New York:
A New York police officer was arrested on Wednesday in Queens by the Federal Bureau of Investigation after he discussed cooking and eating female body parts, according to a criminal complaint.
The evidence against the officer, a six-year veteran of the New York Police Department, consists of e-mails and instant messages in which he was "discussing plans to kidnap, rape, torture, kill, cook and eat body parts of a number of women," according to the complaint against the officer, Gilberto Valle.
The complaint suggests that Officer Valle, who worked in the 26th Precinct in Manhattan and lives in Forest Hills, Queens, never followed through on any of the acts he is accused of discussing. He was charged with federal kidnapping conspiracy, and is expected to appear in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon. Officer Valle, who is married, joined the force in July 2006.
In one message to a co-conspirator, Officer Valle wrote that he was contemplating cooking a person "over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible," according to the complaint.
"The allegations in the complaint really need no description from us," Mary E. Galligan, the F.B.I.'s acting assistant director, said in a statement. "They speak for themselves. It would be an understatement merely to say Valle's own words and actions were shocking."
The criminal complaint describes two separate episodes in which Officer Valle discussed abducting women. In each case it appears that the women knew the officer vaguely.
In an episode in February, Officer Valle sent an online message to another unnamed person in which he offered to kidnap a woman on the person's behalf for a price: "$5,000 and she is all yours," the officer wrote, according to the complaint.
"Just so that you know, she may be knocked out when I get her to you," Officer Valle wrote, according to the criminal complaint. "I don't know how long the solvent I am using will last but I have to knock her out to get her out of her apartment safely."
Officer Valle appeared to be under the impression that the person he was communicating with intended to rape the woman, according to the criminal complaint.
"She will be alive," he wrote. "It's a short drive to you. I think I would rather not get involved in the rape. You paid for her. She is all yours and I don't want to be tempted the next time I abduct a girl."
Officer Valle also wrote that he would not budge on his $5,000 price. "Like I said this is very risky and will ruin my life if I am caught."
While the complaint does not identify the woman in question, F.B.I. agents later learned that cellphone tracking devices indicated that Officer Valle had made or received phone calls on the block in Manhattan where the woman lived. When an F.B.I. agent interviewed the woman, she said she did not know Officer Valle well.
In a search of the officer's computer, federal investigators discovered "files pertaining to at least 100 women," according to the complaint. "The F.B.I. has identified and interviewed 10 of these women, each of whom has confirmed to the F.B.I. that Valle is known to her."
In the search, federal agents also discovered a document Officer Valle had created that appeared to be a "blueprint" for "abducting and cooking" another woman, according to the complaint, which redacts the name of the victim.
In one message from July 19, 2012, Officer Valle sent an instant message to a person described as a "co-conspirator," indicating that he was meeting with the intended victim three days later, according to the complaint. The victim, who was later interviewed in October by the F.B.I., said she had met the officer that day "at a restaurant for lunch," according to the complaint. What happened during or after the lunch was not disclosed.
© 2012, The New York Times News Service