‘Cannibal killer ate victim with chopsticks’
Gay lover cooked part of Scottish policeman’s leg, murder trial told
BODY parts of a Scottish policeman allegedly strangled during a drug-fuelled sex game may have been cooked and eaten by his murderer, a court has heard. The DNA of PC Gordon Semple was found on chopsticks and inside a cooking pot at the home of Stefano Brizzi, the Old Bailey heard.
Yesterday a jury was told police were alerted to a ‘smell of death’ at the Italian’s flat in South London before finding the officer’s remains dissolving in a bath of acid.
On arrest, the 50-year-old is alleged to have sobbed to detectives ‘I thought I was getting away with it’ before asking for a shower as his ‘bathtub had been unusable for days’.
Jurors were also told Brizzi, whose computer contained ebooks entitled The Satanic Bible and Lucifer, I Call You Forth, blamed Satan for telling him to ‘kill, kill, kill’.
PC Semple, originally from Inverness, was on duty when he arranged to meet the former Morgan Stanley IT worker for ‘hot, dirty, sleazy’ sex through gay dating app Grindr.
On April 1, the court heard, they met up at Brizzi’s flat in Southwark, where Brizzi is alleged to have strangled PC Semple, 59, after an extreme sex session involving bondage.
A post-mortem examination found evidence that PC Semple had taken GHB, a drug often used by gay men during sex, and the sedative ketamine.
Following the alleged murder, Brizzi chopped up the policeman’s body before dissolving parts in an acid bath and disposing of the rest next to the Thames, the jury was told.
The court heard Brizzi was obsessed with hit TV show Breaking Bad, in which the main character Walter White tries to dissolve the body of a rival in acid.
Police arrived at the flat on April 6 and were struck by ‘overpowering smell of chemicals combined with that of rotting meat’, the jury was told.
The court heard investigators found traces of PC Semple’s body in the kitchen, including on the tea strainer, chopping board and in a blender.
Prosecuting, Crispin Aylett, QC, said Brizzi cooked and ate a section of his victim’s leg after putting it in a roasting tin in the oven, while there was also evidence of a human bite-
‘I’d appreciate a shower’
mark on his ribs. He added: ‘Having murdered him, he went on to dismember his body before attempting to dispose of it in circumstances that amount to cannibalism.’
Jurors were told Brizzi began to sob as he was arrested and asked: ‘Will I ever be coming back to the flat?’ before claiming: ‘I spoke to Satan and he was telling me to kill, kill, kill and I agreed at the first opportunity.’
After his arrest, Brizzi allegedly said: ‘I thought I was getting away with it. I had nearly finished but I took a shot [of crystal meth]. I was going to finish the job today. This man was a very big man and all I have left is two buckets.’
As an officer typed up the custody record, the defendant added: ‘And another thing. My bathtub has been unusable for days. I would appreciate a shower.’
A post mortem showed PC Semple had been struck in the face while alive and strangled but the cause of death was given as ‘unascertained’.
Brizzi denies murder but admits one count of obstructing the coroner in the execution of duty.
Jurors were shown CCTV of Brizzi travelling by bike to a hardware store to purchase items which he allegedly used to try to dispose of PC Semple’s corpse.
He bought three large rubber buckets, saws, cleaning products and two large perforated sheets of metal.
The trial continues.