Cannibal cop jurors shocked by graphic images

Prospective jurors in the trial of the "cannibal cop" appeared shaken Friday as the judge described the graphic sexual evidence that will be presented against defendant Gilberto Valle.

The judge told them the trial would feature emails and instant messages in which Valle discussed in great detail the kidnapping, raping, torturing, murdering and cannibalizing of certain women, AP reported.

The potential jurors were handed questionnaires that included staged Internet color photographs of a nude woman hogtied on a platter with an apple in her mouth and another naked woman tied to a pole over a fire.

There was also a cartoon of a naked woman boiling in a glass pot.

Some jurors looked surprised, others furrowed their brows as a judge told them about the evidence against Valle, a New York City police officer accused of plotting to kill, cook and eat up to 100 women, NBC News reported.

The judge said the defense would argue that Valle's communications "were all sexual fantasy and imaginary role-play, and that he never intended to kidnap, rape, torture, murder or eat any woman."

The New York Post reported Federal judge Paul Gardephe told the 87 potential jurors that many of Valle's communications occurred over sexual fetish websites "in which people discuss, view and post images and videos of sexual, sexually violent and sexually deviant conduct, such as necrophilia, sexual asphyxiation, genital mutilation, rape fantasies, bondage and various forms of sadomasochism".

Valle, of Forest Hills, Queens, was charged last year with one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, according to a federal criminal complaint, as well as using the National Crime Information Center database to access unauthorized data, ABC News reported.

He was arrested after his wife allegedly discovered evidence of his cannibalism plot on his computer.

The judge on Friday addressed the potential jurors for about 10 minutes, before asking them to retreat to another room where they filled out the questionnaires.

The court will reconvene on Monday when some potential jurors will be eliminated from consideration based on their questionnaire answers.