A second man has been arrested in connection with the case of an New York City police officer who allegedly threatened to kidnap, cook and eat women in a bizarre plot where he fantasized about how "tasty" one victim looked and said it would be easy to roast a person in his oven, federal officials said.
The FBI confirmed 23-year-old Michael Vanhise, of Trenton, N.J., was arrested early Friday. The agency would not provide additional details on his alleged involvement in the case until after his Manhattan court appearance later Friday. No information on an attorney was available.
According to court papers, Vanhise and 28-year-old Gilberto Valle, who was arrested in October, may have plotted via e-mail to kidnap and eat women.
Valle, of Queens, N.Y., was previously charged with two counts of attempted kidnapping in the shocking case that includes online transcripts of his alleged plans, at one point telling a co-conspirator that his oven is "big enough to fit one of these girls if I folded their legs."
"I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus ... cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible," he is accused of saying in the July conversation.
"She does look tasty, doesn't she," he added, according to the complaint.
According to the criminal complaint, Valle had files on his computer that referred to at least 100 women, including photographs, addresses and physical descriptions.
Ten of those women were interviewed by the FBI and confirmed that they know Valle, the complaint said.
Defense lawyer Julia Gato had said in court Valle's online chats were "just idle talk," pointing out no ropes, chemicals or other suspicious material were found in his home.
"We're talking about someone with a fantasy, in a deviant world where people talk about unreal things," said Gato. "At worst, he has sexual fantasies about people he knows."
Gato said Valle was a respected officer in the NYPD, with six and a half years on the force. He was suspended from the NYPD pending the outcome of the case.
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