Murder, Mystery & Makeup - Issei Sagawa - He Might Be More Terrifying Than You Think

Episode Date: April 26, 2022

Hi friends hope you are having a wonderful day today! It's been awhile since we've talked about the ppl eaters. He is definitely a unique one, I am not sure what else to say. Let me know what you think down below and if you loved this eyeshadow look as much as I did. Love and appreciate you all so much for watching! Hope to be seeing you real soon xo Bailey Sarian

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Well, excuse me, Bailey, you know why. I get nervous before I film sometimes, well, a lot of the times, because, I mean, I've been doing this for a while right and it's like you think by now I wouldn't get nervous but I still do. I mean have you ever tried filming a video? Seriously have you ever tried it? It's awkward as hell. You're staring at a camera, you're alone in a room, and you're pretending to talk to everybody but there's nobody around except for you

and your makeup brushes. Deep breath. Okay. If you are new here, hi, my name is Bailey Sarian and on Mondays I sit down and I talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin and I do my makeup at the same time. If you're interested in true crime and you like makeup, I would highly suggest you hit that subscribe button

because I'm here for you on Mondays. Morning, today's story contains graphic descriptions of crime scenes, adult dialogue, and strong language. Fewer discretion is advised. So it's been a while, you guys. It's been a while since I've talked about a cannibal. If you're squeamish, a vegetarian, or maybe you just ate, maybe skip this one, come back to it.

Because today, baby girl Lisa, we are talking about a cannibal. You guessed it because I said it 18 times by now. On top of him being a cannibal, what makes this story even worse is the fact that this guy is not even in jail. Nope, he's roaming out free, free as a little bird. I mean, yeah, for sure, he definitely went to jail

for like a whole minute, but then they let him go. And you're probably wondering like Bailey, well, if he's a cannibal, why is he out walking free? I know, that's why we're here today. I don't know what to say. Cannibals can't live with them. We could live without them actually. But other than that, I will stop rambling

and let's get into today's story. So Issei Sagawa, have you heard of him? Yeah, you have? Oh my bad, sorry about that. Well, if you haven't, this guy is a total dork. He was born April 26th, 1949, so he's a Taurus. You know how for the most part, most of these killers and these bad people,

their upbringing is like so awful, so horrible. And it kind of, I don't wanna say it makes sense as to why they turned out the way they did, but it kind of does, you know what I'm saying? But Issei is that opposite person where it's like, how, how, how? I don't know. So Issei, he was born into a wealthy, a wealthy family, a very well-off family. They were living in Japan, very traditional, but very loving. That's great for him. His father was very successful. He was a businessman. He was like president of a water industries and he made a lot of money and he was doing very well. Okay. Also

Issei's grandfather, he was an editor for one of the major newspapers in Japan and his mother, Issei's mother, she took care of the family. She was like the stay at home mom. So they're just, they're doing great financially. That doesn't mean everything else is great, but you know. When Issei's mother was pregnant with him, she actually fell down like a flight of stairs and she almost miscarried Issei.

And it was said that he was born prematurely and like he was so small he could fit into the palm of his father's hand. He had a younger brother who was born two years after him but they were very close and they almost raised them like twins. When Issei was a baby he developed enteritis, which is a disease of the small intestine. And to treat this, the doctors would inject potassium and calcium into his body, which led to Issei eventually recovering. But the downside was that the disease was leaving him very like frail and just sickly looking,

which made him feel very insecure. It was said because of this, Issei was more of an introvert. He was a bit of a loner in school. He didn't really have like any friends, but he absolutely loved school, especially literature because it was a way for him to escape the world that he was in and go on like these grand adventures in his imagination, you know, where like he just wasn't,

he wasn't, he wasn't the small little guy, or he wasn't the weak, sickly guy. He could be the hero of the story using his imagination. So he loved reading, he loved books, stories, literature, like I said. Because of this, he would end up getting his master's degree in English literature.

Issei would say that from a young age, he noticed that something within himself from a very early age was going on. Like something was different. Issei would, in a later interview, would say that when growing up, his uncle would come over to the house and they would play a game where like his uncle

would dress up as a scary boy eating giant and he would chase the kids to the house and they would play a game where like his uncle would dress up as a scary boy eating giant and he would chase the kids around the house pretending he was gonna put them in a big pot and cook them and then eat them. Which okay, sure, you know, fine. But where this story goes, it's like, oh shit, you know? But okay, great game. But the uncle would chase Issei and his brother around

and then his father would like rescue them. And it was just all fun and games. There was like nothing, no bad shenanigans going on. But Issei would say like this game, it was more than a game for him. It was like this awakening. He remembers having like a mixture of terror and excitement while playing this game.

I mean, it was thrilling to him. Issei would say that this just was one of those moments that just stuck in his life, you know? And he would say that at that very moment, that's when he just really became fascinated with stories and fairy tales about monsters and dragons, especially when they involved eating people. So with that being said, of course,

Hansel and Gretel was one of his favorites. I don't remember Hansel and Gretel, to be quite honest with you. I remember they lived in a candy house, but did they get eaten? It's been so long. Did they get eaten? That's a little fucked up.

What was that all about? We read that as kids? Are we okay? Issei and his brother said that they grew up in a very tame home, a very loving home, a very normal home. One thing though, the family never talked about sex. Sex was just something nobody talked about, okay?

So this thing happened when Issei got his first boner, his first boner. He at first said that he thought he was seriously ill. got his first boner, his first boner. He at first said that he thought he was seriously ill. He's like, oh my God, something's wrong with me. Like this isn't normal. Like he freaked out. He didn't know what was going on. And you know, there's no internet or anything back then.

So what do you do? Again, since he has no sex education he doesn't know that you can fiddle your diddle you know i'm saying so he doesn't know that that's like an option um but he has this thing and he's feeling like these weird feelings and isay said uh it led him into participating in some very questionable acts. For example, like having the family dog lick his, I know, I don't know what he's doing, but he did that. I know, why did he bring the dog into this?

I don't know, but he did. Issei said, again, because he's pretty young when he's doing this, he's experimenting, and Issei said that like when this happened, his sexual desires started to become more distorted. You know, I wonder why. So as Issei gets older, he only gets weirder, okay?

In first grade, he said that he saw something that just got his motor running. Again, he's in first grade, okay? He found one of his classmates like very attractive. So the fellow classmate is wearing shorts as one does when it's hot outside, and he remembered looking at this girl in her shorts and thinking to himself, man that is a delicious looking thigh. I want to bite it. Now remember, Issei is in first grade. That means he's like six or seven years old, and you know, for someone who is six or seven years old, that's a little

different. As time went on, Issei was growing more and more aware of like his fantasies of eating thighs and how it just wasn't normal. And at the age of 15, he did try to seek help from a psychologist, but when he found out that he needed to go in person and that he actually needed help, it was serious, he never went. I guess he just couldn't bring himself to actually tell his parents that he needed help.

So he just never said anything and he never went to therapy. His parents never came out and said anything on record about their son, so it's really unclear if they knew what was going on in his head, or if they even knew that he needed help. I doubt it.

They just don't seem like they talked at all. Like, yeah, they showed love, but I don't think they're like, hey, how was your day today? So, it's 1964, and Issei is 24 years old. At this time, he's studying at the University of Tokyo. When he sees a tall, beautiful German woman, she's like walking in the street

and he's just feeling very attracted to her. Most people would be like, oh, you know, I wonder how I could like get to know her. She's so beautiful, I wanna talk to her. Most people would be like, oh you know I wonder how I could like get to know her, she's so beautiful I want to talk to her, and just like get to know them like a normal person. But Issei, as you've probably learned, he really isn't like most people, so instead of thinking to himself like how can I talk to her, he's thinking to himself like I wonder if I could get close to her so I can eat her. So one summer he decides to lean into those dark feelings, those dark desires he was having and see where it leads him.

I'm laughing because it's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable to think like you could be walking, minding your own business and someone's thinking about eating you. Like what a bummer. Anyway, so he was kind of like following this girl. I guess he would see her from time to time, like taking the same train and whatnot.

And so he decides to just follow her home one night, okay? And he's waiting outside of her apartment and he's waiting to see like her lights go off. So once he knows that this woman has gone to bed, he decides to break in through her window and sees that she's laying in bed, sleeping, naked. Oh, he's feeling real jazzed. He's like, this is my moment.

This is it. He's given so many interviews, so it's like you can hear it directly from him. But he said that he didn't want to kill her. He just wanted to take a bite of her bottom, her bum. Yeah, like she's not going to know or something. Anyways, he's looking for something heavy around to like knock the woman out with. The first thing he sees, an umbrella, an umbrella. Sure, that's gonna work. So he grabs the umbrella, goes up to her bed, he's like leaning over her, right? And I guess he kind of like brushed up against her or something, but she wakes up and she starts screaming

as any of us would do. Issei is a very, very like small man. And so anyone over like five, two can take him down. And that's what she did. She wakes up, she starts screaming at him. She grabs his arm, she throws him to the ground. And then she calls police, you go girl. So the woman ends up calling police

and Issei was arrested, right? And he was being charged with attempted rape, if only they knew what his real goal was, you know? But of course he's not gonna tell them that he was gonna do that. He's like, sure, I was gonna rape her, sounds about right. Well, like I mentioned earlier, Issei's father was super wealthy

and when he finds out that his son was in trouble, he pays a large unknown settlement to the victim and the charges end up being dropped. I think it's safe to say that Issei, he didn't learn a damn thing, right? Like, thanks daddy. I mean, good for the girl. She got a large settlement, but you know,

he should have to pay the price, teach him a large settlement, but you know, you know, he should have to pay the price. Teach him a goddamn lesson, but he doesn't. So after that failed attempt, Issei's desires didn't just go away, nay nay. In fact, they just got stronger and more persistent. He knew he had to eat a woman. This was his one dream in life, and he needed to fulfill it in order to be happy.

Dream big, they say. Dream big. So then, Issei ends up going on a vacation, a little holiday, and he goes on like a cruise to Greece. And while he's on this cruise, he meets like a butcher. And he's like super interested into this guy. And this guy's like, oh, okay. Like, let me tell you about my job. Isi's like, what's it like being a butcher?

You know, what do you use to cut the meat with? Is there a certain technique? You know, he's just trying to get butcher basics 101. And the butcher, he's feeling very flattered that someone is so interested in his profession. And he stays with Issei for a good amount of time explaining how to butcher meat. Issei plays it all cool, like, yeah, thanks,

I wanna become a butcher one day, you know? But secretly, he was taking notes, knowing that he was going to probably most likely apply them to cutting up people meat and not so much cow or whatever. I'm sure if the butcher knew then what we know now, you know, this would have never happened. And okay, I'm gonna jump ahead here a little bit because this part just, it's so upsetting because, okay, so Issei does terrible things, which we're gonna get into, but he ends up, Issei does terrible things, which we're going to get into. But he ends up, Issei writes a letter to this butcher telling him, thank you so much for taking the time to explain to me how to do all this, blah, blah, blah.

And by this point, it was his story, Issei's story was pretty well known. The butcher never responded to his letter. But I just thought, wow, that's super effed up. Because now that guy, the butcher, has to live with that for the rest of his life. Like, I told this person how to cut meat and he applied it towards actual people. Like, that's just so fucked up. Is that not? I literally was like, I would be livid.

So then in 1981, Issei, he graduates from college and he ends up moving to France to pursue a PhD in comparative literature at Sorbonne University, which is like a very fancy smancy university, I hear. Don't know, but I've heard that. So when he moves, he moves to like a Latin quarter of Paris, France, an area which is super known for like its student life. It's very lively, lots of people,

bistros. Issei is kind of getting adjusted to this new life of his and he would say that every night, almost every night, he would go out and he would bring a sex worker like back home with him and instead of paying them for, you know, some sweet loving, he would wait for the moment when they had their backs towards him and he would try to shoot them. Like he was trying to kill somebody. But luckily, I guess, he would freeze and he'd chicken out.

So he couldn't do it, but he was trying to get some practice in. So time goes on and in one of his classes, he meets a woman named Renee and he immediately falls in love with her. Renee Hartbelt was 25 years old and she was also studying to get her PhD in French literature.

She was originally from Holland and it was said that Renee was like five foot 10. She was just tall, stunning, super smart and she spoke three languages. So again, Issei meets Renee in one of his classes, and he's like friendly with her, whatever, and he asks her that, or he goes up to her, and he says that he's looking for someone

to help him study German, because he's struggling. He asked Renee like, "'Hey, would you be open to teaching me?' He then went on to tell Renee that he had a very wealthy father who could pay for her to help him and just pay her for her time. Renee was friendly with Issei

and she agreed to help him with his German. And over time, the two of them formed like a little friendship. Issei was really smart and he enjoyed Renee's company because she was also really smart too. And Renee liked that about him. They bonded, they had a lot in common, they had a lot of common interest. So Issei is in love with Renee and thought she was absolutely beautiful.

He even started to write her love letters, and he would invite her to different art exhibits or concerts. And Renee saw him as a good friend. She agreed to go out dancing with him from time to time because she just enjoyed his company. In a letter Renee wrote to her parents back at home, she said that she found Issei friendly and intellectual. What I'm getting at is like, she wasn't, they were friends.

They seemed, yeah, friends. But I think that's the problem um Renee saw him as just that a great friend great company she enjoyed him as just that and Issei's love for Renee is just growing he is wanting more than just being friends. He wants to do more than just wine and dine her. He wants to wine and dine her, if you catch my drift. He wants to eat her. So Issei would later explain that one of the reasons he really wanted to eat Renee was because she was healthy

and beautiful, two characteristics he felt that he lacked and he considered himself weak, ugly, small. He wanted to absorb her energy through eating her, I guess. That's his mind. I don't know, dude. I don't fricking know you guys, but that's his reasoning. But he knew in order to eat her, he has to kill her first, which is something that he seems to be struggling with.

He said in interviews that if Renee would have allowed him to drink her urine, or would have given her some of her pubic hairs, that alone might have satisfied his desires, but he was too afraid to ask in the first place. So killing her in his mind was easier than asking her for her urine and pubic hairs. Either way, it's awkward, man. What was he going to do with the urine? Ew.

So one evening, Issei invited Rene over for dinner and he was asking her to read him a poem by one of his favorite German writers. And she was like, oh, okay, sure, you know, because German, they're learning, remember? So she sits down at his desk and she's reading him the poem. Issei, he had a rifle hidden in his drawers on the other side of the room. And there are different reports that say

Issei actually tried to shoot Renee this night when she wasn't paying attention, but that the gun ended up jamming. And I guess Renee didn't hear it or even have any idea that it happened behind her back because she was like sitting reading. And Issei just pretends that nothing happened, I guess.

So Renee took off for the night. She's like, bye, you know, whatever. She has no idea what Issei's really thinking and he went just full-blown creep status 100 and just went off. You know when you're really into someone and the scent of like their cologne or perfume, it kind of lingers after they leave and you're like, oh my God, like it smells like them. But nothing more than that. Like not in a creepy way, you're just like, like, oh my God, like, you know, just me.

No, that's normal, whatever. Well, it was kind of like that. Issei was doing that, but it was to the hundredth degree. Issei said that that evening when Renee left, he smelled the chair where she had been sitting. He's trying to sniff up all of her scent. And then he even went as far as to licking the chair she sat in.

Issei wanted Renee all to himself, and he made a little promise with himself that he was going to eat her, which would allow him to possess her forever. On June 11th, 1981, Issei invites Renee over for dinner again. This time he told Renee that he had a cassette recorder and he wanted to record her reading the poem aloud. That way he could like practice or whatever. So she's like, okay, sure, sounds good. Poor thing. And she goes over to Issei's house that evening. Renee arrives to Issei's house, right?

Great. So he welcomes her in, they sit down on the floor. He offers her some tea, but what I guess Renee didn't know was that he spiked her tea with whiskey. Now, I couldn't get clarification though, if she did know or if she didn't know, I feel like he would taste it, but I'm going to say maybe she didn't know because there was no straight answer and let's not assume. Anyways, so he spikes her tea with whiskey and they're just sitting on the floor and they're chatting and Issei, he's waiting for the alcohol to kick in,

you know, for Renee to be a little bit more loose, a little bit more relaxed. And then after some time passes and he notices that Renee does seem a little bit more relaxed, that's when he uses this opportunity to confess his love for her. And he tells Renee that he wants to take her to bed for some, you know, winky dinky.

And he's telling her that over time he's been having all these emotions and feelings for her and thinks she's wonderful, X, Y, and Z. You get it. Now at this moment, I guess this was a shock to Renee because she had make it clear that they were friends and she was taking it back and she was like, oh dear, like, oh no,

I am busy around that time you were thinking about doing that, I'm so sorry. Like, I thought we were just friends. She went on to tell Issei, I really appreciate your friendship and I just want nothing more than that. And she's just trying to be really polite and you know, not piss him off, right? But she's bummed, I guess, because this is the,

that's the moment that your friendship is kind of over. Issei responds by saying that he understands, and he's like, well, let's just get to the poetry though. So he gets up, he gets the book of poetry he wanted her to read, hands it to her. She sits back down at his desk, and he starts a tape recorder. So when she's sitting at Issei's desk,

her back is faced towards him, like she's facing a window, and Renee begins reading the poem. Well, Issei has his gun ready. He comes up behind her slowly with a 22 caliber rifle in his hand. Bang, bang, he shoots her in the neck. I guess there was like a brief moment where Renee kept reading the poem before she fell into the floor, dead.

And the whole thing was being recorded. Mm-mm, mm, mm, mm-mm. Issei said after he shot Renee, she falls to the ground and then he like fell into shock himself and then he fainted. So they're just like, get it together, guy, okay? If you're gonna do this, you can't be fainting. Freaking loser.

So then he comes back too. And when he comes back too, he is like, great, I get to like carry out my original plan. Now's my chance, I get to eat Renee. I mean, he had no other choice now. He already followed through with step one. Issei said that he laid a towel under her head and then he undressed her

and he had everything planned out in his mind, like knowing which part he was gonna start eating first. I don't know, he seemed to have like an obsession with eating the booty. I don't know how else to put that because like that's what he really wanted to do. He wanted to take a big old chomp into her butt and he wanted to start with her right cheek first.

It's kind of ironic, I guess, but he didn't like blood and he feared that the left cheek would be more bloody since it's closer to the heart. So okay, you know, all right, sure, lol. So while following his dreams Issei notices that his teeth are not sharp enough to penetrate someone's skin. He's like, oh dear, like I didn't think about this. So he's like, oh my God, fruit knife. I have a fruit knife in the kitchen, let me go get that. So he goes to get the fruit knife, he comes back, he's trying to cut her with that. But again, that wasn't sharp enough either.

So he goes back to his kitchen, he's just looking for anything, any kind of tool that will be sharp enough to help him out here. And he's got nothing. So he decides to make a quick little trip to the store where he purchases a curved meat knife. So he gets the curved meat knife, comes back, it works.

And he proceeds to cut Renee's body up, starting with her butt. He's a booty guy, I guess. So Issei proceeds to eat parts of Renee's body, mostly focusing on her boobage, her butt and her face. And he was kind of experimenting a little bit. He would either cook the meat or he would try it raw. He would try with different sauces, mustard, ketchup,

vinaigrette, whatever you use, you know, butter. Issei in interviews said that he was surprised at the corn colored nature of human fat and he found the meat soft and odorless and it melted in his mouth like raw tuna, specific. But if you were curious, now you know. He said a lot more, but I just, you know, I just, we don't need to go into super graphic details.

You get the gist of it. He fried some of the meat and he tried baking different parts, but he didn't like the greasy consistency that he was getting a lot of the times. He just was experimenting with different techniques on how to eat the human meat. So during all of this, he's cutting Renee's body up

and Issei said that he was getting really excited, if you know what I mean, he was getting a boner. And just during this whole process, he tells Renee that he loves her for the first time. And it's just like, dude, get a fucking grip. What are you doing? He said that night he brought Renee, her body, into bed with him and slept with her, cuddled,

knowing that the next day he was probably going to have to dispose of her body because most likely flies and stuff would would come around but Issei was excited because the next day he realized that there were no flies just yet and her body hasn't seemed to gone bad there was no like weird smell there was no flies so it still must be good and he's like fuck yeah I get another day to experiment so he goes on to cut up again, her skin, her body. He's sampling different parts of her. And he upgraded to an electric carving knife at this point.

I'm sorry for laughing, but what are you doing? Yes, he's got an electric carving knife. Like he upgrade, he's like, I'm gonna go upgrade really quick. He gets an electric carving knife, cuts up the rest of her body. He's putting them in Ziploc little baggies, putting them in the fridge for later, right?

Saving it for snacks or something. And then during each stage of dismembering the body, he took photographs of each process to keep for his scrapbook, I guess, memories. But soon enough, the flies showed up, and once the flies came and started to swarm around the body, he knew it was time to get rid of it. It was done, it was over.

So in order to get rid of the body, the evidence, poor Renee, so he's like, let me just chop her up into smaller pieces, and I'll shove her in these two suitcases I have. So he does just that. Of course, along the way, cutting her up further to fit into the suitcases, he's sampling and taking bites of different parts

that didn't have any flies on them. So Isan came up with a plan. His plan was to put Renee's body into the two suitcases and then take it down to the local lake and drop them in the lake, hoping it would sink and never be found again. So with this in mind, Issei, he packs up, he loads the two suitcases and he calls up a cab

and he asks them to take them to a public park, which is like five miles from the city center of Paris. It's like the second largest park in Paris. It's about two, almost three times the size of Central Park in New York. And this park has like several gardens, several lakes. There's even a zoo and an amusement park. Everyone goes there and like hangs out.

And it's not like a quiet place to go where nobody's gonna see you execute this awful plan, but that's his idea. So it's around 8 p.m. and Issei calls up a cab driver to come pick him up and take him down to the park. When the cab driver picks him up, he helps Issei out with the two suitcases he brought. And the driver even made a comment to Issei joking like,

what is there a body in here or something? Literally just joking because the suitcases were so heavy. And you know, when you're making small talk like that, you say something stupid like, what do you got a dead body in here? One out of every thousand times, it may just be the case. But I guess Issei just kind of laughed awkwardly and said like, no, it's full of books.

I have tons of books in these suitcases. The suitcases were super heavy though. So when Issei was dropped off at the park, he was trying to carry these suitcases and people were just kind of staring at him at the lake, just watching this small scrawny man struggling with these two heavy suitcases. He's like dragging them down at the lake, just watching this small scrawny man struggling with these two heavy suitcases. He's like dragging them down to the lake,

like a little weirdo, you know? So a lot of people are just sitting there kind of watching, minding their own business, but they're like, he's like, you know, what is this guy doing? Because the park was a very popular spot, Essie didn't think about how crowded it would be. Even though it was late, still there was like a lot of people there

and he was feeling very overwhelmed trying to drag these suitcases around because he felt like everyone was staring at him, which they were, so he wasn't wrong. Eventually he said he found like a little quiet place where there wasn't that many people around and he starts pushing the suitcases down towards the lake, towards the water,

but he got to a point where he was really exhausted. So he like suitcases are on the ground, took a break and just kind of walks a little bit forward and he's admiring the really pretty sunset. Mind you, his suitcases are kind of like back behind him a little bit, and then he hears someone shouting behind him. It's a man, it's an older man, he's hanging out at the park, and he saw the two suitcases, and he thought like somebody had left them or forgotten them. He saw Issei standing not far, and he's like, hey man, like are these your suitcases? And Issei said he thought about saying yes,

but he wanted the man to just like go away. So instead he said no and just walked away, which I feel like that wasn't the right move. So he just walks away. So the man who asked Issei like, hey are these your bags? He's super curious, he's like, who left these, you know, two suitcases here?

Let me open them up, maybe there's a million dollars in there. So the man, he opens up the suitcases, and he sees something like a bloody bed sheet, that I guess Issei had wrapped Renee's body in, but he just sees like a bloody bed sheet that I guess Issei had wrapped Renee's body in, but he just sees like a bloody bed sheet and then he screams, murder, like really loud. So everyone in the park is looking over, like what the hell is going on?

Like what? Cause this man seems very upset as one would be, you know? Issei, he didn't even flinch, he just kept walking. He just aborted mission, walked back, headed straight to his apartment as fast as he could without drawing any attention to himself. So police were obviously called out to the scene and they investigate the suitcases

and asked the witnesses at the park like what they saw. Multiple people reported seeing a small Asian man pushing the suitcases down to the end of the lake, but that's really the only information anyone had. So the suitcases were taken to the local mortuary where they were fully unpacked and the gruesome scene began to tell its story. They discovered the gunshot wound at the nape of the neck

and portions of her flesh seemed to be missing. Photographs were taken of the body for evidence reports, but sadly they would not stay contained within the police files. Somehow somebody with greedy intentions, it was someone working on the inside, they took those photos and they sold them to like a popular French magazine,

which led to them being published all over. But it is a horrifying scene. They haven't seen anything like this. And it's obvious to them, like it looks like somebody ate this, you know? So they're kind of, they don't know what to do with this. It wouldn't take long for investigators to find Issei though. Police reached out to local cab companies

asking if any of the drivers had a client that maybe had some really heavy suitcases, you know? Well, sure enough, one of the drivers came forward and said like, hey, I had a client, yeah, just yesterday who I picked up who had some really heavy suitcases. And shortly after that, Issei was arrested. So police go and arrest Issei, and I guess lucky for them,

Issei didn't even try to pretend like he was innocent. The cops came in, they arrested him, and he just confessed like that. They were like, hey, you're under arrest for murder. And his response was, I killed her to eat her flesh. So, case closed, you know, like great. We got a confession. After being arrested for Renee's murder,

Issei's daddy once again came to his rescue, paying for a top defense lawyer. Despite there being multiple eyewitnesses, evidence found in Issei's apartment and his confession to the crime, he was locked up, put away for two years, he was waiting for trial, and then the judge found Issei legally insane

and unfit to stand trial, so the charges were dropped. The French courts sentenced Issei legally insane and unfit to stand trial, so the charges were dropped. The French courts sentenced Issei to be held indefinitely, aka forever, in a mental institution though, so at least he'll be locked up there and maybe get some help. During this time, Rene's parents never spoke to the media, and on the other hand, Issei, like his parents were

paying for anything that had to do with the legal side of things. And then both of the parents, they didn't talk to media, but they also shielded their son, Issei, from the public eye. They just really protected him and just paid for everything. Issei's brother actually showed public support, but it turns out like he's also an interesting case all on his own. He did an interview for Forbes and Issei's brother said that he himself had his own urges that he kept to himself.

Like he didn't tell anyone about it and not even Issei knew about his urges that he kept to himself. Like he didn't tell anyone about it. And not even Issei knew about his urges himself. He wanted to eat people too, is what I'm getting at. His brother said in an interview that he'll probably die not knowing why he had these feelings or if there's anyone else there, like out there like him. But Issei was quick to like turn down his brother's comments, I guess.

He would publicly say like, oh, my brother, his thoughts are not as bad as my thoughts. I'm way worse than he is. And it was like some really weird competitive, I'm a better cannibal than you are. I don't know, it was very strange, but there seems to be some kind of competition going on. Issei was sent to a mental institution and a Japanese author came by to visit.

He wanted to write a story and then wanted to get Issei's account of his crime. So this author went out and interviewed him for his book. It was later called In the Fog, which included Issei's account of his kill. And it would go on to sell like over 200,000 copies. called In the Fog, which included Issei's account of his kill. And it would go on to sell like over 200,000 copies. And this book, it also featured all of the horrifying photos

that no one should have seen. Now, because of this book, the attention Issei was getting was widespread and he was becoming a big media sensation. Everyone just wanted to know like, what, what, what, huh? You know, the curious cats that we are just trying to figure it out. Now the French were not too excited about this because they were receiving a lot of negative publicity

because Issei was technically still in France. So because they didn't like all this negative press they were getting, they decided it would be best to deport him back to Japan. So Issei was sent to a hospital in Tokyo and the psychologists, they're examining him and they declare him to be sane, but evil. And his sexual perversion was his only motivation for murder.

Does that mean Issei goes back to jail and court and all that? No. Nay nay. Japanese authorities did try to put him on trial for murder, but the charges got dropped, and the French refused to hand over the necessary court documents. So there was like no evidence for a trial in Japan. And without any evidence linking Issei to Renee's murder,

the Japanese courts, they were unable to keep Issei further. It doesn't make any sense. He was literally held for 15 months. And then because the French authorities didn't hand over the documents, they couldn't charge him with any charges. He was literally held for 15 months. And then because the French authorities didn't hand over the documents, they couldn't charge him with anything. And I was trying to understand why that happened.

I really was, but I don't know. I don't know why they wouldn't hand over the documents. So after 15 months of being held, he was able to check himself out of the hospital on August 12th, 1986, free to just live his life. Okay. So the response in Japan was a lot different

than the response in France, and his crime, it kind of made him a cultural icon in Japan, I guess. And Issei, he didn't shy away from it, he embraced it. Anyways, a Japanese magazine called Murder in Mind asked Issei to write an article about the murder he committed, which again led to more media attention and outrage.

So over the years following Renee's murder, Issei's crime continued to catch people's interest. Even a verse in the Rolling Stones song, Too Much Blood, they make a little shout out to Issei. It was inspired by him. His fame kept him busy writing books, a comic book with graphic illustrations of his crime, and making countless guest speaker, commentator,

and talk show appearances. He was like, just really milking it. I mean, again, it was a way for him to make his money. I don't know if I'm mad at him or like, nah, I don't blame you. Anyways, he even appeared in several movies and documentaries. Issei had a small part in a sexploitation film

playing a sadosexual voyeur, and he was getting a lot of porn offers, to be quite honest with you. Like there was another one where a producer asked Issei to participate in a movie where they had him doing really weird things, like they would measure his strength while they were making fun of him, like a humiliation fetish. Issei also took a role in a porno

where he and his co-star, they lived together in an apartment for like 24 hours and they would have sex. It seemed kind of like a reality porn show. Issei then asked the co-star like, hey, can I drink your urine and your spit? Very odd, but I guess some are into it. But then plot freaking twist,

after the two of them participate in sexual relations, Issei reveals to the co-star about his past. He tells her that he is a cannibal and he shares his autobiography with her, showing her photos of what he had done to his victim, Renee. And all of this is being filmed. And again, it's kind of like reality. So you're getting this girl's true response

to the situation. And the co-star is just in like severe shock and she starts crying. Later in life, the two of them, Issei and the co-star, they actually became like real life friends. And Issei said that she would help him like curb his cannibalistic desires by having this friendship, I guess.

I don't know, the whole thing is very odd. Yeah, that's really all I could say about that. You know, as time went on, attention around Issei died down a bit. And then in 2009, Issei sat down and gave an interview with Vice magazine. And he said that, well, he might not be in jail. Trying to make a living while being a known murderer

and cannibal was just a terrible punishment. Woo-hoo. In addition to royalties he was receiving from books and interview fees, he also did reviews for different restaurants. I guess that's fitting in a way, I don't know. And then Issei, he picked up painting in his free time, and he was focusing painting on women's nude bodies,

and he even sold like a number of them in order to help pay for some of his bills. Issei seemed to be kind of scraping by, and in the interview you could tell he's a little... He wants you to feel bad for him, but I'm not sure what you expect, or what he expects. We you to feel bad for him, but I'm not sure what you expect, or what he expects. We don't feel bad for you. I think you should be in prison, bro. Sorry, yeah.

I really think you should be locked up. During this vice interview, they're asking him like, hey, are you a changed man? You know, have you changed your ways? Have you at least, I mean, you're one lucky guy, right? You literally murdered and ate someone and you're your ways? Have you at least, I mean, you're one lucky guy, right? You literally murdered and ate someone and you're walking free? The chances of that happening are slim to none.

Have you curbed your desires to eat people? And then Issei said, no, no. That even on his way to the train station that day of the interview, he saw a girl with really nice legs and he was thinking about wanting to eat someone again before he died. So over the years, Issei has just existed, really.

He's been living outside of Tokyo. In 2013, he was hospitalized because he had something going on in his brain where there was like no oxygen or blood flow getting to his brain and it permanently damaged his nervous system. So he lives alone, he's confined to a wheelchair and he requires daily assistance from either caregivers or from his younger brother. He also had problems with his stomach area so he can't even eat normal food. He has to eat through a feeding tube.

But his newest goal in life, you are probably wondering, well, it's to be killed slowly and painfully, but most of all by a beautiful woman, if possible. Dream big, they say, dream big. Poor Renee, not only was she murdered, eaten, but the photos of her remains were shared with a lot of people, you know? And then the guy who murders her,

he wasn't even, yeah, really punished at all for his crime. I just think it's safe to say like he didn't learn a damn thing from it. How do we know he didn't do it again? We don't. He probably did it again, we don't know. I wish this one had a happier ending, but I guess it's kind of comforting knowing that,

like Issei is confined to his wheelchair and can't do any more damage unless he has help. But then again, if his younger brother is working with him, I don't know, because he seemed a little off as well. You know, is someone watching them? Is anyone paying attention to those brothers? You seemed a little off as well. You know, is someone watching them? Is anyone paying attention to those brothers? Let's hope. That my friends is the story of Issei Sagawa.

He is gross. He's gross. Like, ew, ugh. If you watch any of the interviews with him, ugh. Well, thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I love and appreciate you guys so much. Oh, let me know who you want me to talk about next week. But other than that, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.

You make good choices. And I'll be seeing you guys later. Bye.