Two men from Oklahoma stand accused of illegal castration after allegedly luring a 28-year-old to a remote cabin through an online advertisement for low-cost sex-reassignment surgery.
Bob Lee Allen, 53, and Thomas Evans Gates, 42, were formally charged Wednesday after what appeared to be the victim’s testicles were found in a freezer in the bedroom of the cabin. They had been in custody since Oct. 15 after trying to visit their alleged victim in a local hospital, said Le Flore County Sheriff Rodney Derryberry.
They face felony counts of conspiracy to commit unlicensed surgery, performing unlicensed surgery, maiming, as well as assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, The Oklahoman reports. They face additional misdemeanor counts for failure to bury harvested body parts and drug-related charges. Bail has been set for each at $295,000.
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Speaking to reporters, Sheriff Derryberry said the gruesome discovery was not common in the area. “I can’t say it’s cult activity. It is something that we have never in my career run across in this part of the country,” he said. “It is borderline some type of activity... We know there’s a lot of rumors out there but at this time there’s no danger to the public.”
The sheriff said the victim, who has not been named, flew from Virginia to Dallas and then drove to the cabin in southeast Oklahoma after coming into contact with Allen through a website offering discount castrations and sex- reassignment surgery that describes itself as “the EunuchMaker and the EM Crew.”
Allen reportedly told the victim that he had some 15 years of castration and related genital-surgery experience and warned that he videotapes the surgery for “personal use.” According to the affidavit reported by The Oklahoman, Allen said the surgery “wouldn’t cost him anything.”
The victim, who was awake but had nerves deadened in the pubic area for the two-hour procedure, according to the affidavit, told investigators that Allen performed the surgery on a covered dining room table and Gates handed him surgical equipment.
After the surgery, Allen informed the victim that he intended to “consume the parts and laughed that he was a cannibal,” according to the affidavit. The victim then said Allen relayed stories of past patients, including one man who he “described to be crazy,” saying he had “left the male opened up to die overnight.”
Allen also said he had six more clients scheduled for the same procedure and “had a freezer with body parts and showed him pictures on his phone.”
After the victim started to hemorrhage, Allen rushed the 28-year-old to the hospital, according to The Oklahoman, saying, “No morgue. No E.R.” and gave instructions to tell the medics “he had done it to himself.”
Local officials were alerted by the hospital and then tracked down Allen and Gates and the freezer with the testicles.
The incident is similar to a 2019 incident in Flint, Michigan, that is also making news. On Wednesday, Mark Latunski, 51, was deemed fit to stand trial for allegedly murdering, mutilating and eating the testicles of his 25-year-old Grindr date last December.
