Gay cop’s body ‘dissolved in acid by Breaking Bad fan’, court hears
A court has heard allegations that a gay police officer’s body was “dissolved in acid”, after meeting a man on Grindr.
Stefano Brizzi has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge over the killing of 59-year-old officer Gordon Semple.
A jury was sworn in at the Old Bailey today, with opening arguments beginning today. The trial is expected to last three weeks.
49-year-old Italian-born Brizzi is accused of murdering Semple at his London flat, between April 1 and April 7.
The prosecution alleges that Brizzi dismembered Mr Semple’s body and disposed of it in communal waste bins on the Peabody Estate in Southwark Street, south London.
PC Semple’s remains were found after a neighbour reported a “smell of death” coming from Brizzi’s flat.
The court heard that police found an acid bath with “globules of flesh” floating in it.
Mr 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.”
The court heard that Mr Brizzi was obsessed with TV show ‘Breaking Bad’, which features a scene in which characters attempt to dissolve a body in a bath of Hydrofluoric acid.
The police officer went missing on April 1 after being last seen close to London Bridge.
Originally from Inverness, PC Semple worked at Bank of Scotland before joining the force, where he had worked for 30 years.
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