Grindr cannibal killer who strangled policeman and dissolved body found dead in prison
By Will Stroude
The man who strangled a London policeman during a Grindr hook-up and attempted to cannibalise his body before dissolving it in acid has been found dead in prison.
Stefano Brizzi, 50, from south London, admitted strangling PC Gordon Semple to death before chopping up his body while high on crystal meth. He was sentenced to life and ordered to serve a minimum of 24 years in jail.
However, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirmed yesterday that Brizzi died in custody at HMP Belmarsh on Sunday (February 5), the BBC reports.
“As with all deaths in custody there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman,” the department confirmed in a statement.
A cause of death has not yet been indicated but the MoJ have said it will be determined by a coroner.
Brizzi initially denied murdering PC Semple following his arrest, claiming Semple was accidentally killed on April 1 2016 after a dog leash slipped during a sex game gone wrong, However, it was argued in court that it would have taken longer for the Metropolitan Police officer to be killed by strangling than Brizzi’s version of events suggested.
Police found PC’s Semple’s partially-dissolved remains in a bath six days after his death, after neighbours reported a putrid smell from Brizzi’s flat. The court later heard how Brizzi had been a fan of US TV drama Breaking Bad, in which a drug dealer’s body is disposed of in acid.
It emerged during the trial that the former web developer had attempted to cannibalise parts of PC Semple after investigators discovered the victim’s DNA on kitchen utensils, in the oven, as well as bite marks on a piece of bone.
Handing down the original sentence, the judge said there were “terrible features” to the case, adding that Brizzi’s addiction to crystal meth had ruined his life.
“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,” he said.
No date has been given for an inquest into Brizzi’s death.
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