London - A former bank IT expert obsessed with TV show Breaking Bad strangled a police officer to death when they met for sex before trying to dissolve his body in an acid bath, a jury was told on Thursday.
Stefano Brizzi, 50, is accused of murdering off-duty PC Gordon Semple when the pair met for a drug-fuelled group sex session.
The former Morgan Stanley web developer then used a saw to chop up his victim, before tossing body parts in the River Thames, the court heard.
The Italian was a fan of Breaking Bad, a hit US drama about a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin. One scene involves the body of a rival being dissolved in an acid bath.
Brizzi also referred to the drug crystal meth, which is at the centre of the series, as ‘Nutella’, the court heard.
PC Semple’s remains were discovered after police were alerted by neighbours to an appalling ‘smell of death’.
Officers were hit by an overwhelming stench as Brizzi opened the front door of his flat wearing just his underwear and a pair of sunglasses.
Inside they found some of their colleague’s remains in the bath and discovered attempts had been made to boil his flesh away in saucepans. Later, a severed foot was found in the river.
On Thursday, Brizzi went on trial at the Old Bailey, where he claimed PC Semple died accidentally during a sex game.
He denies murder but has admitted obstructing the coroner in his duty by dismembering the 59-year-old’s body.
Opening the case against him, Crispin Aylett QC warned jurors that they needed ‘strong stomachs as well as broad minds’.
He said PC Semple went to Brizzi’s flat on the Peabody Estate, in Southwark, south London, on April 1. The couple arranged the rendezvous on the gay dating app Grindr, where they invited others to join in. When PC Semple did not come home, his partner Gary Meeks rang his mobile phone and it was answered but all he could hear was breathing and movement.
Six days later, two women PCs visited Brizzi’s home and made the shocking discovery.
Aylett said: ‘The officers were met with a sight that must have been beyond anything for which they had been trained.
‘In the bathroom, the bath was full of what turned out to be acid. On the bathroom floor were plastic buckets containing human remains.’
Asked about what happened, Brizzi allegedly said: ‘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.’
Aylett said: ‘Albeit he was in a relationship, Gordon Semple was a sexually promiscuous man who made extensive use of the gay app Grindr.’
The pair invited two other men to join the ‘party’ but only one turned up. When the man arrived at 7pm, Brizzi told him through the intercom: ‘Someone fell ill but we’re taking care of it. So our party is cancelled.’
Brizzi’s neighbours heard the sound of hammering the next day. He later placed an unlit candle outside the front door.
On April 4, a neighbour complained about the ‘revolting smell’ and Brizzi told him he had been cooking for a friend. The same day he bought a set of saws and several large buckets.
After his arrest, Brizzi said he had been hearing voices telling him: ‘You must kill. You must kill.’ Despite this, he is not claiming to be mentally ill.
Asked why body parts were found in the river, he said: ‘I kind of said “goodbye”... I thought it was a nice way to... make a funeral on the River Thames.’
Aylett said the Italian must have hoped to first avoid being caught and, if that failed, to make it impossible to discover how PC Semple had died.
But a pathologist identified bruising on the officer’s neck, suggesting he was strangled.
Police found Brizzi was addicted to crystal meth. He had been sacked by Morgan Stanley over his drug use.
PC Semple, from Inverness, lived in Greenhithe, Kent. The Metropolitan Police officer was attached to a Westminster Council anti-social behaviour unit.
The trial continues.
Daily Mail