He confessed. He was never convicted. He spent the next 36 years as a free man, and even built a strange kind of celebrity out of it.
Issei Sagawa was a Japanese man who murdered and cannibalized a fellow graduate student in Paris in 1981. A legal loophole between the French and Japanese justice systems meant he never served a prison sentence for the crime, and he remained free until his death in 2022.
The Murder
Sagawa, then 32 and studying literature at the Sorbonne, invited classmate Renée Hartevelt, a 25-year-old Dutch student, to his Paris apartment on June 11, 1981, under the pretense of discussing a poetry assignment. He shot and killed her, then remained in the apartment with her body for several days before attempting to dispose of her remains in a nearby park, where he was arrested.
Ruled Legally Insane
French authorities held Sagawa for two years while investigating, after which a judge ruled him legally insane and unfit to stand trial, ordering him committed indefinitely to a psychiatric institution rather than prosecuted. Following public attention to his case, including a book he wrote about the killing, French authorities deported him to Japan and closed the case rather than continue holding him.
A Legal Loophole
When Japanese psychiatrists examined Sagawa after his return, they found him legally sane, in direct contrast to the French finding. Because the charges against him in France had been formally dropped and the case records sealed, Japanese authorities had no legal basis to prosecute or hold him. He checked himself out of a Tokyo psychiatric hospital in August 1986 and remained free for the rest of his life.
A Public Figure
Rather than avoiding public attention, Sagawa became something of a minor celebrity in Japan, writing books, giving interviews, appearing in films, and even working as a restaurant critic, openly discussing his crime and his ongoing fascination with cannibalism for decades afterward. His continued freedom and public presence drew sustained criticism both in Japan and internationally as a failure of justice.
Later Life and Death
Sagawa suffered a stroke in 2013 that left him partially paralyzed and dependent on his brother for care in his final years. He was the subject of the 2017 documentary "Caniba," which examined his life and continued fixation on the crime. He died of pneumonia at a hospital in Tokyo on November 24, 2022, at age 73, in a private funeral attended only by relatives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Issei Sagawa ever serve time in prison?
No. He was held for two years in France while ruled legally insane, then deported to Japan, where a jurisdictional gap meant he could never be prosecuted or imprisoned.
Is Issei Sagawa still alive?
No. He died of pneumonia in November 2022 at age 73.
Did he ever express remorse?
Public interviews over the decades showed little remorse; he spoke openly and often about the crime and his ongoing fascination with cannibalism.