Officer accused of plot to cook women

A police officer dreamed up plots to kidnap, torture, cook and eat at least 100 women whose photos, names and addresses he pulled from a confidential law enforcement database, authorities said Thursday.

Gilbert Valle’s alleged fantasies about cannibalizing women -- one expressing the desire to “cook her over low heat, keep her alive as long as possible” -- were described in online fetish chat rooms and emails. Authorities said he was arrested because he was taking steps to carry the fantasies out.

None of the women were harmed, although a prosecutor said that some of the women said they knew Valle and that the six-year NYPD veteran had stalked at least two of them, including once in a police car.

Valle’s estranged wife tipped off authorities to the online activity, leading to his arrest, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing case.

Valle, 28, was being held without bail on federal charges including kidnapping conspiracy and unauthorized use of law enforcement records. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman called the allegations “profoundly disturbing.”

One document found on Valle’s computer was titled “Abducting and Cooking (Victim 1): A Blueprint,” according to the criminal complaint.

In online conversations, investigators said, Valle talked about how to fit the woman’s body into an oven (her legs would have to be bent), said he could make chloroform to knock a woman out, and discussed how “tasty” one woman looked.

“Her days are numbered,” he wrote, according to the complaint.

The woman told the FBI she knew Valle and had lunch with him in July.

Public defender Julia Gatto had asked for bail, saying the alleged plot was “fantasy in a sexual world.” She said Valle had not crossed the line from fantasy to reality.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Hadassa Waxman disagreed, saying Valle was too close to carrying out the plots.

In at least one instance, Valle discussed kidnapping a woman he knew and selling her to another man for $5,000, according to excerpts from a transcript included in the court records.

“I love that she is asleep right now not having the slightest clue of what is planned,” Valle is accused of saying in July in an online chat with the potential buyer. “Her days are numbered. I’m glad you’re on board. She does look tasty doesn’t she?”