(Berlin) The man known as the ‘Cannibal of Kassel’ has been denied a retrial by Germany’s highest court.

The ruling Friday by the Federal Constitutional Court is the end of the appeal process for Armin Meiwes, who is serving a life sentence for murdering and eating Bernd Juergen Brandes in 2001.

Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter in 2004 and sentenced to more than eight years in prison after the jury found Brandes had been a willing victim.

Prosecutors appealed the conviction, arguing the court should have found Meiwes guilty of murder. In 2006, at his second trial, Meiwes was convicted of murder and sentenced to life.

In his appeal to the Constitutional Court, Meiwes argued the Brandes’ death should have been classified as a mercy killing and maintained that his sentence was disproportionate.

Meiwes and Brandes met through an internet bulletin board for gay men interested in a cannibalism fetish.

“If you are between 18 and 25 years old you are my boy. Come to me and I eat your horny flesh,” his ad said.

The case came to light when Meiwes posted more ads for additional victims, and readers of the postings contacted police.

When police searched Meiwes’ home, they discovered neatly wrapped body parts in plastic bags which were labeled “according to cuts.”  Bones and other “non edibles” were found buried in the garden. Meiwes told police he already had consumed about 40 pounds of Brandes’s body.

He told police that the two men had enjoyed a final meal together. Brandes had agreed to be castrated and the two sautéed his penis and testicles.  They washed down the meal with a German white wine.

Testifying in his own defense, Meiwes said that he hoped Brandes, 43, would “die all by himself” from having his penis cut off.

Meiwes, who was been dubbed the ‘Cannibal of Kassel’ after the town where he lived, told the court that he had prayed for God’s forgiveness for both himself and for Brandes just before he severed the man’s throat.

The ruling by the German high court came less than a week after a gay man in Britain was handed a life sentence for murdering a male sex partner and then cannibalizing part of the body.

Anthony Morley was guilty in the killing of Damian Oldfield, 33.

During the trial, Morley – the winner of the Mr. Gay UK contest in 1993 – told the court that he had been grappling with his sexuality and had snapped on the night of the murder. He also testified that he did not remember most of the events after the murder.

A stunned courtroom was told by prosecution witnesses that, based on forensic tests on parts of Oldfield’s body found in Morley’s apartment, portions of Morley’s leg and chest had been sliced off.

They were then rubbed with olive oil and herbs and fried. Morley, who had worked as a chef, then consumed portions of the “meal.”