`Cannibal` police killer found dead in jail

A former bank worker jailed for life for one of the most gruesome murders of a serving officer in policing history has died in prison. `Cannibal` killer Stefano Brizzi has been found dead in HMP Belmarsh in London three months after being handed a minimum 24-year sentence for murdering Police Constable Gordon Semple and dissolving his body in acid. It is understood Brizzi committed suicide. A Prison Service spokesperson, who confirmed Brizzi, 50, died on Sunday (February 5), added: “As with all deaths in custody there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.” Brizzi killed PC Semple by strangling him at a sex party before cutting up his body and dissolving parts in an acid bath – all inspired by TV show Breaking Bad. Prosecutors told the Old Bailey trial that Brizzi “lived out an episode” of the US drama serial, which features chemistry teacher-turned crystal meth dealer Walter White and a scene in which a body “is got rid of” by dissolving it in acid. In December, the former Morgan Stanley IT developer was found guilty of murder by a majority of ten to two after a jury at the Old Bailey had deliberated for more than 30 hours. Brizzi denied trying to cannibalise parts of PC Semple by cooking and then biting into a rib found in his kitchen bin. But at his sentencing, the prosecution said an expert odontologist had since confirmed that even though Brizzi claimed not to remember it, he had in fact tried to eat human flesh. At sentencing, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC handed crystal meth addict Brizzi a life sentence with a minimum caveat and a concurrent seven years for obstructing a coroner. The judge said: “The PCs on scene encountered something no amount of training could have prepared them for. I commend them both. “Mr Semple was dearly loved by his family and friends and no sentence carried by this court can equate to the precious human life lost.” Judge Hilliard said there were there were “terrible features” of the case and that Brizzi`s drug addiction had ruined his life. Addressing Brizzi directly, he added: “No sentence I can pass can undo what you`ve done. “I have no doubt that there came a time when you went beyond what was agreed and you decided to cause him really serious harm.” And he added: “Your attempts to conceal what happened and dismembering and destroying his body are terrible features of the case.” He told the Italian: “Regret you express now for Mr Semple`s death has to be seen against what you did over a number of days to his body.” The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) – PC Semple’s employer for 30 years – said the “sickening” drug-fuelled murder had “shocked and traumatised” his partner, family, friends and colleagues while his dismembering amounted to “cannibalism”. Commander Nick Downing said: “Brizzi has shown no remorse for his actions, since the time of his arrest and throughout his trial.” The Italian used the gay dating app Grindr to invite PC Semple – based in the Westminister Anti-Social Behaviour Team – to his Bermondsey flat for a “sleazy session” of extreme sex. And the MPS confirmed that both men routinely used Grindr to meet like-minded individuals “for sex and drug use” while PC Semple was “behaving on duty in a way that no police officer should”. After killing the 59-year-old using a leash, he then tried to dispose of the evidence by dumping limbs in the River Thames. Brizzi, who denied murder claiming it was a sex game gone wrong, said the suggestion that he had eaten part of the MPS officer`s body was “incredible” and he could never have done it because it is “alien to my nature”. He admitted obstructing a coroner by disposing of the body. Six days after PC Semple was killed, officers from the MPS were called to Brizzi’s Peabody Estate flat when neighbours reported a “revolting smell”. Wearing just his underpants and Aviator sunglasses, Brizzi was caught red-handed with body parts in bin liners and buckets. He had a copy of the Satanic Bible and had scrawled messages