A New York City police officer was arrested Thursday and accused of a kidnapping plot that involved alleged plans to cook and eat women, authorities said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Gilberto Valle, a 28-year-old officer in the New York Police Department, after a search of a computer at his home in Forest Hills, Queens, turned up emails and other messages discussing plans to hold women captive, cook them in ovens and cannibalize their body parts, according to the complaint filed in federal court.
The search of Valle’s computer found files and photographs of some 100 women, the complaint said, including addresses and other information. The police officer, a six-year NYPD veteran, is also accused of using a law-enforcement database to locate at least one potential victim and research ways to drug and disable the women.
Valle was arrested Wednesday at his home by FBI special agents and NYPD Internal Affairs bureau officers. He is awaiting a court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman and couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
The complaint included excerpts of the communication between Valle and two unnamed co-conspirators. When asked by the co-conspirator about the size of his oven, Valle replied: “Big enough to fit one of these girls if I folded their legs.”
He also said he could make chloroform at his home, according to the complaint. ”I love that she is asleep right now not having the slightest clue of what we have planned,” Valle wrote in one message, according to the complaint.
He also anticipated the risks in his alleged plans, telling a co-conspirator in one message: “I am putting my neck on the line here. If something goes wrong somehow, I am in deep s—,” according to the complaint. The potential victim, he wrote, “will definitely make the news.”
The court complaint doesn’t indicate that any women had been hurt. Under acts “in furtherance of the conspiracy,” the complaint states that on July 22, Valle traveled to Maryland to meet with a targeted victim.
When his co-conspirator talked about reducing the $5,000 asking price the officer was allegedly seeking for kidnapping a woman, Valle balked: “Like I said this is very risky and will ruin my life if I am caught,” he wrote, according to the complaint. “I really need the money and I can’t take under $5,000.”
According to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter, the allegations made against Valle first came to light recently when he separated from his wife, who contacted the FBI to say that there was “questionable porn” on his computer and that it needed to be investigated.
The FBI referred the inquiry to the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, who discovered the emails on Officer Valle’s computer, the official said. The communications alleged were made by Valle to “like minded” people outside of the United States and appeared to be fantasy, the official said. Authorities, however, became concerned when Valle met for lunch at least one woman who allegedly was mentioned in the communications, the official said.
Paul Browne, the top spokesman for the NYPD, said Valle has been suspended. He was assigned to the 26th precinct.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “Gilberto Valle’s alleged plans to kidnap women so that they could be raped, tortured, killed, cooked, and cannibalized shock the conscience. This case is all the more disturbing when you consider Valle’s position as a New York City police officer and his sworn duty to serve and protect. Our investigation is ongoing.”
