Cannibal Cop Found Guilty, Could Face Life in Prison

A jury has found Gilberto Valle—a.k.a. Cannibal Cop—guilty of conspiring to kill and eat women. Valle's defense team argued that he was just fantasizing about killing and eating women, which is totes legal, with prosecutors countering that Valle researched specific victims, contacted them, and creeped on their houses before he was caught by police. So.

Via ABC:

"Today, a unanimous jury found that Gilberto Valle's detailed and specific plans to abduct women for the purpose of committing grotesque crimes were very real, and that he was guilty as charged," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "The Internet is a forum for the free exchange of ideas, but it does not confer immunity for plotting crimes and taking steps to carry out those crimes."

...They said he looked up potential targets on a restricted law enforcement database, searched the Internet for how to knock someone out with chloroform and showed up on the block of one woman after agreeing to kidnap her for $5,000 for a New Jersey man who is now awaiting trial.

Valle "left the world of fantasy and entered the world of reality," prosecutor Hadassa Waxman said during closing arguments. She said the officer's arrest near Halloween last year interrupted a ghoulish plan to "kidnap, torture, rape and commit other horrific acts on young women."

Cannibal Cop's sentencing will take place on June 19. He faces the possibility of life in cannibal prison.