Gilberto Valle Update: Estranged wife of accused NYC "cannibal cop" testifies in court

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - The estranged wife of Gilbert Valle, a New York City police officer accused of scheming to kidnap, torture and eat dozens of women, testified Monday that she was shocked to find he had visited a website featuring a photo of a dead woman and other gruesome images.

PICTURES: NYC cop accused of plot to kidnap and cook women

Mangan, 27, was the first government witness in the unusual federal case against Valle, who's accused of conspiring to kidnap a woman and unauthorized use of a law enforcement database that prosecutors say he used to help build a list potential targets. A conviction on the kidnapping count carries a possible life sentence.

The online discussions of cannibalism - what Valle claims was harmless fetish fantasy - was instead a dangerous plot by a would-be killer to target "very real women," a prosecutor said earlier Monday in opening statements.

"Make no mistake," Assistant U.S. Attorney Random Jackson told a jury. "Gilbert Valle was very serious about these plans."

Defense attorney Julia Gatto argued that her client "never intended to kidnap anyone." She added: "You can't convict people for their thoughts, even if they're sick."

A college graduate and father of a young child, Valle appeared to be leading a normal life before "things got bad," his wife said. "Weird stuff started happening."

She testified her husband began asking questions about where she liked to jog, what the lighting was like and whether other people were around.

Once Mangan reported his strange behavior to the FBI last year, agents uncovered "a heinous plot to kidnap, rape, murder and cannibalize a number of very real women," Jackson said.

The officer had attempted to contact potential victims, including a New York City elementary school teacher, to learn more about their jobs and residences, the prosecutor said. His Internet research also included the best rope to tie someone up with, recipes, human flesh, white slavery and chemicals that can knock someone out, Jackson said.

Gatto countered that there was "no proof of a crime here. The charges are pure fiction."

Valle, she said, had always been aroused by "unusual things" including the thought of a woman boiled down on a platter with an apple in her mouth, his lawyer said. He found a home at darkfetishnet.com with its 38,000 registered members, where regulars discuss "suffocating women, cooking and eating them," she said.

The defense has denied that Mangan was a potential victim. Valle had made clear that his wife "was unavailable for any kidnapping fantasy," the defense has said in court papers.

Complete coverage of Gilberto Valle on Crimesider