Gilberto Valle Guilty, Cannibal Cop: Former NYPD Convicted of Plots to Kidnap, Kill and Eat Women

Gilberto Valle has been found guilty of accessing a national crime database in order to abduct, kill and then eat women. The 28-year-old former NYPD officer has been dubbed the "Cannibal Cop" and reportedly plotted with others who he found on fetish websites to commit these crimes. Valle apparently targeted women whom he knew, including his own wife who has a daughter with Gilberto and testified against him in the trial.

Valle's lawyer, Julia Gatto, embraced her client when the guilty verdict was read and later told the press, "It's a devastating verdict for us. We poured our hearts and souls into this. The jury was unable to get past the thoughts. Obviously, the case involved thoughts that were unusual and bizarre and frankly very ugly. [It is a] dangerous prosecution when we start opening our minds and prosecuting what's in our brains and not what's in the real world."

Defense attorney Robert Baum said that this trial has set a "dangerous precedent. People can be prosecuted for their thoughts and convicted."

Mstarz reported on the "cannibal cop" trial earlier this month, specifically the tactics taken by the defense and the prosecution. Here is an excerpt of the trial's happenings that lead to this week's conviction:

Over the last week [of March 5], jurors have been shown pictures of gagged and tortured women and heard a heart-wrenching testimony from Valle's estranged wife, Kathleen Mangan-Valle.  Porsecutors also used Valle's search history as evidence having culled searches such as"Recipes human meat", "Eat her for dinner", "How to tie up a girl" and "Does she look good enough to eat" from Valle's PC.

In addition, excerpts of online conversations where Valle talked with others about raping, murdering, cooking and eating women were read to the jurors. Valle was a regular visitor of darkfetishnet.com, a community of torture enthusiasts and the conversations were with other members of the site.