Stefano Brizzi
Stefano Brizzi killed cop Gordon Semple after meeting him on gay hook-up app Grindr
Breaking Bad obsessed Satanist Stefano Brizzi who murdered a cop he met on Grindr and dissolved him in acid has been found dead in prison.

Brizzi, 50, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of PC Gordon Semple in December and told he would serve a minimum of 24 years. He is believed to have committed suicide on Sunday in Belmarsh prison, the Mirror reports. Brizzi strangled PC Gordon Semple after meeting him on the gay cruising app.

The crystal meth addict copied a storyline from US crime drama Breaking Bad to try to dispose of the corpse in acid. Brizzi also boiled and roasted parts of Gordon's body and attempted to eat them with chopsticks at his flat in Southwark, South London.

Police were called by neighbours reporting foul smells six days after Gordon, 59, from Inverness, vanished in April last year. Brizzi, dressed in sunglasses and pink underpants, opened the door to two female officers.

They found an acid-filled bath with flesh floating in it and a bucket with Gordon's head inside. Brizzi, a former Morgan Stanley merchant bank computer programmer, told the officers that Satan had ordered him to kill. He was brought up in a devout Italian Catholic family but thought being homosexual meant he had been spawned by the devil.

Gordon Semple
© PA: Press AssociationPC Gordon Semple, 59, died in drug-fuelled sex game Brizzi claimed
He later changed his story and said Gordon had died accidentally after a leash round his neck slipped during bondage sex. Brizzi said he dumped some body parts in the Thames and others in bins at his block of flats. Jurors heard how Gordon liked to starve himself of oxygen during sex and swapped messages with Brizzi about masks and gags.

The court also heard the pair invited other men on Grindr to join them in a "chemsex" orgy. But Brizzi told one caller: "We're having a situation here. Someone fell ill but we're taking care of it. So our party is cancelled."

The jury found him guilty of murder by a majority of ten to two after 30 hours and 46 minutes. After the sentencing Met Police Det Chief Supt Peter Ayling said Brizzi's "cold, calculated actions are so grotesque they are beyond comprehension". Brizzi's representative in court had blamed his actions on crystal meth, saying he was "utterly horrified" by his actions.

A former City worker with an interest in Satan and an obsession with Breaking Bad

Stefano Brizzi is a former £70,000-a-year web developer for financial giant Morgan Stanley. The 50-year-old Italian national said he had to quit his job in February 2015 because of his crystal meth use - but believed he could kick the habit and return to the job market.

The court heard the Italian said he had visited a psychiatrist and a psychologist in 2015 after leaving his job. He told police: "I lost my job, cos' I had a job but I wasn't able to keep the job because I was constantly high on drugs. I had a job but I lost that job."

The former web developer said he tried to visit a psychologist and a crystal meth support group but claimed: "The problem with that is the psychologist says crystal meth caused psychosis, I was raised Catholic, being gay was evil. And the devil... so I've been into Satan."

Brizzi - who lived in South London - had been trying to persuade other gay men in the area to join them for a 'Chemsex' party, jurors heard.

He is believed to have been living a "nocturnal" lifestyle after quitting his job in the months before the alleged murder.

The drug addict also had a copy of the Satanic bible downloaded onto his computer as well as a notebook with handwritten notes to the devil, jurors heard. But Brizzi claimed in court earlier this week that he had an intellectual interest in Satanism, but denied being a follower of the religion.

Brizzi
© PABrizzi was found guilty of the murder by a jury and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 24 years
He says that a knife found with four black candles under his bed was a letter opener given to him by his father, while the candles were tools for meditation. But he has described himself as 'hostile to Christianity' saying: 'I hope I have the right to have my views'.

Brizzi admitted in court being inspired by cult TV show Breaking Bad to try and dissolve Semple's body in acid. He says he panicked and decided to chop up PC Semple's body, dissolve it in a bathtub full of acid and throw some parts in the River Thames.

Brizzi was obsessed with Breaking Bad and wore the show's t-shirt to meetings of crystal meth addicts, jurors heard. The killer was a member of a support group called Crystal Meth Anonymous where he shocked fellow addicts with tales of his sex life and his devil worshipping ways.

Brizzi told the group that he liked Satanic rituals, such as having sex over the sign of a pentagram, and that he was keen on domination, pain and sacrifice. Brizzi was also obsessed with cult TV show Breaking Bad in which terminally ill chemistry teacher Walter White turns to making crystal meth to fund his treatment.

Brizzi's profile picture on Facebook showed him in a Breaking Bad t-shirt, with a scene from the series as his background. Despite attending the support group and joining a meditation class and an interpretive dance class, Brizzi was unable to kick his habit.

He said by April 2016 he was "resigned to the fact that during the weekends I was going to have some fun and I was going to use it".