New Jersey man accused of trying to hire "cannibal cop" to kidnap woman

[demmiblue]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - A New Jersey man offered to pay $5,000 to the so-called "cannibal cop" to kidnap a woman and deliver her to be raped, U.S. officials alleged on Friday.

Federal authorities arrested Michael Vanhise, 23, and charged him with conspiracy to commit kidnapping with Gilberto Valle III, a New York police officer who was arrested in October and charged with conspiring to kidnap, torture, cook and eat women.

In a series of emails last year, Vanhise tried to bargain down the kidnapping fee and urged the police officer to "just make sure she doesn't die before I get her," according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday.

"No need to worry," Valle replied in an email, prosecutors allege. "She will be alive. It's a short drive to you."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/04/us-usa-crime-newyork-idUSBRE9030UW20130104



Background: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021630554

[proverbialwisdom]

1. Official press release and local media updates.

Last edited Tue Mar 5, 2013, 05:39 PM - Edit history (2)

WARNING: Graphic

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/January13/PRVanhiseMichaelCharge.php

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2013/01/feds_say_hamilton_man_may_have.html#incart_m-rpt-1
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/feds-arrest-coconspirator-cannibal-case-article-1.1233064


UPDATES:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/03/cannibal-cop-case-goes-transatlantic/
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/130304/jurors-cannibal-cop-case-shown-sick-images-tortu
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/03/04/web-searches-eyed-in-trial-of-nypd-cannibal-cop-gilberto-valle-judge-blocks-gruesome-photos/
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/molloy-cannibal-defense-fantasy-article-1.1279481

[demmiblue]

2. Jesus, there are even more 'people' involved in this story:

"VANHISE also emailed photographs of a female minor, whom VANHISE knew well, to other co-conspirators (“CC-2” and “CC-3”). CC-2 and CC-3 both expressed interest in kidnapping the child, and he provided them with the purported address of the girl, which was in close proximity to the girl’s actual home address."

This is just chilling.

[proverbialwisdom]

3. Update.

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2013/01/hamilton_man_and_cannibal_cop.html#incart_river_default

[proverbialwisdom]

4. Update.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/cannibal-mouth-watering-lunch-date-article-1.1240400

By Robert Gearty / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 12:46 PM

...After, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals wasted no time in rejecting Valle’s bid for bail, the fourth time Valle has been denied release since his October arrest on a kidnapping conspiracy charge.

[proverbialwisdom]

5. Update.

http://www.nj.com/sussex-county/index.ssf/2013/04/fbi_undercover_agents_foil_alleged_kidnapper_former_byram_councilman_connected_to_cannibal_cop_plot.html#incart_river_default

FBI undercover agents foil alleged kidnapper, former Byram councilman, connected to ‘cannibal cop’ plot

By Seth Augenstein/The Star-Ledger
on April 16, 2013 at 8:37 AM, updated April 16, 2013 at 8:38 AM


STANHOPE — A former Sussex County undersheriff has been arrested and accused of plotting to kidnap, torture, rape and kill women and children, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney.

The initial targets of the alleged plot were family members of a man charged in the infamous “cannibal cop” case, according to the undercover FBI investigation.

Richard Meltz, 65, a former Byram councilman who lives in Stanhope and Nashua, N.H., and Robert Christopher Asch, a 60-year-old from Manhattan, are accused of planning to kidnap and kill the family members of a co-conspirator, identified as Michael Vanhise, authorities said.

<>

Their actions were not confined to talking about these ghoulish plans,” said George Venizelos, the FBI’s assistant director-in-charge. “They acquired the tools to accomplish the deed, including a taser and the chemical means to anesthetize their victims. And they made detailed plans to use these instruments – plans that were foiled by the FBI’s intervention.”

Meltz and Asch are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping – which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, the FBI said.

Meltz served several terms as a councilman in Byram Township, was a Sussex County undersheriff and ran unsuccessfully for the sheriff's seat in 1998. He is currently the Chief of Police for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the Bedford, Mass. Veteran Affairs Medical Center, the FBI said.

Asch is a former high school librarian, authorities add.