Issei Sagawa: The Cannibal Who Walked Free
On a quiet summer day in Paris, 1981, Issei Sagawa—a seemingly unassuming Japanese student—invited his classmate Renée Hartevelt to his modest apartment. Renée, a bright, outgoing Dutch woman, had come to study literature and languages at the Sorbonne. The two had bonded over poetry, intellectual discussions, and a shared passion for culture. Sagawa, diminutive and frail, appeared harmless, even endearing in his awkwardness. Renée accepted his invitation without a second thought, never imagining the horror that awaited her.
That day would become infamous, not only for the gruesome crime that unfolded but also for the shocking legal and societal aftermath that allowed Sagawa to live freely, profiting from his heinous act. To understand the story of Issei Sagawa, one must delve deeper into the life of a man whose dark fantasies, unchecked privilege, and legal loopholes shaped one of the most chilling cases of the 20th century.
Early Life and Background
Issei Sagawa was born on 26 April 1949 into a wealthy and influential family in Kobe, Japan. His father was a successful businessman who ensured that his children wanted for nothing. Sagawa, however, was far from the image of a healthy heir. Born prematurely, he was so small that he could fit in the palm of an adult’s hand. His childhood was marked by ill health, leaving him physically weak and socially isolated.
Even as a child, Sagawa exhibited troubling behaviour. He later confessed that his fascination with cannibalism began at the age of six, triggered by a momentary fixation on his classmate’s thigh, which he likened to the tender flesh of a cut of meat. Unlike other childhood fantasies, this macabre desire never faded. Over time, it grew darker, intertwining with his sexual urges. By his teenage years, Sagawa had developed obsessive fantasies of consuming beautiful women as a means of possessing them entirely.
Academic Ambitions and Obsessive Desires
Despite his physical limitations and troubling thoughts, Sagawa was intelligent and academically gifted. After earning a degree in English literature at Wako University in Tokyo, he set his sights on further education abroad, eventually enrolling in the prestigious Sorbonne in Paris in the late 1970s. For Sagawa, moving to Paris represented more than academic advancement—it was a chance to live among women he idealised: tall, Western, and confident.
On 11 June 1981, Sagawa invited Renée to his apartment, ostensibly to work on a poetry assignment. Renée, trusting and kind-hearted, agreed. She had no reason to suspect her classmate, whose small stature and polite demeanour masked his true intentions. Sagawa planned to kill and eat her, having selected her for her health and beauty, characteristics he felt he lacked. Sagawa considered himself weak, ugly, and small 4 ft 9 inches tall and claimed he wanted to absorb her energy. She was 25 years old 5 ft 10 inches.
After Hartevelt arrived, she began reading poetry at a desk with her back to Sagawa when he shot her in the neck with a rifle. Sagawa said he fainted after the shock of shooting her but awoke with the realisation that he had to carry out his plan. “For a split second, I thought about calling an ambulance, but then I thought, hang on, don't be stupid. You've been dreaming about this for 32 years and now it's actually happening!" Sagawa told Vice Japan's editor, Tomo.
Sagawa raped Renee's lifeless body, but he couldn't bite into her skin because his teeth weren't sharp enough, so he went and bought a butcher knife. Sagawa then proceeded to eat parts of Hartevelt's body, eating most of her breasts, face, buttocks, feet, thighs, and neck, either raw or cooked (even admitting that he swallowed her clitoris whole, due to her being on her period at the time, and him not liking the smell of menstrual blood), while saving other parts in his refrigerator. Sagawa also took photographs of Hartevelt's body at each eating stage.
“The moment I saw the meat, I tore a chunk off with my fingers and threw it into my mouth. It was truly a historical moment for me.”
A Botched Disposal and Arrest
After two days, Sagawa decided to dispose of what remained of Renée’s body. He packed her dismembered limbs into two suitcases, called a taxi, and headed for the Bois de Boulogne, a park on the outskirts of Paris. Sagawa’s plan was to leave the suitcases in a secluded area and walk away unnoticed. However, his frail frame and the heavy suitcases with blood dripping out of them made him conspicuous. When he abandoned them near a lake, bystanders immediately grew suspicious.
The police were called, and it didn’t take long to trace the suitcases back to Sagawa. Upon searching his apartment, they found Renée’s remains, bloodstains, and the photographs he had taken. Sagawa confessed to the crime without hesitation, calmly detailing his motives and actions.
“If a normal man fancied a girl, he'd naturally feel a desire to see her as often as possible, to be close to her, to smell her and kiss her, right? To me, eating is just an extension of that.”
The Trial That Never Was
Issei Sagawa’s trial was set to be one of the most sensational in French history, cannibalism not being an everyday occurance. His confessions, combined with the graphic evidence, left no doubt about his guilt.
After spending two years in custody while awaiting trial, Sagawa was declared legally insane and unfit to stand trial by the French judge Jean-Louis Bruguière. As a result, he was ordered to be held indefinitely in a mental institution.
During his confinement, Sagawa was visited by Japanese author Inuhiko Yomota, who encouraged him to recount the events surrounding the murder. This account was later published in Japan as In the Fog, garnering widespread attention. The publication, alongside the growing notoriety surrounding Sagawa’s case, likely influenced the French authorities’ decision to deport him to Japan in 1984. Upon arrival, he was committed to Matsuzawa Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Tokyo.
Japanese psychologists who examined Sagawa concluded that he was sane and determined that sexual perversion had been his primary motivation for the murder. However, due to the French court’s decision to drop the charges, the case records remained sealed and were not shared with Japanese authorities. Without access to this evidence, Japanese officials were unable to prosecute him, leaving no legal grounds for his continued detention.
On 12 August 1986, Sagawa checked himself out of Matsuzawa Hospital and returned to society as a free man. His release provoked widespread outrage, with many criticising the judicial and procedural failures that allowed a confessed killer to walk free. Sagawa remained at liberty until his death, a figure of both revulsion and macabre fascination. The murder of Renée Hartevelt would go unpunished.
Celebrity from Infamy
Sagawa appeared on television shows, gave interviews, and even starred in adult films. His lack of remorse and willingness to describe his crime in explicit detail horrified and fascinated the public. He was also referenced by The Rolling Stones and The Stranglers in their songs.
For years, Sagawa lived off the notoriety of his crime, profiting from his infamy while Renée’s family endured the unimaginable pain of seeing her murderer celebrated.
Decline and Death
In his later years, Sagawa’s health deteriorated. He suffered a series of strokes that left him paralysed and reliant on his brother for care. Once a figure of public intrigue, he became a recluse, living in poverty and obscurity. Sagawa died on 24 November 2022 at the age of 73, leaving behind a legacy of horror and unanswered questions about the justice system that allowed him to walk free.
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