‘Cannibal of Rouen’ ate cellmate’s lung

A French convict nicknamed the 'cannibal of Rouen' has been jailed for 30 years for killing his cellmate, ripping out his lung and eating it after a row over prison toilets.

Nicolas Cocaign was convicted of murder and acts of torture and brutality at his trial in the Normandy town of Rouen. The court heard how he beat and stabbed his cellmate Thierry Baudry with a pair of scissors in the attack in early 2007.
 
He then suffocated his victim with a plastic bag and, believing him to be dead, cut open his chest. He then snapped one of the man's ribs and then pulled out what he thought was his heart, but was in fact some of his lung.
 
He ate part of the organ raw before frying the rest with onions and olive oil on a camping stove he had in his cell. A medical examiner testified that Baudry was still alive when Cocaign cut open his chest.
 
The heavily-tattooed 39-year-old was serving a sentence for attempted rape and other crimes when he butchered Baudry. The pair had been rowing about the state of toilets before the attack.
 
The entire incident was witnessed by a third man, the pair's cellmate David Lagrue. He was so traumatised by what he saw that he committed suicide in November 2009.
 
Cocaign claimed that he was mentally ill at the time and had repeatedly asked the authorities for help. During the investigation he said he wanted to eat Baudry's heart so he could steal his soul.
 
"I made several appeals for help, saying I was a man capable of being dangerous," he said. "I took action, and then they took me seriously."
 
Cocaign's defence team argued that he could not be held responsible for his actions because of his mental state. "He killed him because he is mad, totally mad," said defence lawyer Fabien Picchiottino, who argued that he should be transferred to a mental hospital. State prosecutor Elizabeth Pelsez countered: "A man who plunges into horror is not necessarily afflicted with madness."
 
Before the jury retired Cocaign addressed his victim's family, who were in the courtroom. He said: "I want to excuse myself before the Baudry family, if they accept my apology."
 
Cocaign will have to serve at least 20 years in prison and will have psychiatric treatment. ·