‘Eunuch maker’ claims marriage break-up drove him to mutilate men
The ringleader of a body modification cult claimed the break-up of his marriage drove him to perform dozens of mutilations on men and himself, a court heard.
Marius Gustavson, a 46-year-old Norwegian national living in north London, said the trauma of his separation in 2016 awoke his previously “dormant” condition of body integrity dysphoria (BID), the Old Bailey heard on Friday.
BID is a mental health condition where you feel that a limb or healthy body part shouldn’t be part of your body.
Gustavson is now wheelchair-bound after willingly having his leg frozen and then amputated. He has also had his penis and a nipple removed.
A court has previously heard that he received £18,000 in benefits since having his leg amputated.
Gustavson is facing jail with six co-defendants for castrating and sexually torturing men to provide footage for a sado-masochistic website known as “Eunuch Maker”.
The website is estimated to have raked in £300,000 from its 22,841 paying viewers across the globe between 2017 and 2021.
At least 50 mutilations
Prosecutors have described Gustavson as the “arch-manipulator” of “vulnerable” victims and was involved with at least 30 mutilations of willing men over the four-year-long stretch.
Rashvinderjeet Panesar, defending Gustavson, told the court on Thursday that the 11-year-long relationship had kept him “stable” but “when it came to an end, it sent him into a spiral”.
Mr Panesar said that Gustavson simply wished to “put a smile on other people’s faces” and that he had an “addiction” to body modifications.
He told the court, presided over by Judge Mark Lucraft KC: “... your Lordship is aware that in 2016 [Gustavson’s] marriage broke up.
“Before then there had been no body modifications.
“That relationship began in 2005; that is a relationship that kept him stable. When it came to an end, it sent him into a spiral.
“During all of that time from puberty to the end of his marriage, the psychiatrist has reported that the precursor and symptoms of BID had remained dormant within him.”
‘Put a smile on other people’s faces’
Mr Panesar added: “He does say that he wished to put a smile on other people’s faces; he did want to help.
“He was somebody who was stuck in a body that he wanted to self-harm and make changes to and understood there were more people out there who wished to do the same.
“Given the nature of what was going on in these offences… I ask your Lordship to bear this in mind, we are fully aware of transgender operations, males wanting to become females, females wanting to become males, this case surrounds people wanting to be known as nullos or as neutral gender, for which there is little research and little knowledge.”
“Nullo” refers to a movement where men become “nullos”, by having their penis and testicles removed.
Gustavson had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, possessing criminal property, namely money, and making and distributing two indecent videos of a child between January 2017 and January 2020.
The court also heard that Peter Wates, 67, a co-defendant of Gustavson, kept genitalia in a Clover butter box labelled “Bolete mushrooms”.
Wates, a former gem expert and member of the Royal Society of Chemists, kept a scrotum and two severed penises in the freezer of the home he shared with his father in Surrey.
Genitalia from two humans
He has pleaded guilty to being involved with nine mutilations following his arrest in February 2022.
The court heard that during a search of his home, officers “uncovered a Clover butter container sealed with brown tape”.
Written on the container was “Peters, unknown Bolete mushrooms, safe needs identification. Do not defrost”.
A video played to the court showed officers searching his home, remarking: “They do not feel like Porcini mushrooms or any type of mushrooms.”
Forensic pathologists who analysed the genitalia confirmed they came from two humans but could not confirm their identity.
Wates was described previously in court as the “right-hand man” to Gustavson.
Caroline Carberry KC, prosecuting, told the court: “A number of messages passed between him and Gustavson show that Peter Wates was in the business of purchasing body parts from Mr Gustavson.”
Other defendants
Wates has five previous convictions for ammunition offences. The ammunition was discovered during the search alongside the body parts on Feb 2 2022.
He was spared jail and fined at Central London magistrates’ court.
The other defendants are Romanian Ion Ciucur, 30, and German Stefan Scharf, 61.
Also facing jail are former surgical assistant David Carruthers, 61; his boyfriend Ashley Williams, 32; and Janus Atkin, 39, all from South Wales.
Wates admitted conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.
Ciucur admitted conspiracy to cause GBH with intent in relation to two modifications.
Scharf admits causing grievous bodily harm.
Carruthers and Atkin admit conspiracy to commit bodily harm.
Williams admitted to causing grievous bodily harm.
Co-defendant Janus Atkin, 38, was said to have “fallen under the spell of Gustavson” and had laid “on the butcher’s slab himself before donning the butcher’s apron”.
Atkin pleaded guilty to being involved with eight procedures between May 2018 and January 2020.
The court heard Atkin had removed his own testicles before taking part in any other mutilations.
‘Academically brilliant’
Andrew Taylor, defending Atkin, claimed that the mutilations were carried out with “care” and a degree of “professionalism”.
He described Atkin as “academically brilliant” who was on course to achieve a first-class degree in veterinary science from Liverpool and Bristol University.
He told the court: “It shows we are dealing with a man who is highly intelligent, academically gifted and if properly treated at a young age may go on to become a very valuable member of society.
“He is a man of no previous convictions … he has worked from time to time.
“Had he not met Marius Gustavson and quickly fallen under his spell, this court nor any other would ever have seen him
“He was law abiding, he was studious and he had no interest whatsoever in committing criminal offences, it was his own surgical procedure that led him to the world of Marius Gustavson.
“He may very well have been seduced by how Marius Gustavson was talking.”
The hearing continues.
