Court hears of body parts in jars after alleged botched labia body modification
When police raided body modifier Brendan Russell’s home they allegedly found jars of body parts, anaesthetic and a DIY guide to surgery. Russell pleaded not guilty to the genital mutilation of a woman in 2015 while his co-accused Howard Rollins on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to being an accessory to the botched operation.
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When police raided the home of NSW body modifier Brendan Russell they allegedly found a house of horrors – jars of body parts, anaesthetic and a DIY guide to surgery.
BSlicedotcom, as he was known, would be charged with the manslaughter of a woman – he’d allegedly implanted a snowflake in the back of her hand and it had become fatally infected – and he would plead not guilty.
He also pleaded not guilty to mutilating the genitals of another young woman with the help of another body modifier known as Luna Cobra.
Luna Cobra, real name Howard Rollins, pleaded not guilty to being an accessory to the mutilation on Tuesday at his trial in the NSW District Court.
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The court heard Russell would allegedly split tongues, tattoo eyeballs, install implants beneath the skin and even perform penis and scrotum splits.
Police allege he mutilated a woman in an operation in January 2015 with the help of Rollins at a Newcastle parlour.
That operation allegedly involved the painful “excision” or removal of her labia minora that left her scarred.
Rollins has not been charged with being involved in the snowflake incident and it's not suggested he was involved.
Crown prosecutors, opening his trial on Tuesday, said Rollins helped Russell move a barber-style chair to seat the young woman before Russell began injecting pain killers and cut into her genitals.
The victim allegedly told police Russell used something similar to a branding iron to remove her flesh, the court heard.
Prosecutors say it was a Geiger TCU – thermal cautery unit – or something similar. Rollins’ lawyer would later say such units didn’t have the power to remove that amount of flesh.
Prosecutors told the court Rollins told Russell to give the woman more anaesthetic when she said she was in pain, and told him to “cut and cauterise, cut and cauterise”.
But Rollins barrister, Margaret Cunneen SC, said Rollins denies helping in the operation.
“His case is that he has no knowledge of, interest in, or training in work on female genitalia,” she said.
Ms Cunneen conceded the offence did take place, but it was done by Russell rather than her client.
Rollins, she said, was just visiting Newcastle as his partner knew Russell’s partner.
Further, the barrister said, if Rollins was involved in any part of the procedure it was to explain to the woman she didn’t need to go through with it.
He disputes knowing what procedure Russell was carrying out and disputes assisting or coaching Russell verbally.
The court heard Russell allegedly handed the woman the severed pieces of her labia and, later, would give her a jar containing a substance which he allegedly told her “preserves body parts”.
When police raided his home, the court heard, they allegedly found anaesthetic, silicon body implants, blades, a document related to DIY implants and 15 jars of body parts.
Ms Cunneen said Rollins had actually worked to report Russell as he began wandering into the territory of unlawful body modifications before he was arrested.
The trial of Rollins is expected to take two weeks and hear from the alleged victim and numerous doctors.
The trial of Russell is expected to take place later this year.