A Nashua man has been arrested
in connection with the so-called “cannibal cop” rape and murder plot in New
York City, in which a NYPD officer was convicted in a bizarre plot to kidnap,
torture, kill and eat women.
Richard Meltz, 65, of Nashua
and Stanhope, N.J., who is chief of police for the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs in Bedford, Mass., was arrested and charged with conspiracy to “kidnap,
torture, rape and kill women,” according to a press release issued by the U.S.
attorney’s office in Manhattan. Robert Asch, a former high school librarian
from Manhattan, also was arrested in connection with the case.
In a press release and court
documents, officials said Meltz provided “strategic advice” for the group,
including advice on “the widespread availability of stun guns in gun shops in
New Hampshire” and their use in a kidnapping.
Officials said Meltz lives in
Nashua, although The Telegraph can find no record of him in the city.
Former police officer Gilberto
Valle, 28, was convicted March 12 of one count of kidnapping conspiracy, and he
could receive life in prison when sentenced June 19.
Meltz and Asch allegedly dealt
with Michael Vanhise, who communicated online with Valle. Vanhise was arrested
in January and indicted on charges of kidnapping conspiracy.
No women or children were
harmed or attacked by the men, despite the detailed discussions they held in
person and through email about torture and cannibalism. Some people have
expressed concern about their prosecution, arguing that the men were only
indulging in sexual fantasies that they had no intention of carrying out.
“As alleged, both of these defendants
took affirmative steps to carry out the conspiracy to kidnap and torture women.
Their actions were not confined to talking about these ghoulish plans. They
acquired the tools to accomplish the deed, including a Taser and the chemical
means to anesthetize their victims,” said George Venizelos, FBI assistant
director-in-charge, in the press release.
Court documents alleged that
Meltz, Asch and Vanhise “engaged in a series of electronic mail and instant
message communications during which they discussed and planned in great detail
the kidnapping, torture, and murder of women.”
Asch, 60, of Manhattan, and
Meltz, 65, each are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping,
which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a maximum fine of
$250,000, or twice the gross gain or gross loss from the offense.
The FBI became aware of these
activities in October 2012, court documents say.
“They learned that Vanhise was
sending e-mail and instant messages from various computers to solicit individuals,
including Meltz and Asch, to kidnap, rape, and kill his wife, his
sister-in-law, her children and his step-daughter. Vanhise eventually met with
FBI agents, and told them that he sent Meltz and Asch photographs of his
sister-in-law and her minor children. Meltz and Asch both expressed interest in
kidnapping the proposed victims, and Vanhise provided Meltz and Asch with a
location that was in close proximity to the kidnapping targets’ actual home
address. In an e-mail exchange between Meltz and Vanhise about this plan, Meltz
wrote: ‘we go over there she know you let’s [sic.]us in we choke her out tie
her up throw her in the back of your car take her someplace and [rape and
torture her].’ ”
Undercover FBI agents contacted
the men and eventually met with them. On March 13, 2013, court documents
allege, Asch provided one undercover agent “with a bag of materials to be used
during the kidnapping and torture ... including a ski mask, hypodermic needles,
leather ties, chrome forceps, a three-page gun show itinerary, documents
relating to a ‘leg-spreader’ and ‘dental retractor’ that Asch claimed to have
purchased, and the liquid form of doxepin hydrochloride, commonly used as a
sleep agent. During the same meeting, Asch ... conducted surveillance of ...
the intended victim as she left her purported work place. Asch, upon viewing
UC-3, said, ‘She has to die.’”
“Asch also introduced an
undercover agent to Meltz, who participated in multiple conversations about the
conspiracy’s objective to kidnap and commit acts of violence against women. For
example, after Meltz and Asch discussed the widespread availability of stun
guns in gun shops in New Hampshire, and advice about the use of a stun gun in
the commission of the kidnapping offense,” the documents allege.
FBI alleges that in phone
calls, Meltz provided advice, information and assistance to Asch on how to
avoid detection and minimize the risks associated with abducting and murdering
a woman. Examples of the techniques suggested by Meltz include the avoidance of
toll roads, using rental cars, paying for tools in cash, looking for victims in
desolate areas who are engaged in other activities (such as talking on the
phone), abducting victims at night, and using disguises when first approaching
a potential victim.
On April 14, 2013, Meltz met
with an undercover agent in New Jersey. Meltz advised the agent on how best to
dispose of a body, including how to transport it from the crime scene to a
desolate location in the woods in upstate New York. Meltz allegedly said that given
the weather at the time of year, if a body were left in the woods, wild animals
would likely find and destroy it before law enforcement could find it.