutors suspect the defendant might suffer from schizophrenia.
A mental assessment by a court psychologist has been ordered to find out more about the Vietnamese student’s state of mind.
According to the prosecution, Nhat T. searched for terms such as “Hannibal Lecter,” “secure killing methods” and “psychological illnesses” around 30,000 times on the internet before the murder.
Before the murder inside student housing accommodation in Jena, the suspect allegedly watched “The Silence of the Lambs” several times and the sequel, “Hannibal.”
Investigators also suspect that the student acted out of greed as he stole the victim’s computer and mobile phone and ordered expensive goods on the internet using his money.