A federal court jury has found former New York police officer Gilberto Valle, 28, guilty of plotting to kidnap, cook and eat women. The jury also found Valle guilty of using a law enforcement database to gather personal information about potential targets. His now estranged wife was one of about two dozen women he selected as his targets. According to a March 12 Reuters article, Valle started out at an online fantasy role-playing site, but crossed the line when he took specific actions like targeting specific women. He also did extensive research on how to kidnap and cook them.
The jury was composed of six men and six women who started their deliberations last Thursday. Valle did not take the witness stand, but his estranged wife testified against him.
Valle is set for sentencing on June 19 when he faces a possible life sentence for the kidnapping conspiracy. He also faces up to a year in jail for improperly using the law enforcement database.
The defense team argued that Valle was only role-playing and that there is no proof he intended to carry out any real crimes.
The evidence against Valle tells a different story with a gruesome collection of "human meat recipes" and images of women being roasted on spits. Additional evidence included records of extensive internet research on such topics as kidnapping, how to make chloroform and cooking women.
According to a March 12 Daily Mail article, Valle joined an online fetish group at DarkFetishNet.com. The site is the brainchild of Russian Internet entrepreneur Sergay Merenkov. The site resembles a normal social network and Merenkov claims to have thrown members out when it looked like they were crossing the line from fantasy to taking action.
Members shared posts, videos and photos focused on acts of extreme cruelty for the purpose of sexual stimulation. None of Valle’s immediate group actually met with each other, exchanged money, committed any crimes or carried out their fantasies. However, Valle collected detailed information about real women, which helped to convince the jury that he intended to carry out his fantasy.
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