The Ball’s
in Your
Court
Karen M. Bruewer
KMB Forensic Consulting
kmbforensic@yahoo.com
Body Modification
• Anything we do to alter our
body physically – adding,
enhancing, removing.
• Why modify our bodies?
Health
• Pacemaker
• Cochlear implant
Culture-Religion
• Circumcision
• Tooth filing
Church of Body Modification
• “It is our belief that by practicing
body modification and by engaging in
rituals of body modification we
strengthen the bond between mind,
body, and soul and ensure that we
live as spiritually complete and
healthy individuals.”
– www.uscobm.com
Culture-Beauty
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Make-up
Tanning/waxing
Color contacts
Body building
Piercing
Hair implants/extensions
Silicone implants/cosmetic surgery
Culture-Beauty
•
•
•
•
Corseting
Stretching
Foot binding
Cranial binding
Self Expression
•
•
•
•
Tattoos
Multiple piercing
Scarring/Branding
Eyeball art
Self Expression
• Tongue splitting
• Tooth filing
• Implants
Psychological
• Gender identification disorder
– Transgender surgery
• Nullification
– Elective amputations
• Fingers, testicles, penis, nipples, labia
Modern Body Modification
• Fakir Musafar (1930 -
)
– Father of the Modern Primitive Movement
– Co-developer of modern body piercing
techniques
History of Castration
• Eunuchs – “bed keepers”
– Men castrated to perform a specific
social function
• Earliest records from 21st century BC
• Domestics, treble singers (castrati),
religious specialists, harem servants, high
ranking civil servants, personal assistants
to emperors.
Modern Castration Reasons
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Transgender surgery
Health
Perceived health
Control sex drive
Religion
Nullification
S&M
Means of Castration
• Doctor
• “Cutter”
• Self castration
Periodicals
• Ball Club Quarterly (BCQ)
– “For men into BALLS! Those who have
them, those that want them, those that
vacuum pump them!”
• Personal ads, fiction
• Unique magazine
– Both published by Kenneth Schein out of
Pomona, CA
– Both currently out of print
Huntington, IN 1999
• Edward Bodkin – 56 year old
“American Cutter”
Edward Bodkin
• Grew up on a farm; interested in castration
• Advertised in BCQ
• Castrated in exchange for videotape and
“trophy” rights
• Castrations performed in kitchen
• One man sought medical treatment due to
blood loss after one testicle was removed
Edward Bodkin
• Wanted friend to get castrated but friend
went to police instead
• Charged with practicing medicine without
a license, Class C felony
• Pled guilty to castrating 5 men
• Sentenced to 4 years in jail with 2.5
suspended, credit for 69 days served
• Moved to Tennessee
Butler County, PA 2001
• Tammy Felbaum – 42 year old
transsexual
Tammy Felbaum
• History of performing castrations
– Self castration at age 21
– First husband in 1983
• Husband # 6 taken to hospital for drug
overdose where he later died
• Friend saw husband 2 days prior in
bloody bed with stitches in scrotal
region; husband claimed he was
injured in vehicle accident
Tammy Felbaum
• Autopsy revealed he was castrated;
choked to death on vomit
• Claims she stepped in to help him
after she found him performing self
castration
• Charged with homicide, aggravated
assault, reckless endangerment and
unauthorized practice of medicine
and surgery
Tammy Felbaum
• In 2002, found guilty of involuntary
manslaughter; sentenced to 5.5 to 11
years in prison
• In 2007 was charged with assault on
officer and making terrorist threats
• Continues to have psychiatric issues
Oak Park, MI 2002
• Shuo-Shan Wang – 29 year old
engineering student
Shuo-Shan Wang
• Claims to have performed over 50
castrations
• Castrated 48 year old man on
kitchen table
• Shared strawberry pie after surgery
• Victim found with blood stained pants
• Unidentified testicles found in
Wang’s refrigerator
Shuo-Shan Wang
• Charged with practicing medicine
without a license and dispensing
prescription medicine without a
license
• Convicted and sentenced up to 4
years in prison
McKeesport, PA 2003
• Douglas Lenhart – 49 year old
surgical instrument company
manager
Douglas Lenhart
• Experience castrating farm animals
• Met transgendered woman online and
agreed to $800 castration
• Procedure performed in her dining room
• Left testicle removed fine, right testicle
did not stop bleeding
• Victim in hospital for 1.5 days after
Douglas Lenhart
• Charged with aggravated assault,
reckless endangerment and
practicing medicine without a license
• Pled guilty to aggravated assault and
practicing medicine without a license
and received 3 years probation
• Moved back to Kansas
Haywood County, NC 2006
• Michael Mendez – 60 year old casino
worker
• Richard Sciara – 61 year old retiree
• Danny Reeves – 49 year old casino
worker
“Dungeon” Castrations
• “Dungeon” set up to perform castrations
and other body-modification surgery
• Castrations performed on at least 6
men; featured on web site
• Testicles found in freezer
“Dungeon” Castrations
• Charged with felonious castration
without malice, felonious conspiracy to
commit castration without malice, and
misdemeanor performing medical acts
without license
• All three pled guilty; Mendez
sentenced to 4 months, Reeves
sentenced to 8 months, Sciara
sentenced to 1 year
St. Paul, MN 2007
• 62 year old man complaining of pain
in testicle region – refused surgery
by licensed doctor
• Hired “professionals” to castrate him
at home
• Was bleeding heavily after he woke
up and the professionals were gone
• Found improvised operating room
• Man refuses to help police
Bletchley, England 2007
• Howard Shelley – 42 year old builder
castrated himself
• Didn’t want to wait for sex change
• Followed step-by-step guide on
Internet– testicles removed in 6
minutes, tossed in garbage
• Drove 5 miles to doctor’s office
• Wants to be known as “Holli”
Commonalities in Cases
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Intrigued by castration of farm animals
Performed on willing men
Performed in kitchen area
Videotaped procedures
Excessive bleeding occurred
Kept souvenirs (testicles)
Believed they were performing a
necessary service
Relevance to Forensic Science
• Police investigating crime
• Forensic nurses in emergency room
– Injury to groin area
– Loss of blood
– Infection
• Medical examiners at autopsy
– Lack of testicles
• Serology/DNA analysts asked to
identify testicles
• Other forensic examiners
Websites of Interest
• www.bmezine.com
• www.bod-mod.com
• www.bodyplay.com
• www.uscobm.com
Contact Information
• kmbforensic@yahoo.com
• kmbforensic.com