The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Strangled cop ended up in acid bath at sex party, court told
You need broad minds and strong stomachs, jury told
A BREAKING Bad-obsessed former City worker strangled a Highland policeman – then copied the plot of the American TV show by dissolving his body in an acid bath, a court heard.
Stefano Brizzi is accused of murdering Constable Gordon Semple, who was born and brought up in Inverness, after the pair arranged to meet with dating app Grindr. The 50-year-old Italian was allegedly in the middle of throttling Gordon Semple when he turned away another man who had arrived to join the men for a drug-fuelled sex party. Brizzi sobbed loudly in the dock of the Old Bailey yesterday as prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told jurors they would need “broad minds and strong stomachs” over the course of the trial. The court heard
that Constable Semple, 59, was on duty when he arranged to meet Brizzi on the afternoon of April 1.
After the death of Constable Semple, who lived in Greenhithe in Kent with his long-term partner, neighbours on the Peabody Estate in south London noticed a “revolting smell” coming from Brizzi’s flat.
By April 7, a resident alerted police, who visited the flat and found Brizzi wearing only sunglasses and underpants.
Brizzi allegedly told an officer: “I’ve tried to dissolve the body . . . I’ve killed a police officer. I killed him last week. I met him on Grindr and I killed him. Satan told me to.”
However, jurors were told yesterday that the defendant was not claiming a psychiatric defence and now says Constable Semple died accidentally during a “sex game gone wrong”.
On the day of the killing, Constable Semple and Brizzi had invited more men on Grindr to join them for a sex party with drugs available but only one man – referred to as CD– turned up, jurors were told.
Mr Aylett said: “When CD pressed the entry buzzer, someone who can only have been the defendant replied over the intercom ‘ We are having a situation here. Someone fell ill but we’re taking care of it. So our party is cancelled’. CD turned around and went home.”
The prosecutor told jurors that CD must have arrived at the very point Constable Semple was meeting his death inside the flat.
Brizzi later told police that Constable Semple had invited a number of people to the flat “but they didn’t arrive and, when one did arrive, I was right in the middle of strangling Gordon and I said to – he was right there at the door – and I said to him ‘Look, this is not the right time now, people are falling ill and it’s a mess’.”
The court heard that Brizzi had been a user of crystal meth which had cost him his job at financial giant Morgan Stanley. He allegedly told a support group that he believed in the devil, and liked “satanic rituals” of a sexual nature.
Brizzi was said to be “obsessed” with the American show Breaking Bad.
Mr Ayl e tt said the main character, chemistry teacher Walter White, produced crystal meth and after poisoning a rival, dissolved the body in acid.
Brizzi denies murder but has admitted obstructing a coroner by dismembering and disposing of the body.
Mr Aylett went on to describe Brizzi's movements in the days after the killing.
On April 5, Brizzi was captured on CCTV at a DIY store buying items including perforated metal sheets, three buckets, and cleaning products.
Brizzi sobbed noisily in the dock as jurors watched the footage.
The case will resume today.
“I’ve tried to dissolve the body . . . I’ve killed a police officer”