• Fate of 'cannibal cop' now in hands of jurors

    Mark St George/Rex USA

    Federal prosecutes argued NYPD police officer Gilberto Valle, 28, plotted to kidnap six women before raping, killing and cooking them.

    By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Jurors in the “cannibal cop” case began deliberations on Thursday to decide whether a New York City police officer actually intended to kidnap and eat women — or if he was simply engaging in an offensive but harmless role playing fantasy online.


    In closing arguments, Officer Gilberto Valle’s defense attorney told a Manhattan federal court jury that his client had no intentions of acting on the gory and disturbing things he chatted about with other users of fetish websites.

    Prosecutors argued that Valle was not engaging in a fantasy, but plotting to “kidnap, torture, rape and commit other horrific acts” on at least six women, including his wife, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hadassa Waxman said.

    Pointing to his extensive online research on kidnapping, making chloroform and cooking women, she said: "These are real searches conducted to carry out real research to kidnap real women."

    The FBI arrested Valle after his wife came across troubling late-night online chats in which her husband allegedly laid out plans to abduct, kill and cannibalize various women.

    The 28-year-old police officer became a tabloid sensation in a case that revolved around sex around the legal implications of engaging in fantasy role playing.

    Attorneys for Valle said his obsession was a mistake that ruined his life and family, but there is no proof he conspired to carry out all the things he chatted about on the Internet. They tried to demonstrate to the jury that he did not have the tools necessary to carry out the crimes.

    But prosecutors argued Valle did take steps to carry out the attacks, including looking women up on a law enforcement database and viewing a video clip of how to slaughter a goat, which Waxman called “a practical how-to guide to killing.”

    Valle’s lawyers contend his wife simply panicked when she came across the online chats, likening it to the 1938 radio broadcast “War of the Worlds,” when unsuspecting listeners thought a story about an alien invasion was a real newscast.

    His only offense was fantasizing about committing violence against women, the defense said.

    "That's Gil's porn," defense attorney Julia Gatto said. "Gil has a fetish. He's had it for a long time."

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story

  • Two British men arrested in New York 'cannibal cop' case

    A schoolteacher allegedly targeted by New York police Officer Gilberto Valle took the stand in his trial Thursday. Brynn Gingras of NBC New York reports. View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

    By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

    Two British men are free on bail after they were arrested in connection with the trial of a New York cop accused of plotting to kill and eat dozens of women, police said.


    One of the men was identified Friday as Dale Bolinger, 57, of Canterbury, is alleged to be the man known as "Moody Blues," who prosecutors in New York say was an online "mentor" to former New York police Officer Gilberto Valle.

    Valle, 28, is on trial on charges of conspiring to kidnap women and illegally accessing a government database to research potential victims. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

    Bolinger acknowledged that he had been suspended from his job as a nurse at East Kent Hospital after he was detained by Kent police last week on suspicion of conspiracy, child grooming and possession of child abuse images.

    An unidentified 30-year-old man was also arrested in the Canterbury area as part of the investigation, Kent police said Thursday in a statement. They are free on bail "while inquiries continue," it said.

    Bolinger denied the allegations, telling reporters outside his home, "I have to leave it to the police," the Kentish Gazette reported Friday.

    Prosecutors have introduced extensive, highly gruesome material from Valle's computer to convince a jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that Valle planned to kidnap, torture, kill and eat dozens of women, at least four of whom he had attended high school or college with. Valle's wife turned over the computer to police and fled to Nevada after discovering the materials.

    One of the women allegedly targeted in the plans was a woman named Kimberly, who was a frequent topic of discussion between Valle and the British man calling himself Moody Blues, who prosecutors said also used the email address "MeatMarketMan."

    Jane Rosenberg / REUTERS

    Gilberto Valle III, 28, is seen in this courtroom sketch with his attorney Julia Gatto in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Oct. 25.

    Among the less sickening exchanges prosecutors have introduced was titled "Abducting and Cooking Kimberly: A Blueprint." It included a photo of Kimberly Sauer, a former classmate of Valle's at the University of Maryland, prosecutors said. 

    "I can knock her out, wait until dark and kidnap her right out of her house," Valle wrote, according to prosecutors. 

    FBI Agent Corey Walsh testified that Moody Blues advised Valle to try eating his victims alive, but Valle responded: "I'm not really into raw meat."

    In another email message, Valle allegedly told Moody Blues about a softball player he knew who was "the most desirable piece of meat I've ever met." Moody Blues suggested knocking her out with a baseball bat, saying it would be "poetic justice," the jury was told.

    Valle has pleaded not guilty. On the opening day of his trial, his attorney told jurors Monday that Valle had been having disturbing fantasies since he was a teenager but never had any intention of acting on them.

    Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

    Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com

  • FBI: Second suspect arrested in cannibal cop case

    The FBI confirmed 23-year-old Michael Vanhise, of Trenton, was arrested early Friday in connection with the case of an NYPD officer who allegedly threatened to kidnap, cook and eat women.

    By Shimon Prokupecz and Jonathan Dienst, NBCNewYork.com

    A second man has been arrested in connection with the case of an NYPD officer who allegedly threatened to kidnap, cook and eat women in a bizarre plot where he fantasized about how "tasty" one victim looked and said it would be easy to roast a person in his oven, federal officials said.


    The FBI confirmed 23-year-old Michael Vanhise, of Trenton, was arrested early Friday. The agency would not provide additional details on his alleged involvement in the case until after his Manhattan court appearance later Friday. No information on an attorney was available.

    According to court papers, Vanhise and 28-year-old Gilberto Valle, who was arrested in October, may have plotted via e-mail to kidnap and eat women.

    For more, visit NBCNewYork.com

    Valle, of Queens, was previously charged with two counts of attempted kidnapping in the shocking case that includes online transcripts of his alleged plans, at one point telling a co-conspirator that his oven is "big enough to fit one of these girls if I folded their legs."

    "I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus ... cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible," he is accused of saying in the July conversation.

    "She does look tasty, doesn't she," he added, according to the complaint.

    According to the criminal complaint, Valle had files on his computer that referred to at least 100 women, including photographs, addresses and physical descriptions.

    Ten of those women were interviewed by the FBI and confirmed that they know Valle, the complaint said.

    Defense lawyer Julia Gato had said in court Valle's online chats were "just idle talk," pointing out no ropes, chemicals or other suspicious material were found in his home. 

    "We're talking about someone with a fantasy, in a deviant world where people talk about unreal things," said Gato. "At worst, he has sexual fantasies about people he knows." 

    Gato said Valle was a respected officer in the NYPD, with six and a half years on the force. He was suspended from the NYPD pending the outcome of the case.