A New York City 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 have said.
Gilberto Valle's fantasies about cannibalising women—in one, he said he hoped to "cook her over low heat, keep her alive as long as possible"—were retrieved in a trail of emails, computer files and instant messages in online fetish chat rooms, and authorities on Thursday said he was arrested because he was taking steps to carry them out.
None of the women was harmed, although a prosecutor said some of the women knew Valle and he had stalked at least two of them at home or work—once in his police car, in a "very intimidating fashion". Authorities said he had had lunch with one of them.
Valle's estranged wife tipped authorities off to his chilling 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 held without bail on charges including kidnapping conspiracy and unauthorized use of law enforcement records.
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