Jealous husband ate wife's lip 'on impulse'

A Stockholm-area professor charged with cutting off and eating his wife's lower lip has told investigators he planned to kill himself after the attack and that the decision to eat his wife's lip was made "spontaneously".

• Man charged for cutting off and eating wife's lip (21 Jun 12)
• Man cut off wife's lips and ate them (30 May 12)

"I didn't want to kill her. I wanted her to suffer for the rest of her life for what she had done," the 52-year-old man told police, according to the Expressen newspaper.

The man, who is a respected researcher at the Karolinska Institute north of Stockholm, stands charge with aggravated assault for the attack on his wife, which took place in May in the couple's home south of Stockholm.

According to prosecutors, the man was upset with his wife for requesting a divorce and flew into a jealous rage.

Following his arrest, he told police that his 32-year-old wife had repeatedly asked for a divorce and that he ultimately attacked her when she returned home from a trip the professor believed she had taken with her new lover.

"First, I took a knife, but it wasn't sharp enough. Then I took out a scalpel that one uses in surgery," he explained.

According to the professor, his wife was awake at the time and he told to her that he didn't intend to kill her but that I had to "punish" her but cutting off her lip.

"I took her lips and cut one off and ate it," he admitted during questioning.

By removing his wife's lip, the 52-year-old hoped she would never be able to kiss again. During the act, however, he became concerned that doctors might try to reattach his wife's lip.

But he came up with what he considered a fitting solution on the spot: swallowing his wife's recently sliced-off lip.

"I got the idea spontaneously. I thought, 'I'll get rid of it. I'm a man of science, I have a very high IQ. I have the ability to solve problems in a second'," he told police, according to Expressen.

The professor also told police he planned to kill himself, either by taking cyanide or by ramming his car into a wall.

"I thought about other options too. I didn't want it to look like a suicide, but rather an accident because it was about honour," he said.

The man's wife, meanwhile, has told police she "feels sorry" for her husband, despite the attack, which is expected to leave permanent injuries.

"I may end up with a scar on my face, but he's lost his entire life," she said.

The trial of the 52-year-old professor is scheduled to start on July 3rd.

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