Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop

No on mentions at any point that this conviction should only be happening because he's a cop. They should be held to a higher standard than the general population. This documentary paints a victimized picture of this "man" who knew what he was doing and what he job was a made a bad decision. Stop equating fetishism to serial killers and rapists!

Erin Lee Carr is quickly becoming one of my favourite documentarians. Everything I've watched that has been directed by her is an incredibly ride.

This case in particular looks at the case of 'thought crimes' and when such a thing turns from a fantasy, into a reality.

I'm still caught up about how to feel about the 'Cannibal Cop'. While using police databases to collect information on potential victims is truly disturbing and clearly crossing a line; the perpetrator never physically did anything.

Despite which side of the fence you stand on, this documentary does an incredible job at telling both sides of the story, and never feels like it's dragging on.

I'll certainly be viewing more of Ms. Carr's library.

Gilberto Valle, a New York cop, is a member on a website dealing with sexual fetishes. Together with two other guys they talk about his plans to kidnap 24 women, roast them and eat them. He also makes preparations. But at the same time they all specifically say that it's pure fantasy and none of them actually mean that. The place where he says he has a big oven is actually a basement with laundry machines. He is trialed for conspiracy (not attempt, which is totally different).

Where is the limit between fantasy and actual intent to commit a crime? Can you judge someone based only on his deviant thoughts? Why is it OK for a writer such as Stephen King to write horrible stories about murders, but not for a "regular" guy to have fantasies? This is a very unusual case and a very interesting documentary.

If you're interested to know what happened with the trial after the documentary, you can read about it on Wikipedia.

Highly recommended

Very good documentary. But it's chilly how this man doesn't seem regretful at all. He just feels regretful that he got caught. It's one thing to have fantasy, but the fact that he was using his power as police to stalk and research for these women?

And at which point shouldn't people be not responsible for planning and talking about it online.

After being charged with conspiracy and having a judge overturn it... it sort of COMPLETLY undermines THREAT LAWS. Your not allowed to threaten Death to another person.. but is it only a threat if you tell the person you're threatening? What if you told everyone in SoCal media that you wanted to murder a politician... you'd be charged with uttering threats.. maybe not conspiracy unless you had an actual plan in play.. but the threat is real... had he not been exposed would he have gone through with it? Unknown.. just like the threat of death on another person.. it still was a threat.