Renowned Japanese cannibal Issei Sagawa died of pneumonia on Nov. 24, his brother and a friend said in a statement released by a book publisher.
The killer, known for his memoirs, interviews and a documentary, was buried in a small circle. Sagawa was 73 years old.
While studying abroad in Paris in 1981, he shot and raped a Dutch student in her home and ate parts of her over three days. He was arrested when he tried to dispose of her remains in the Bois de Boulogne park.
Capitalizing on crime
Experts deemed Sagawa mentally ill, so he was placed in a psychiatric clinic in France before being deported to Japan. Japanese authorities believed he was sane, but as the charges in France were dropped, Sagawa was released.
The Japanese man never hid his crime – he even capitalized on it: in his novel-like memoirs (English title: “In the Fog”) he describes the act in detail. He once told the medium “Vice” that he was “obsessed with cannibalism”. “My desire to fuck a woman has turned into an obligation.”