Issei Sagawa was born in Japan in 1949 of weathy parents. As a youth, he indulged in bestiality with his pet dog. At the age of 23, he broke into the Tokyo residence of a German women with the intent to consume a gobbet of her flesh. She resisted, and Sagawa escaped unsatiated. He was charged with attempted rape when he failed to reveal to the police his true motivation for the attack.
At the age of 28, he emigrated to France to acquire a Ph.D. in literature at the Sorbonne University. While there, he frequently brought home prostitutes with the intent of shooting them, but he could never force himself to pull the trigger.
In 1981, Sagawa invited a classmate home for dinner but failed to advise her in advance that she was going to be the main course. He was apprehended by the French authorities after he threw the unconsumed portions of her body into a lake.
Sagawa's wealthy father provided him with the best legal assistance available, and the French court determined that he was demented and insane, dropped the criminal charges, and ordered him confined to a mental hospital. After noted author Inuhiko Yomota wrote a book about his exploits, Sagawa achieved celebrity status. The French government, not pleased about the publicity the case was engendering, deported Sagawa to Japan where he was promptly confined to a mental institution.
France sealed its records on the case and refused to provide them to the Japanese authorities. In addition, Sagawa had not been convicted of any crime in connection with the classmate consumption. Consequently, Sagawa's escapades in France could not serve as a basis to deprive him of his liberty. The Japanese psychiatrists all concluded that he was a pervert but that he was not insane and that he knew all along exactly what he was doing. In other words, he was simply evil. However, because Sagawa had not committed a crime in Japan, he was able to check himself out of the hospital in 1986 and has been a free man ever since.
The reason we know as much as we do about the exploits and intentions of Sagawa arises from the fact that he has made a career out of writing about and lecturing about his horrific acts. The closest thing to remorse that he has expressed is his opining that having a reputation as a murderer and cannibal is a terrible punishment.
As noted in Wikipedia, "Sagawa's continued freedom has been widely criticized." Well, duh.
As noted in Wikipedia, "Sagawa's continued freedom has been widely criticized." Well, duh.
For further information on Sagawa, click here.
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