Former New York City police officer Gilberto Valle, dubbed the “cannibal cop” by national media, was convicted this morning of plotting to kidnap, cook, and eat women. The 28-year-old now faces life in prison for one count of kidnapping conspiracy in the bizarre case that garnered national interest and earned Valle his headline-ready nickname.
Valle was also convicted on a second, lesser charge of illegally gaining access to a law enforcement database that he allegedly used to conduct research on his potential victims. That count comes with a maximum of five years in prison. The Associated Press with some background:
Valle’s lawyers … chose not to hide what they called his “weird proclivities.” But they insisted that he was just fantasizing and noted that none of the women were ever harmed.
Prosecutors countered that an analysis of Valle’s computer found he was taking concrete steps to abduct his wife and at least five other women he knew. They said he looked up potential targets on a restricted law enforcement database, searched the Internet for how to knock someone out with chloroform, and showed up on the block of one woman after agreeing to kidnap her for $5,000 for a New Jersey man, now awaiting trial.
For more on Valle and his trial, check out Daniel Engber’s piece in Slate from last week.
