The Famous Cannibal Who Got Away with Murder

He found the perfect woman, then ate her.

S.A. Ozbourne
13 min readFeb 17, 2021
Renée Hartevelt (Source: Twitter.com)

Murder and rape are usually regarded as the vilest and violent crimes a human can do to another human. The shock and reality that people can sometimes be cruel and unforgiving grow with every story in the news. But sometimes, there are crimes committed that are even more unbelievable and extreme that it’s hard to imagine they were committed by a person.

One such crime is the one committed by Issei Sagawa on a Dutch woman named Renée Hartevelt. Luckily she was shot in the back of the neck and died quickly so she did not have to witness all the things Issei did to her. Issei decided to take Renée’s corpse and sexually assault it, mutilate it, eat parts of it raw and cooked, and dispose of it in suitcases. And despite being caught a couple of days later, he was released and lives off his fame as a cannibal.

Why did Issei have such urges? Why did he pick Renée? And most importantly, how did someone who is such a danger to society get only two years of punishment before going back to his regular life? This is the story of Issei Sagawa, a cannibal who is proud of his crime, makes money from his books and television appearances, and even talks of doing it again.

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S.A. Ozbourne

Canadian in Japan. Teacher, Crime writer, video editor, and pet lover. Follow my journey via my monthly newsletter: https://bit.ly/team-ozsome-subscribe