Ex City worker accused of Grindr murder ‘was so obsessed with Breaking Bad he wore show t-shirt to crystal meth rehab meetings’

A MORGAN Stanley worker accused of strangling a policeman to death during a drug-fuelled sex party "glorified Breaking Bad and wanted to be on the TV show".

Stefano Brizzi, 50, who worked as a web developer for the finance firm, allegedly murdered PC Gordon Semple, 59, and dismembered his body after organising a rendezvous on Grindr.

Italian-born Brizzi, who is accused of chopping up the Met Police officer's body and eating some of the flesh, lost his job at the finance giant after getting hooked on crystal meth.

Alex Roberts, who knew him through a Crystal Meth Anonymous support group, said Brizzi liked to "glorify" Breaking Bad and wore t-shirts featuring the show to meetings.

He said: "He wanted to be a part of it, he saw it as amazing.

"We discussed it more in the group - I asked him not to wear the t-shirt when he went to the meetings.
"Someone asked me 'please ask him not to wear that in meetings, please ask him not to go on about Breaking Bad.'

"I don't think he cared, I don't think he was in the capacity of understanding."

A court today heard another Grindr user came to join Brizzi and PC Semple "at the very moment" Brizzi was strangling the officer on 1 April this year, the Old Bailey has heard.

But Brizzi sent him away, claiming he "had a situation" and someone had "fallen ill" after taking drugs, known as "Chems" in the gay fetish scene.

Brizzi was so calm the witness thought someone was probably just being sick on his carpet, when in reality PC Semple was lying dead in his flat.

PC Semple's body wasn't discovered until seven days later when police were alerted to a "smell of death" coming from the Peabody Trust Estate in Southwark on April 7.

Some of the officer's remains were found dissolving in a bath of acid, other body parts were found in Brizzi's bin, and in the communal bins of the Peabody Estate in Southwark where the Italian lived, the court heard.

One of PC Semple's severed feet was found by a member of the public on the south side of the river and attempts were also made to boil his flesh away in pans.

Before the alleged murder, the two men had been trying to persuade other gay men in the area to join them for a "Chemsex" party, jurors heard.

Only one man agreed to join them, but was sent away by Brizzi via intercom who told him: "We're having a situation here. Someone fell ill but we're taking care of it. So our party is cancelled." The witness, known only as CD to protect his identity, arrived just before 7pm.

CD had been in contact with Brizzi, whom he knew as Stef, since March 20 this year after meeting on the Recon fetish website.

Today he said he had spent around 20 minutes on the Peabody Estate looking for Brizzi's flat.

He text him just after 6.40pm, then left a short voicemail when Brizzi did not get back to him.

When he finally found the flat they only spoke over the intercom.

Describing the exchange, CD said: "He spoke first, he said 'I'm sorry we are having a situation here', which I found strange because I wondered what the word 'situation' could mean.

"He said someone was falling ill or unwell and said not to worry because they were taking care of it.

"I asked if there was anything I could do to help, he said no, everything is okay but our party is cancelled - the sex party."

He said Brizzi had never been clear about the number of people at the party.

"In the beginning I thought it was just the two of us, then it sounded like somebody was joining us.

"Usually the first time I meet a person I prefer that it's just the two of us, but I thought if I don't like it when I get there I would have no problem at all saying 'sorry this is not my thing'."

CD said he had never actually physically met Brizzi, and only ever heard his voice once over the intercom.

He added: "He sounded concerned and a little bit upset but okay. He didn't sound worried - he was upset and concerned.

"To be honest what I imagined was that someone was throwing up on his carpet.That was the impression he gave me.

"I thought he's probably cleaning up some mess right now."

The witness texted Brizzi a few hours later to ask if everything was okay.

He told him he had been in a similar situation a few weeks before and had to take a man to hospital after a bad experience on drugs.

Brizzi and CD began planning a rendezvous for the following weekend, but the witness didn't hear from Brizzi after April 5.

He didn't hear anything about the killing until police contacted him in early August.

It was today revealed the last call PC Semple's partner Gary Meeks ever made to him was to ask him to record Gogglebox.

Gary, who shared a home with PC Semple in Greenhithe, Dartford, was still at work when he called at around 7.45pm, and thought the policeman would be home before him.

The call went through but no one came on the line and he just heard echoing sounds - as if the phone was in a tiled space.

He said he could hear someone breathing.

It is believed Brizzi killed PC Semple between 7pm and 7.30pm.

Gary said his partner had contacted him that afternoon to see if there was any dinner, and he had told him there was leftover Shepherd's Pie in the fridge.

The two agreed to meet in a local pub later that evening.

In a statement read to the court Gary described the six-minute phone call. He said: "I thought I heard breathing, I thought I heard a door and I thought I heard someone speak but I couldn't make anything out.

"It sounded like a hollow sound - like somewhere with tiles or a laminated floor."

Part of PC Semple's remains were found dissolving in a bath of acid in Brizzi's bathroom.

Gary, who had been with PC Semple for 25 years, said he stayed on the phone and shouted "hello, hello" for about six minutes.

When he didn't get in touch, a worried Gary rang PC Semple's sister-in-law Maureen.

She made multiple phone calls that evening, only one of which was answered.

Mrs Semple said in a statement: "The call was answered and went through, I can recall hearing a faint noise in the background - I can't be sure what the noise was exactly but it sounded like the phone was in a pocket.

"I made three further calls, they all went straight through to voicemail."

Gary reported PC Semple missing early on Saturday 2 April

In the days after the alleged murder, Brizzi bought a haul of hardware including a set of saws, metal sheeting and some large buckets to help him dispose of the body.

After a few days, his neighbours started to complain of the overwhelming stench coming from the flat.

The black bin liners were found to contain mounds of flesh, a human pelvis, a hand and part of a spine.

Police found several notes around the flat referring to the devil with messages like "Satan I call you forth," as well as a copy of the Satanic bible.

Brizzi was reportedly obsessed with hit US TV series Breaking Bad - in one episode a murder victim is dissolved in a bath of acid.

He initially admitted the killing, saying: "I promised the devil I would kill at the first chance," but now claims PC Semple died during a sex game involving strangling.

PC Semple, from Greenhithe, Dartford, was reported missing by Mr Meeks on Friday 1 April after he failed to come home from work.

The officer, originally from Inverness, Scotland, had worked in banking before joining the Metropolitan Police.

Brizzi, of the Peabody Estate Trust, Southwark, southeast London, denies murder.

He admits obstructing the coroner in his duty by dismembering PC Semple's body in order to dispose of it.

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues.