Prosecution rests as jury shown gruesome images at NY cop cannibalism-plot trial

Defense team begin at NY Cannibalism-Plot trial

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The accused Gilbert Valle

Photo by NBC

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The prosecution rested its case on Monday in the case of NYPD officer Gilberto Valle, dubbed the "cannibal cop" after jurors were shown graphic images and a video of women being tortured and eaten alive.

Valle is accused of conspiring to kidnap, kill and eat women, including his wife Kathleen Mangan. His arrest came after Mangan allegedly discovered evidence of his cannibalism plot on his home computer. Valle, 28, has been held without bail since his October arrest.

Mangan, a schoolteacher, said that she discovered his “tactical plans” on her computer. Her husband has used her laptop because his own had crashed.

On Monday defense lawyers asked the jury to acquit their client saying prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence to let a jury decide whether Valle planned to carry out a crime, MSN reports.

One of the videos played in court depicted a screaming woman made to appear she was cooking alive over an open flame. There also were several photos of women with bright red apples stuffed in their mouths.

FBI computer forensics examiner Stephen Flatly testified that one website Valle visited promised customers they would “only receive the highest quality human beef.”

Other related search terms used by Valle included “how to tie up a girl,” “human meat recipes,” "how to chloroform a girl" and "huge cooking tray."

Prosecutors also wanted to present further exhibits of gruesome images found on Valle's computer depicting women being tortured, dead bodies, and body parts. One image included a picture of a dead body with the feet cut off. But District Judge Paul Gardephe ruled they were not admissible as they were automatically stored in cache files on Valle's computer.

On Tuesday Defense lawyers began presenting their evidence with the screening of a videotaped deposition of a Russian man who runs a fetish website, where Valle's plots were allegedly hatched.

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