Jury convicts New York cop in cannibal plot
New York police officer Gilberto Valle conspired to kidnap women, who prosecutors argued he planned to rape, torture, cook and eat, a federal jury decided Tuesday, according to CNN.
Valle's lawyers argued the former police officer's e-mails and online postings were just "fantasy role-play" and" dark improv theater," but prosecutors said he was "deadly serious."
Valle, 28, faces life in prison for the kidnap conspiracy conviction. He was also found guilty of illegally accessing a federal law enforcement database.
The database, which Valle was trained to use and had access to as a cop, helped him research potential victims, prosecutors said.
No one was ever kidnapped or eaten, but the jury did see what prosecutors said were detailed plans to carry out Valle's plot.
A document found on his wife's laptop was titled "Abducting and Cooking Kimberly -- A Blueprint." It included a photograph of Kimberly Sauer and personal information, including her bra size and shoe size. Sauer's testimony revealed that some of the information -- a different last name, birthplace, birth date and college education -- was inaccurate.
The same document listed "materials needed," which included a gag, rope, chloroform and a tarp for the trunk. The FBI never found any of these items in Valle's possession.
References to the blueprint were found in chats the FBI deemed "fantasy role-play," along with references to waterboarding and chloroform, terms frequently used in the online conversations.
Valle, a six year NYPD veteran, planned to kidnap three women during the week of February 20, 2012, prosecutors said, pointing to some of the e-mails and chats.