‘Eunuch maker’ ringleader who had freezer full of body parts jailed for life

The ringleader of a lucrative extreme body modification website that shared images of castrations and amputations has been sentenced to life in prison.

Marius Gustavson and his acolytes carried out male castration, penis removal and other procedures on an unprecedented scale, the Old Bailey heard on Thursday.

The actions of Gustavson, 46, and six accomplices, who have also been jailed, amounted in some cases to “little more than human carnage,” the sentencing judge said.

On one occasion, Gustavson cooked “what appeared to be human testicles which were then plated for eating,” Judge Mark Lucraft KC said.

Gustavson, of Haringey, north London, admitted charges including conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. On Thursday Judge Lucraft sentenced him to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 22 years.

Gustavson’s “Eunuch maker” pay-per-view website shared images of people undergoing “dangerous, unnecessary and life-changing surgeries” performed in their homes, a court was told, including the removal of male genitalia.

The Old Bailey heard the extreme body modification company operated on an unprecedented scale with 22,841 registered users and raised almost £300,000 before closing it down.

Before being arrested, mastermind Gustavson was involved in at least 29 procedures between 2017 and 2021, and required hospital treatment after having his penis and leg removed in one. After another one, the court heard Gustavson cooking severed body parts, showing “clear evidence of cannibalism.”

He appeared Thursday on the third day of a sentencing hearing along with six other men who had admitted involvement in the wide-ranging conspiracy.

They included Peter Wates, a retired former member of the Royal Society of Chemists, and Janus Atkin, who had been completing a veterinary course, the court heard.

Passing sentence at the Old Bailey, Judge Lucraft said the defendants’ behavior brought them sexual and financial gratification, while one victim said she was left with physical, emotional and psychological harm.

Addressing Gustavson, the judge said: “You are very much the brains behind this appalling and appalling enterprise. The business he set up was both busy and lucrative.” However, he claimed that the others were “willing participants.”

Gustavson was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 22 years; Ion Ciucur, 30, of Gretna, Scotland, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison; Wates, 66, of Purley, Surrey, was sentenced to 12 years in prison; Stefan Scharf, 61, of no fixed address, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison; David Carruthers, 61, of Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to 11 years in prison; Atkin, 38, of Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to 12 years in prison; and Ashley Williams, 32, of Newport, Gwent, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

The charges concern 13 victims, the youngest of whom was 16 years old.

The court heard Gustavson was driven towards the extreme subculture by a desire to be “the architect of his own body” after his 11-year marriage broke down in 2016.

“His modification led to feelings of empowerment,” said Rashvinderjeet Panesar, defending Gustavson. “At first glance, it seems to be something that has become an addiction for him.”

The attorney said Gustavson had been diagnosed with bodily identity integrity disorder, which explained his desire to have body parts removed.

Caroline Carberry KC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey that the men were involved in a “lucrative business of dangerous, unnecessary and life-changing surgeries carried out by people without medical qualifications, the nature and scale of which is unprecedented”.

“All of these individuals were actively involved in the scene of body modification or extreme mutilation and consensual mutilation or male genital mutilation,” he added.

The procedures were filmed with “increasing professionalism” and made available on the website created by Gustavson, which also advertised services including male castration and offered different levels of membership, from “free” to £100 “VIP”.

“It is a notable feature of this case that the website was operating in plain sight, not on the dark web, accessible to anyone who stumbled upon it and had the inclination and means to pay to view the gruesome images,” he said.

According to court documents, the body parts were also auctioned online with a “buy it now” button.

Images shown to the court revealed Gustavson’s freezer filled with body parts stored in plastic bags and takeout containers.

Police officers also discovered Gustavson’s own penis in a drawer in his home following his arrest in 2021, nearly four years after it was amputated.

“Gustavson was not the only defendant who kept trophies from his surgeries,” he added.

Gustavson was arrested after using a hot iron to brand a man’s calf with the letters EM, meaning “eunuch maker.” In a victim impact statement, the man who complained to police described Gustavson as a “lunatic.”

Carberry KC said the group used a “wide variety of tools” for their procedures, including clamps used for the “castration of animals.”

Carberry said Wates had been “in the business of buying body parts from Gustavson.”

During a police raid on Carruthers’ home in south Wales, “testicles were found in a freezer,” the prosecutor said.

Ten men were arrested following police raids in London, Scotland and South Wales.

Gustavson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of taking an indecent photograph of a child, one count of distributing an indecent photograph of a child and possession of criminal property.

Ciucur, Wates, Scharf, Carruthers, Atkin and Williams pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm.

In January, three men were sentenced after admitting causing serious bodily harm to Gustavson.

Damien Byrnes, 36, from north London, was jailed for five years; Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 23, from Epsom in Surrey, was jailed for three years and eight months; and Nathan Arnold, 48, of South Kensington, London, received a two-year suspended sentence.

Kate Mulholland, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The severity of today’s sentence should act as a warning to others that carrying out extreme body modifications is against the law and the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute these horrendous crimes.”