A 21-year-old man in the Russian Arctic city of Murmansk invited a stranger home, knifed him to death and then ate him, the local Investigative Committee reported on Monday.
Investigators believe the main motive for the crime was a desire to eat human flesh, as "the defendant wanted to try eating at least 10 people in the future."
Investigators believe the killer became acquainted with his victim via the internet, and lured him in sexually.
"According to preliminary information, one of them was seeking a sexual partner. The accused explained later that such people are not open, and they prefer to hide their contacts", Murmansk Investigation Committee chief Fyodor Bludenov said.
"The accused stabbed the man a few times, and after having assured himself that the man was dead, he cut up his body and ate him," the Investigation committee said in a statement.
The mother of the victim, who was born in 1959, went to the police in the middle of August. Investigators analyzed his circle of contacts and soon found the accused, who later pled guilty.
The accused faces up to 15 years in prison if he is found guilty, but will first face a psychiatric examination to see if he is fit to stand trial.
"Nothing like this has happened in Murmansk for 20 years," the investigation committee said at a press conference on Monday.
Another cannibal struck in Moscow in May, when an unemployed schizophrenic man killed his drinking partner and butchered his body in his flat.
Another notorious case occurred in St. Petersburg in 2009, when two cannibals who were "Goth youth group members" killed a 16-year-old girl, cut her up and ate parts of her body. The young men explained at their trial that they were "very hungry." They were found guilty of murder and sentenced to 18 and 19 years.
