German cannibal

Several days ago, there were news reports from Germany regarding a case of cannibalism. A man had murdered and ate another man, but the murdered man had given consent to this prior to his death.

On the Libertarian Alliance Yahoo group (see links) there has been some discussion about this. Some who post there believe this act was extreme and distasteful. I disagree, since IMO the act was consistent with libertarian principles.

One of the central tenets of libertarianism is self-ownership. This means that you own your life and possess complete sovereignty over your life and body. If this is the case, then it logically follows that someone can consent to being murdered, since the murdered party owns his life and body and hence can do anything with it. The primary stumbling blocks in such an area would be proving that consent was given. If a contract had been signed, then it should be proven that such an act didn't occur under duress.