Earlier today, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and FBI Assistant Director George Venizelos announced they arrested a man in Hamilton, New Jersey in the kidnapping plot that put former NYPD officer Gilberto Valle behind bars this past Thanksgiving.
According to the FBI’s statement, Michael Vanhise allegedly agreed to pay his coconspirator, an active duty officer at the time, to kidnap a woman in New York, render her unconscious, bind her hands and feet, gag her, stuff her into a large suitcase, and deliver her to Vanhise’s home — alive, so that he could rape her. And all for $5,000.
Gothamist reports that Vanhise actually tried negotiating down to $4,000 but Valle insisted he’d be “putting his neck on the line.”
The two also allegedly participated in planning the kidnapping of a female minor, sending photos and addresses back and forth.
The 23-year-old Vanhise is said to be presented later today in Manhattan federal court.
Like a good horror movie, Bharara continued the story with this statement:
“As alleged in the complaint, Michael Vanhise engaged in conduct that reads like a script for a bad horror film but fortunately, neither he nor his coconspirators were able to act out the twisted conspiracies described in the complaint in real-life. His arrest today is the second in this bone-chilling case, but we are not finished.”
