New York 'cannibal cop' Gilberto Valle found guilty

GlobalPost

A New York policeman on Tuesday was convicted of plotting to kidnap, cook and eat young women.

A federal court jury in New York took four days to reach their verdict in the so-called 'cannibal cop' trial that featured lots of gruesome testimony, the Agence France-Presse reported.

Gilberto Valle was found guilty of conspiracy and accessing a national crime database, the Associated Press reported.

The 28-year-old was arrested last year following a tip from his now-estranged wife, the BBC reported.

The jury was told Valle spent endless hours researching cannibalism online and entered chat rooms on extreme fetish websites to discuss his literal hunger for young women, the AFP reported. 

Prosecutors said Valle plotted with other fetish website users to "abduct, torture and eat women he knew, including his wife," the AP said.

But his defense attorney, Julia Gatto, countered that her client was merely engaged in fantasy role-play online, Reuters reported.

The BBC said Valle also used a police department database to look up information about the women and had even contacted some of them. 

Valle faces up to life in prison.

More from GlobalPost: Is 'Cannibal cop' trial targeting thought crimes?

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