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Klaus Bjetland was a Norwegian merchant seaman. He was Benjamin Raspail's lover and victim of Jame Gumb. Sometime during the 1970s Raspail met Klaus and became infatuated with him and began a relationship. Raspail's former lover Jame Gumb became extremely jealous of their relationship. One day Raspail was looking for Klaus, and asked Gumb where he was. Gumb said Klaus went swimming, which alarmed Raspail as he knew Klaus wasn't a strong swimmer. Some time later, Raspail found Klaus's head in Gumb's apartment, with Gumb himself wearing an apron made from Klaus's skin. Raspail buried Klaus's body and stored the head in formaldehyde and hid it in a rented garage. In therapy with Hannibal Lecter, Raspail recalled this story. It was the last thing he told Lecter, who stabbed Raspail and harvested his sweetbreads. When recalling the story with Clarice Starling, Lecter lied about the circumstances behind Klaus’s death. Lecter claimed that the man died after performing erotic asphyxiation. Raspail apparently claimed that he killed Klaus but Lecter said that Raspail was too flabby and weak to kill him.

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