By Joe Anuta
An NYPD officer from Forest Hills was arrested in connection with a gruesome plot to cook and eat a number of women after raping and torturing them, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court Thursday.
Gilberto Valle, 28, allegedly conspired with a number of individuals to carry out the cannibalistic plot on about 100 women he had collected information on, according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Valle, using his position as an NYPD officer, even accessed a database called the National Crime Information Center to gain additional information on his targets, Bharara said.
“Gilberto Valle’s alleged plans to kidnap women so that they could be raped, tortured, killed, cooked, and cannibalized shock the conscience,” Bharara said. “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.”
In September, the Federal Bureau of Investigation learned of communications between Valle and a number of people who were discussing the abductions, in one instance telling an unidentified person: “I was thinking of tying her body to some kind of apparatus … cook her over low heat, keep her alive as long as possible,” according to the complaint. He also discussed how to fit one of the women into his oven by folding her legs, according to the complaint.
Valle is also accused of charging money for kidnapping some of the women, according to the complaint.
Valle was arrested Wednesday at his Forest Hills Home and faces charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and accessing the database without authorization and obtaining information from a department and agency of the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
