PC Semple's accused murderer admits Breaking Bad acid '˜inspiration'

A sadomasochist accused of strangling a police officer during a sex game has admitted being 'inspired' by hit television series Breaking Bad when he tried to dissolve the body in a bath of acid.

Stefano Brizzi, 50, told the Old Bailey he “panicked” and felt “paranoid” after 59-year-old Pc Gordon Semple died at his flat in south London while wearing a dog lead and mask.

Under cross-examination, the crystal meth user was asked about his obsession with Breaking Bad which “glorified” the drug.

The former Morgan Stanley developer denied wearing a Breaking Bad T-shirt when he attended Crystal Meth Anonymous meetings but admitted watching the American series through two or three times.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said: “Breaking Bad does rather glorify crystal meth because the down-at-heel chemistry teacher ends up as a drugs baron. He ended up producing huge quantities of high-calibre crystal meth.”

He reminded the defendant that there was a body that had to be “got rid of” in Season 1, Episode 2 called The Cat’s Out Of The Bag.

During the episode, the main protagonist, Walter White, tries to dissolve the body but his sidekick Jesse uses the wrong kind of plastic and the bath gets eroded.

Mr Aylett asked the defendant: “Do you accept you were living out an episode of Breaking Bad?”

Brizzi replied: “I accept I considered without any rationality at all. I think I was inspired by that idea.

“I took whatever was there, thinking maybe I can dissolve him. The bath was absolutely tiny, I had no knives, no saws, anything in particular out of the ordinary.

“I had no idea what kind of chemical I was using. I’m not saying I was not inspired by that idea. What other ways did I have to dispose of it? I couldn’t bury it. I didn’t know where to start.”

Brizzi told jurors that after Pc Semple died, he felt he was living in a “bad dream” and decided that, rather than call police, he would cut up and dispose of the body.

Mr Aylett suggested that Brizzi dismembered the body to avoid anyone finding out exactly how Pc Semple died.

He said: “The condition you left the body in means the pathologist cannot tell one way or another. You could have hit him with a hammer, rendering him unconscious.

“Only you know actually what happened to Gordon Semple and you did everything you possibly could to make sure nobody would be able to find out what happened to Gordon Semple because you chopped up his body and tried to dissolve it in acid.”

Brizzi said: “I tried to get away with it. I did not act out a strategy of some kind of well- thought ideas.”

The Italian defendant admitted he had been “selfish” by not dialling 999 but he denies murder.