Murder, Mystery & Makeup

Audioboom Studios
Episode: 3+ Hours of Horrifying Cannibal Stories (You've Been WARNED)
Host: Bailey Sarian
Date: November 4, 2025

Episode Overview

In this chilling compilation episode, Bailey Sarian explores notorious cases of cannibalism from around the world, diving into the backgrounds, crimes, and consequences of some of the most disturbing cannibal killers in history. True to the podcast’s unique style, Bailey balances detailed, grisly storytelling with her signature humor and approachable vibe (and a bit of makeup commentary along the way!). She warns listeners that this collection is not for the faint of heart and revisits some of her "OG Murder Mystery" stories, layered with personal reactions and questions.
Cannibal stories covered in this episode:

• The Russian Cannibal Couple, Dmitry and Natalia Baksheeva
• Catherine Knight (Australia)
• Issei Sagawa (Japan/France)
• Stephen Griffiths, "The Crossbow Cannibal" (UK)
• Armin Meiwes (Germany)
• Karl Denke (Germany/Poland)

Timestamps are provided for each major story, with direct quotes and memorable moments highlighted.

1. Russian Cannibal Couple: Dmitry & Natalia Baksheeva

[Begins ~08:00]

Backgrounds & Early Lives

• Dmitry: Orphaned in southern Russia, adopted, became a loner after a traumatic adolescence (mother's sudden death, abusive adoptive father). Brief prison stint after a desperate robbery as a teen.
• Natalia: Grew up in southern Russia, lost her mother young. Desired to become a doctor, became a nurse, but her life spiraled downward after her husband's death—struggles with alcoholism, drug use, and mental health issues.

“I don’t know what it is. Cannibals have always interested me. I’m laughing because why does it interest me? I don’t know... because it’s so opposite of anything I know.” (Bailey, 02:02)

The Meeting & Relationship

• Met in a bar when Dmitry was still a loner. Moved in together quickly, later married. Natalia’s son from a previous marriage left home, apparently disturbed by his mother’s behavior.

Unveiling the Horror

• September 2017: Construction workers find a lost cell phone with horrifying selfies—Dmitry posing with dismembered body parts.
• Police raid the couple’s filthy apartment (akin to “Hoarders”), discovering:
  • Dismembered human remains preserved in jars
  • Scalp with hair mistaken for a “wig” on a microwave
  • Recipe book for cooking human flesh in Natalia’s handwriting
  • Tutorial video on human dismemberment

“They find a recipe book... This was not just a normal recipe book. The recipe book was going into detail about dinners to make with human remains. Allegedly, in Natalia’s handwriting... Betty Crocker would never.” (Bailey, 59:50)

• Photographs and evidence suggest potential victims up to 30.

“Look at this photograph… one of the photos that they found was of a man’s head, chopped, presented on a silver platter… surrounded by fruit. Orange slices, to be exact. Olives in the eye sockets. Lemon on the nose.” (Bailey, 47:51)

Police Interrogation & Confessions

• Natalia initially denies everything (“That’s crazy. I had no idea, what?!”), then claims she just found the body on the street and took a photo—but eventually, when shown crime scene photos, she admits to murder, dismemberment, and cannibalism.
• Authorities corroborate her identification of victims with missing persons.
• Dmitry gives more details on using dating sites to lure victims.

Dmitry, on the scalpings:
“I just did something stupid.” (Bailey recounts at 01:20:38)

Aftermath

• Both found guilty—Natalia: 10 years in a penal colony; Dmitry: 12 years in prison.
• Public theories swirl about a larger cannibal network or cult.

"A lot of people believe that Dmitry and Natalia were protecting something much bigger." (Bailey, 01:26:50)

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Cannibals. You can’t live with them. We could definitely live without them.” (Bailey, 03:00)
• “They find around 19 pieces—19 pieces!—of human skin which had allegedly been removed from their victims.” (Bailey, 53:45)

2. Catherine Knight (Aberdeen, Australia)

[Begins ~1:48:51]

Background

• Slaughterhouse worker known for knife skills and violent relationships.
• Early marriages marred by mutual violence, intense jealousy, and animal cruelty.
• Most infamous for killing John Price, her partner, after a series of escalating abuses.

The Crime

• After being rejected for marriage (again), Catherine orchestrates a horrifying murder:
  • Stabs John Price 37 times in his sleep.
  • Skins him and hangs the skin on a meat hook in a doorway.
  • Removes his head, cooks it in a stew, and prepares plates for Price’s children.
  • Police arrive to find skin as a “curtain,” torso on the ground, head in a pot, nameplates for a cannibalistic "family dinner."

“He looks at the curtain. He realizes it's not a curtain. Nay, nay. It’s skin. Skin hanging from the door frame. Just skin.” (Bailey, 2:15:31)

Aftermath

• Catherine attempts suicide and claims amnesia at trial; pleads guilty after initially feigning insanity.
• Psychiatrists determine she is “sane but evil.”
• Receives life sentence, first Australian woman with no chance of parole.
• In prison, known as the “boss bitch”—runs the choir, attends church regularly.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “On the wedding night… she decided to strangle him because that just made sense to her.” (Bailey, 1:50:10)
• “Did she think people were gonna come over and not notice, like, the blood everywhere? That’s a crazy— I don’t want to know.” (Bailey, 2:18:19)
• “Psychologists have examined Catherine, determined that killing and dismembering John was premeditated and an act of revenge. Plus, it just got her off on her perverted pleasure.” (Bailey, 2:22:30)

3. Issei Sagawa (Japan/France)

[Begins ~2:30:35]

Early Life

• Born into wealth in Japan, small and frail child, avid reader.
• Early sexual dysfunction and confusion, fixates on cannibalistic fantasies as a child.
• First sexual “awakening” involved fantasies of eating classmates.

The Crime

• Moves to Paris for graduate studies, becomes obsessed with fellow student Renée Hartevelt.
• After failed prior attacks, invites Renée to his apartment under the guise of academic help, shoots her as she reads poetry, and proceeds to eat parts of her body over the next few days.
• Takes photos of the dismemberment, stores remains in suitcases.

“Issei proceeds to eat parts of Renée’s body, mostly focusing on her, her boobage, her butt and her face… He fried some of the meat and he tried baking different parts but he didn’t like the greasy consistency…” (Bailey, 2:42:40)

Discovery & Aftermath

• Attempts to dispose of remains in public park; discovered by an elderly man (“Is there a body in here?”), police swiftly arrest Issei.
• Immediately confesses: “I killed her to eat her flesh.”
• Deemed legally insane in France, held in psychiatric hospital, later deported to Japan, where authorities found him sane but evil. French authorities refuse to supply files; Sagawa is released.

“So after 15 months of being held, he was able to check himself out of the hospital... free to just live his life. Okay.” (Bailey, 2:56:29)

Infamy

• Becomes a minor celebrity in Japan: writes books, appears in films—including pornography—openly discusses his crime.
• Admits in Vice interview he still fantasizes about eating humans, despite being wheelchair-bound and on a feeding tube in later life.

"'No, no,' [Sagawa] said, '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.'" (Bailey, 3:00:47)

4. Stephen Griffiths ("Crossbow Cannibal," UK)

[Begins ~3:13:00]

Background

• Born 1969, difficult family life, parents divorced.
• Early psychiatric warnings: obsessed with serial killers, enjoyed animal cruelty, openly expressed serial killer fantasies.

“Psychiatrists, after giving him medication, had made notes like, in his file, saying like, he is a dangerous man. And, like, that was about it. They just made that note in his file. It's like, okay great...” (Bailey, 3:18:30)

Crimes

• Lived on the edge of Bradford’s red-light district, dubbed “Lizard Man” for walking pet reptiles.
• Began a PhD in homicide studies, frequented MySpace (alias: Ven Pariah).
• Between 2009–2010, at least three women, all sex workers, disappeared.
• Caught after CCTV showed him chasing Suzanne Blamires with a crossbow, shooting her, and taunting the camera before dragging her body back into his flat.

"You see Steven coming out of his apartment, coming after her, and he's holding a crossbow..." (Bailey, 3:32:49)

Aftermath

• Confesses to murders, details cannibalism, records murders on phone.
• DNA of victims found throughout his flat and on his stove.
• Later brags during court, identifies as “The Crossbow Cannibal,” receives life sentence without parole.
• “The defense argued that the ‘system’ is the one who's at fault, because Steven had been diagnosed as psychopathic nearly 20 years earlier. And, like, maybe they should have done something about it, was not his fault.” (Bailey, 3:43:30)
• In prison, attempts suicide, hunger strikes, further attacks by inmates.

5. Armin Meiwes ("The Rotenburg Cannibal," Germany)

[Begins ~3:55:40]

Background

• Born 1961, grew up in a dysfunctional home dominated by a manipulative mother.
• Developed cannibalistic fantasies from a young age; later joined internet forums for cannibals.

The Crime

• After mother’s death, advertises online for a voluntary victim.
• Finds Bernd Brandes, an engineer eager to be killed and eaten.
• Documents everything by email then on video:
  • Both attempt to eat Brandes's amputated penis (cooked with garlic, salt, pepper); too tough to eat.
  • Brandes is left to bleed out in a tub, later killed by throat-slitting when he doesn’t die quickly enough.
  • Meiwes dismembers and freezes body parts, eating them over months, sharing photos on cannibal forums.

“Armin says that the penis tastes disgusting. It was super chewy, and it just wasn't edible. And he was—he was pretty bummed. He said it was really disappointing, but it just was not edible.” (Bailey, 4:09:08)

Arrest & Trial

• Discovered after an Austrian student reports his online activity.
• Initially convicted of manslaughter: 8.5 years.
• Public outrage and retrial leads to a life sentence for murder.
• Now a vegetarian in prison, gives calm interviews.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “...He would add it as pizza topping. He would eat some for breakfast. He was just using this as his food supply. I— I don’t know what to say to that. I really don’t know.” (Bailey, 4:13:39)

6. Karl Denke (The "Pickled Pork" Cannibal, Germany/Poland)

[Begins ~4:28:40]

Background & “Respectable” Life

• Born 1870, Silesia (now Poland). Farmer, moves to a small town, becomes known as “Vater Denke” (“Papa Denke”): religious pillar, kind neighbor, renowned for “pickled pork.”
• Rumored for hospitality: offers food and shelter to travelers and the needy.

Discovery

• On Christmas Eve 1924, a stranger is found staggering from Denke’s home with a hatchet wound, reporting that "Carl Denke did this to me." Denke is taken into custody, confesses he struck the man in “self-defense,” and kills himself by hanging before he can be fully questioned.

Home Search & Horror

• Police find:
  • 240 human teeth in a bowl
  • Dozens of bones (careful inventory details: femurs, elbows, ribs, 120 toes...)
  • Human skin used for wallets, belts, and other “leather” goods
  • Journals documenting names, weights, and dates for at least 31 victims, possibly more
  • Victims were mostly transient men, preyed upon with the promise of shelter or work
  • Pickled “pork” was, in fact, human flesh sold to unknowing villagers
• Lab confirms "pork" is not pork.

“Bro, on your wedding day, you straight up ate people. Could you imagine? My life would be ruined.” (Bailey, 4:46:36)

Aftermath & Media Frenzy

• Area horrified, local meat sellers go out of business, community traumatized.
• Press stirs debate: Was it hunger and hard times or depravity? Similar cases in era—Germany rife with cannibalism due to postwar conditions.

“The press at this time was using these three other stories to build this larger issue that these extremely tough times basically are breeding serial killers. And not only that, it's driving people to eat other humans out of hunger.” (Bailey, 4:56:06)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the psychology of cannibal stories:

  “Cannibals always interest me the most. Just because it’s so far opposite than anything I’ve ever known. Hopefully, that you could feel the same way, too. You’re not eating people, but it’s just fascinating because it just doesn’t make sense. Right?” (Bailey, 4:52:11)

• Dark humor coping mechanism:

  “I just got this mental picture. They unplug the refrigerator and they take it in as evidence. Just the whole damn thing. They’re like, you know what, we have to test everything. And honestly, that's a great move.” (Bailey, 53:10)

• On the unknowable:

  “I don't know what the takeaway is with this because I felt like John did everything that he was supposed to do. He told his friends, he told his boss, he told his family, like what was going on with Katherine. He tried to get the police involved. And it's never a smooth process with going to the police and whatnot. And I think that's all I have to say.” (Bailey, 2:23:40)

Key Takeaways

• Cannibalism remains one of the most extreme and taboo crimes, with perpetrators coming from vastly different backgrounds: From impoverished or traumatized upbringings (Dmitry & Natalia, Armin Meiwes) to wealthy privilege (Issei Sagawa) and academic achievement (Stephen Griffiths).
• Motivations vary: Sexual gratification, feelings of inadequacy, mental illness, or (very rarely) extreme hunger and desperation.
• Society’s failure: Multiple cases (Griffiths, Catherine Knight) involved missed red flags by health and justice systems.
• Cannibalism can go undetected for years, especially in times of crisis or where perpetrators are trusted by their community (Karl Denke).
• The issue of consent doesn’t exonerate cannibalism—laws are flipped and public outrage is immense (Armin Meiwes case).
• Media and public obsession: These crimes become legend, raising old—and new—questions about human nature, criminal responsibility, and societal taboos.

Listener Prompts and Outro

Throughout the episode, Bailey invites listeners to reflect and comment:

• Was there a bigger network behind some of these cases, like the Russian cannibal couple? Was Natalia the instigator?
• Did economic desperation really breed more cannibals, or is it pure evil?
• What do you make of cases where victims consented to be killed and eaten?
• Which story disturbed you the most—and why?

“Let me know what you think of this story down below... A piece of advice would be anyone who looks really normal to you, they could potentially be a murderer. So don’t be judgmental.” (Bailey—classic signoff, 4:23:37)

[End of content summary—ad breaks, intros, and outros excluded]