"This is NOT a game for me, I live this lifestyle."

April 24, 2006 2:46 PM

"This right here beats everything I have ever seen." Michael Mendez, Danny Reeves, and "Master Rick" Sciara were arrested a month ago for castrating at least six men in their sadomasochistic dungeon in Waynesville, NC. Inside the house were found a tin of used instruments, an electric shock paddle, a Physician's Desk Reference, an invoice for lidocaine, and a pair of frozen human testicles.
posted by stemlot (61 comments total)

probably worth noting that some links are NSFW
posted by milnak at 2:48 PM on April 24, 2006

NSFSHB (not safe for sane human beings). Seriously. Does NSFW really do justice to vivisectioned balls?

P.S. - This was touched on in Savage Love last week.
posted by hypocritical ross at 2:55 PM on April 24, 2006

There was a related article in the Free Times this week.
posted by sohcahtoa at 2:56 PM on April 24, 2006

Whoa. I squirmed a little in my seat there. I wonder what long, slow, deliberate process it took for these guys to reach this point. Because it seems to me that they didn't just wake up one day and think "yeah, amateur surgery... I'll get other guys to come from around the country!" There was an escalation, and it probably took time. Fucking really creepy to me.
posted by dammitjim at 2:56 PM on April 24, 2006

Gee, if we can nip the tails off sheep with this little thing, well, lets just see what happens on JimBob when he's all drunked up...
posted by threadbare at 2:59 PM on April 24, 2006

Honestly what is the appeal of castration? It's not like you can do it again.

One and done...then what?
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:00 PM on April 24, 2006

5 of the 11 links in this post are of ball torture. I'd just like to point that out.
posted by hypocritical ross at 3:00 PM on April 24, 2006

Waynesville. Big surprise. My mom lived there for a while. Along the drive up to her house, one guy's no trespassing sign warned people that his property was guarded "by a pit bull with aids."
posted by schmedeman at 3:02 PM on April 24, 2006

Charging them with practicing medicine without a license I can see, but how does the state justify criminalizing castration (i.e. the felony castration and maiming without malice charges)? If someone wants to cut off their balls, what right does the state have to tell them no?
posted by thewittyname at 3:05 PM on April 24, 2006

T.D. makes a good point.

also , i think its funny that they have been arrested for "conspiracy and practicing medicine without malice"

come on guys, just admit , the were arrested for "giving us the the willies"

as screwed up as this is , i really don't see how it's a crime . if those guys wanna whack of parts of each other , shouldn't that be their business?
posted by nola at 3:05 PM on April 24, 2006

How can you intentionally maim or casterate someone without malice, and where is this practiced enough that there is a law on the books.

Must be left over from the slave trade.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 3:05 PM on April 24, 2006

damn thewittyname, you beat me to it.
posted by nola at 3:06 PM on April 24, 2006

Investigators used the informant’s information to gain a search warrant Wednesday, and found inside the house grizzly evidence of homemade surgeries.

Oh my god, they let bears perform the surgery?
posted by scody at 3:06 PM on April 24, 2006 [1 favorite]

Whoa, I was prepared for the other links, but not for the lidocaine link that points to a dry gangrene page. Blah.
posted by jmhodges at 3:08 PM on April 24, 2006

gesamtkunstwerk : "How can you intentionally maim or casterate someone without malice"

By...not having malice towards them? Or, by accident?

You do know what "malice" means, right?
posted by Bugbread at 3:19 PM on April 24, 2006

Florida or Germany...or North Carolina????
posted by docpops at 3:27 PM on April 24, 2006

A relative of mine castrated himself. Apparently he had been planning it for a long time, read up on techniques, obtained surgical instruments and local anaesthetics, performed it himself in the toilet of an ER, carefully flushed away the excised organs (to prevent any pesky re-attachment), and then checked himself into the ER.

We still have no good explanation for why he did it. But never underestimate the crazed, crafty preparation of the ball snatchers.
posted by meehawl at 3:27 PM on April 24, 2006

Charging them with practicing medicine without a license I can see, but how does the state justify criminalizing castration (i.e. the felony castration and maiming without malice charges)? If someone wants to cut off their balls, what right does the state have to tell them no? - thewittyname

That's a great question. Just because it makes me uncomfortable, doesn't make it any of my damn business.
posted by raedyn at 3:31 PM on April 24, 2006

docpops: Had this been used in the Germany or Florida(/North Carolina) game, this detail would have given it away: "they found a coffee can with bloody scalpels, a silver tin marked “used instruments." No way the Germans would be so sloppy as to use a coffee can.
posted by mullacc at 3:32 PM on April 24, 2006

Creepy, but not as creepy as Armin Meiwes.
posted by ericb at 3:32 PM on April 24, 2006

My guess is that "without malice" is North Carolina legalese for something not approaching an enraged, crime-of-passion type of incident.

But more importantly, suck it Germany! Our pervy sex psychopaths are weirder than yours!
posted by bardic at 3:34 PM on April 24, 2006

Meh. A bunch of you beat me to it.

But you forgot neo-Platonic philosopher Plotinus! He convinced lots of boys and young men to slice off their nads in the name of virtue.
posted by bardic at 3:40 PM on April 24, 2006

MetaFilter: the crazed, crafty preparation of the ball snatchers.
posted by davejay at 3:41 PM on April 24, 2006

Castrato.

Handel and the Castrati.

Cry to Heaven.
posted by ericb at 3:43 PM on April 24, 2006

That sort of thing takes balls. Real balls.
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:45 PM on April 24, 2006 [1 favorite]

thewittyname: Charging them with practicing medicine without a license I can see, but how does the state justify criminalizing castration (i.e. the felony castration and maiming without malice charges)? If someone wants to cut off their balls, what right does the state have to tell them no?

I'm guessing the motivation for these laws is the idea that a person who wants to do that is clearly not in their right mind, and thus their desire or consent is invalid and they need to be prevented from harming themselves. It's essentially the same reason you don't let a depressed person commit suicide or a person with body dysmorphic disorder get an amputation.

I've heard good arguments about that kind of reasoning is dangerous, because the government could apply it to other behaviors. However, I definitely agree with the sentiment that if you have a problem with your balls, you need to see a psychologist instead of a surgeon.
posted by Mitrovarr at 3:49 PM on April 24, 2006

What right does the state have?

Here's one possible argument.

The state intervenes to protect citizens from harm, including self-harm, who are unable to protect themselves. For example, involuntary committal of the mentally ill.

If you accept that the urge for castration is in itself a manifestation and guaranteed indicator of serious mental illness, then it follows that the state can and should act to prevent you acting on that urge.

Apart from the layer of sexual ickiness on top, this isn't really different from those people who desperately want to amputate a hand/foot/limb/whatever, is it?
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:53 PM on April 24, 2006

Snap, mitrovarr.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:54 PM on April 24, 2006

One thing that often doesn't come across in descriptions of the Castrati is how abnormally tall they tended to be. Castration before puberty removes much of the negative feedback on the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary that would suppresses growth hormone cycles from 8/day in children to ~5/day in adults. As a result, castrati tended to grow, grow, and keep on growing, trapped in an endless growth spurt. Many of them were giants which, in the era of shorter-than-modern stature, marked them out as even more different. Think: yodelling giraffes.
posted by meehawl at 3:59 PM on April 24, 2006 [1 favorite]

bmezine (3rd link) is still around? That has to make it one of the longest running sites out there!
posted by ChasFile at 4:22 PM on April 24, 2006

ChasFile : "bmezine (3rd link) is still around?"

It's run by glider, a MeFite.
posted by Bugbread at 4:28 PM on April 24, 2006

How can you intentionally maim or casterate someone without malice, and where is this practiced enough that there is a law on the books.

Must be left over from the slave trade.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 3:05 PM PST on April 24

As noted above, castration for the sake of the castrati goes back centuries. Poor families had their prepubescent sons mutilated in the hopes of stardom, or at least a better life. The castrati voices were said to be as high and pure as a child's, yet with the strength and power of a man's. Unfortunately, the only example exists from gramaphone recordings-scratchy and warbly. Of course, it could be warbly from the singer, Allessandro Moreschi.
posted by annieb at 4:33 PM on April 24, 2006

scody wins.

Grizzly/grisly was my biggest pet peeve when I worked as an editor translating TV teleprompter copy into web site news stories.
posted by emelenjr at 4:36 PM on April 24, 2006

"Zed's dead, baby."
posted by jaronson at 4:37 PM on April 24, 2006

I'm going to have to try that pit-bull-with-aids trick. Keep the damn kids off my lawn and such.
posted by craven_morhead at 4:41 PM on April 24, 2006

come on guys, just admit , the were arrested for "giving us the the willies"

Closer to removing the willies, surely.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 4:53 PM on April 24, 2006

Think: yodelling giraffes.

I'll be able to think of nothing else for days...
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:47 PM on April 24, 2006

Every time I think that I might have some slim grasp of the human condition or at least human motivations, I can just slide on over to bmezine and look at some dudes horrendously mangled nutsack and think someone else somewhere is having a boner about that. It's refreshing, like a cold glass of iced tea, a cold glass of iced tea with a mangled, gangrenous human testicle in it.
posted by Divine_Wino at 5:56 PM on April 24, 2006

Nuts to your ass-scar!
posted by loquacious at 6:13 PM on April 24, 2006

We still have no good explanation for why he did it.

I'm guessing it's a variant of this.

I was suffering from it, I'd wanna see this guy.

There was a big fuss about him, but I see him as practicing a somewhat drastic form of harm reduction.

If these guys are going to be lopping off their bollocks using untrained personnel and improvised equipment, I'd rather they had a proper trained surgeon who would minimize the potential for serious complications.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:13 PM on April 24, 2006

Just because it makes me uncomfortable, doesn't make it any of my damn business.

You've got incurable cancer, you say? People have had wonderful success with this miracle drug called 'Laetrile'.

Damn FDA keep on trying to outlaw the stuff, but if you put your house up for sale, I'll see that to it that you get this miraculous life-saving treatment.

Not because I need the money, you understand. I just care that people like you get the opportunity to live.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:26 PM on April 24, 2006

Oh my god, they let bears perform the surgery?

You've seen their photo's, right?

They sure looked like bears to me.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:28 PM on April 24, 2006

Seriously, Western North Carolina's got balls!
new tourism slogan
posted by moonbird at 9:13 PM on April 24, 2006

That sort of thing takes balls. Real balls.

They're utterly nuts, though.
posted by kindall at 9:41 PM on April 24, 2006

Divine_Wino is the true winner!

"Every time I think that I might have some slim grasp of the human condition or at least human motivations, I can just slide on over to bmezine and look at some dudes horrendously mangled nutsack and think someone else somewhere is having a boner about that. It's refreshing, like a cold glass of iced tea, a cold glass of iced tea with a mangled, gangrenous human testicle in it."

Hilarious.
posted by nonmerci at 10:22 PM on April 24, 2006

That sort of thing takes balls. Real balls.

They're utterly nuts, though.


Nuts, or just plain psycho? There's a vas deferens between the two.
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:59 AM on April 25, 2006 [1 favorite]

Unfortunately, the only example exists from gramaphone recordings-scratchy and warbly.

And it is creeeeeepy. It is true, though, that the warbliness may be due to the fact that he was pretty elderly by the time the recording equipment came around.
posted by sonofsamiam at 6:38 AM on April 25, 2006

I guess the question is...is this news? While i personally found it distasteful, i suppose there are some who deem this "information you need to know" Having witnessed acts of serious violence and reading about it as a young un, i question the value of the post. Humans are capable of all manner of atrocities, we are hardwired for war...what do some whackjobs cuttin peoples balls off in Hickville, N.C. rate/ or have any other reason to remind us of the depth of depravity that some are capable of? I did like the vas differens funny...yea, im sick to. Ah, humans, it's different on my planet.
posted by bullx2 at 7:42 AM on April 25, 2006

It's sensational and gross but who are the victims in this crime? I'm guessing the poor doctors, surgeons and therapists who lost thousands of dollars in income by missing out on this. "Dammit I was this close to getting an S Class this year!"
posted by acetonic at 8:52 AM on April 25, 2006

"This right here beats everything I have ever seen.”

So he had a contest going?

Also - yikes~!
posted by Smedleyman at 9:03 AM on April 25, 2006

OMG, poor North Carolina... first the Duke mess and now this. I just want to remind everyone that most Dookies come from New Jersey and that these maniacs came from Kansas. In fact most people here came from somewhere else. We didn’t do any of this stuff.
posted by Huplescat at 9:18 AM on April 25, 2006

I guess the question is...is this news? While i personally found it distasteful, i suppose there are some who deem this "information you need to know" Having witnessed acts of serious violence and reading about it as a young un, i question the value of the post.

The reason I posted this was not because it was gross or shocking, but because of a) the interesting and tempestuous history of castration in general and eunuchs/castrati/masochists in particular; b) the fact that this happened only a few hundred miles from where I live; and c) the endlessly fascinating nature of amputations and prostheses, particularly when the former are done so voluntarily. On that last count, I forgot to highlight the fact that some of those castrated asked to have these implanted.
posted by stemlot at 10:55 AM on April 25, 2006

I realise this is a totally stupid thing to get upset about, but bardic, do you really think that these guys are weirder than Armin Meiwes? Because, if so, that's more than a little confusing to me.

I mean, this would be the difference between my asking you to cut off my finger, and my asking you to cut off my finger so that we can both eat it before I die of blood loss. And you're saying the former is weirder?

My friend, don't let patriotism blind you to what's truly messed up - as weird as American crazies can get, the Germans can teach us all something about psycho-sexual horror.
posted by stinkycheese at 12:08 PM on April 25, 2006

Robert McDonald, an Asheville psychologist with 21 years’ experience, said he’s never heard of voluntary castration as part of sadomasochism, and that it doesn’t seem to fit because S&M behavior tends to be an ongoing lifestyle.

Under what fucking rock has this guy been living? I heard about this (and even worse; self-amputation) when I was like 15!! (thank you, BMEZINE)
posted by beerbajay at 3:27 PM on April 25, 2006

That sort of thing takes balls. Real balls.

They're utterly nuts, though.


Nuts, or just plain psycho? There's a vas deferens between the two.
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:59 AM PST on April 25 [!]


Now, now, let's not all get testes about this.
posted by annieb at 4:50 PM on April 25, 2006

Hmmm...reminds me of the time my boyfriend at the time came home from his shift at a local ER and told me about case of the night: a guy wearing a blood drenched diaper had been tossed out of a moving car into the ambulance bay.

When the staff removed the diaper they found that the guy had had his testicles and his penis removed. Surgical tubing had been inserted into the stump of the penis which was then sewn into the scrotal sac.

I remember thinking that it had to be some sort of revenge thing, that the guy had seriously pissed off the wrong person. Nope. guy had flown in from Florida and paid $4,000 for the privilege. Would not name the people who had done it to him, either.
posted by echolalia67 at 6:39 PM on April 25, 2006

Practicing medicine without malice is a crime?
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:45 PM on April 25, 2006

echolalia, that sounds like what happened to the nullo guy.
posted by beth at 8:25 AM on April 26, 2006

beth: It took me three or four gos just to read through that interview, and at one point I really did feel faint. But thanks. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like that before.
posted by stinkycheese at 9:06 AM on April 26, 2006

Actually, the surgical tubing is usually inserted prior to the penectomy, so he can still pee with ease. I'm pretty sure this was on ModBlog recently.

Unfortunately this gives a bad name to BDSM lifestylers. There are people who live this lifestyle, gay and straight, but they're not all castration fetishists. The Citizen-Times article is wildly inaccurate and misleading - a "vaginoplasty" is vaginal tightening surgery and has nothing to do with the "creation of a vagina," which costs way more than $2000. Also, women can also suffer from Gender Identity Disorder. The article is deliberately sensationalized and the author is misinformed.
posted by etoile at 10:06 AM on April 26, 2006

I think I've seen that nullo interview before. There's a bunch of pictures in BME/hard of a guy whose wife convinced him to have a penectomy, and he talks a lot about how he regrets it.

One thing I don't get about the interview, though, is why the boyfriend's name changes from Scott to Steve...
posted by etoile at 10:12 AM on April 26, 2006