Breaking Bad fan 'murders policeman during sex then tries to dispose of body in acid'

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A crystal meth user murdered a police officer during a sex session and attempted to destroy his body using a technique seen on TV show Breaking Bad, a court has heard.

Prosecutors said Italian Stefano Brizzi, 50, tried to dissolve the body of PC Gordon Semple, 59, in a bath of acid.

Crispin Aylett QC, prosecuting, opened the trial telling jurors the case called for "broad minds and strong stomachs".

PC Semple met Mr Brizzi through gay dating app Grindr and went to the Italian’s house while on duty for "hot, dirty, sleazy" sex on the afternoon of 1 April, the court was told.

The police officer had been in a relationship but was "sexually promiscuous" and used Grindr for "extreme" encounters of "domination, bondage and much else besides", said Mr Aylett.

Mr Brizzi was allegedly in the middle of throttling him when he turned away another man who had arrived for a drug-fuelled sex party.

Over the next few days, neighbours on the Peabody Estate in south London noticed a "revolting smell" coming from Mr Brizzi's flat.

When one complained, Mr Brizzi put it down to cooking for a friend, jurors at the Old Bailey were told.

By 7 April, a resident alerted police, who visited the flat and found Mr Brizzi wearing only sunglasses and underpants.

They also found a bath full of acid with "globules of flesh" floating in it, the court heard.

Mr Brizzi allegedly told an officer: "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."

However, jurors were told that the defendant was not claiming a psychiatric defence and now says PC Semple died accidentally during a "sex game gone wrong".

On the day of the killing, PC Semple and Mr Brizzi had invited more men on Grindr to join them for a sex party with drugs available but only one man - referred to as CD - turned up, jurors were told.

Mr Aylett told jurors: "When CD pressed the entry buzzer, someone who can only have been the defendant replied over the intercom, 'We are having a situation here. Someone fell ill but we're taking care of it. So our party is cancelled'. CD turned around and went home."

The prosecutor told jurors that CD must have arrived at the very point PC Semple was meeting his death inside the flat.

Mr Brizzi later told police that PC Semple had invited a number of people to the flat "but they didn't arrive and, when one did arrive, I was right in the middle of strangling Gordon and I said to - he was right there at the door - and I said to him, 'Look, this is not the right time now, people are falling ill and it's a mess'."

After PC Semple's partner failed to get hold of him on his mobile phone, he reported him missing.

The court heard that Mr Brizzi had been a user of crystal meth - referred to as Nutella - which had cost him his job at financial giant Morgan Stanley.

He allegedly told a support group that he believed in the Devil, and liked "satanic rituals" which involved having sex over the sign of the pentagon.

He liked to boast of his sexual exploits and told one meeting he had once tied a man up, treated him like a dog and made him go into a cage, jurors heard.

Mr Brizzi was said to be "obsessed" with the American show Breaking Bad, jurors were told.

Mr Aylett said the main character, chemistry teacher Walter White, produced crystal meth and, after poisoning a rival, dissolved the body in acid.

Mr Brizzi denies murder but has admitted obstructing a coroner by dismembering and disposing of the body.

The case continues.

Press Association contributed to this report.