Sept. 30, 1999

By Randy Dotinga

SAN DIEGO (APBnews.com) -- In the world of psychiatry, there are few disorders more unusual than apotemnophilia -- the overwhelming desire to amputate a perfectly healthy limb.

This bizarre obsession led to the death of an 80-year-old New York City man after he fulfilled his lifelong quest to find someone to cut off his leg. Now a San Diego jury must decide if the surgeon, an ex-doctor with a long history of botching sex-change operations, is responsible for killing him.

The defendant, John Ronald Brown, is charged with murdering Philip Bondy by amputating his left leg in a Tijuana clinic, then leaving him to heal, alone, in an American motel.

Bondy died of gangrene two days after the surgery even as a longtime friend, a prominent mental-health counselor who also has an amputation obsession, stayed in the motel room next door to keep watch over him.

Admitted practicing without license

The trial has revealed an underground world where transsexuals and amputation fetishists are willing to be operated on by a "fringe" doctor who takes them to primitive clinics in Mexico for major surgery. "You know the old saying, 'You get what you pay for'? That's this case," Brown's attorney, Sheldon Sherman, told APBnews.com.

Prosecutors have charged Brown, 77, of San Diego with second-degree murder in Bondy's death, and he faces a possible term of 15 years to life. Brown earlier pleaded guilty to seven counts of performing medical procedures without a license and causing great bodily harm. He may get a prison sentence of as many as seven years for those charges and faces an identical count in the Bondy case.

Brown's body has shaken slightly throughout the trial, which entered its fifth day today. His skin is a sickly white color, and his attorney said any prison term would be a "death sentence."

Brown's medical license was revoked in 1977 after he was charged with incompetence, and he served a three-year prison term in the late 1980s after he was convicted of practicing medicine without a license. That charge came after Brown operated on an Orange County man who wanted a sex-change operation but first underwent a breast implant procedure, liposuction and a procedure to make his hairline look more feminine. The man became ill after the surgery, and Brown treated him with Tylenol, according to court papers.

Friend shared urge to remove limb

In testimony at the San Diego County Courthouse this week, Gregg Furth, a Jungian analyst from Manhattan, said he met Bondy about 26 years ago when Bondy discovered "through the grapevine" that they shared the same desire to have a limb removed. "We had a lot of things to talk about and share, and we became friends on many other levels," said the analyst.

Furth counsels terminally ill children and has developed methods of testing the children through drawing and talk therapy. He has written two books.

Furth testified that he has suffered from a desire to amputate a leg since the age of 4 or 5. While apotemnophilia is generally considered a sexual fetish in which sufferers get an erotic thrill out of amputation, Furth said his obsession is not sexual.

Apotemnophilia sufferers "feel there's an alien aspect of their body," he said, and want to get rid of the offending limb, usually a leg. "It's about becoming whole, not becoming disabled. You have this foreign body, and you want to get rid of it."

Large knife caused him to panic

Furth looked for "fringe doctors" to amputate his leg, and doctors who performed underground sex-change operations seemed to fit the bill. He contacted Brown about an amputation after reading about his work with transsexuals.

After discussing the issue with Furth, Brown agreed to perform the surgery and made two attempts to amputate Furth's leg, both times in Tijuana. The first time, the $3,000 operation was canceled when a Mexican doctor learned about the surgery and protested, Furth testified.

The second time, the price rose to $10,000, and Furth crossed the U.S.-Mexico border once again. But shortly before the surgery, Furth panicked after seeing a second doctor carrying what appeared to be a large butcher knife. "I realized that was not where I wanted to be," he said. The operation was canceled.

Furth testified that Brown asked few questions about his medical condition before the surgeries were scheduled.

'He was delighted' by operation

But Bondy, who heard of the ex-doctor through Furth, went ahead with his own plans to have an amputation. Bondy traveled to San Diego and crossed the border. In an operation on May 9, 1998, Brown cut off Bondy's left leg at a Tijuana clinic.

Bondy returned to California and checked into a Holiday Inn motel in National City, a San Diego suburb.

Furth talked to his friend by telephone after the operation. "He was delighted," Furth said, although Bondy admitted he had trouble getting around on crutches.

But Furth was worried about Bondy, who sounded raspy and reported he was not eating. Furth flew to San Diego, and checked into Bondy's hotel to keep an eye on his friend.

'After all, Philip was brittle'

But when Furth woke up the next morning and entered Bondy's room, "I found a room in chaos, and I found my friend dead," he recalled. "He died struggling."

Bondy died of gangrene, two days after the operation, authorities said.

Furth said he initially lied to police by telling a story about a fictional Mexican car accident. He said he wanted to protect Bondy's family from hearing about the real reason behind his death. According to Furth, the man's relatives had never known about his amputation obsession.

When he told Brown about Bondy's death, Furth said he was shocked by the ex-doctor's response. "He said to me, 'After all, Philip was brittle.'"

Transsexuals' surgeries were botched

In return for his testimony, Furth received immunity from prosecutors for any charges that could be filed against him in connection with the case.

Prosecutors are attempting to show that the surgery and its aftermath rise to the level of murder because Brown went through with the procedure while knowing he had a history of incompetent medical work.

Six transsexuals were scheduled to testify this week about how Brown botched their surgeries, including full sex-change operations and surgeries involving breast implants. Another transsexual committed suicide after a botched operation.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Bernard Revak decided to only allow testimony in two of the cases.

'No normal doctor' would do this

Sherman, Brown's attorney, told APBnews.com that at most, Brown is guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The victims knew "that they weren't checking into the Mayo Clinic," he said.

The amputation "was a true underground operation, because it had to be," he said. "No normal doctor in the country would do this surgery."

As for the botched transsexual operations, Sherman said he could put hundreds of patients on the stand to talk about how their operations under Brown were successful. "Our position is so what, who cares?"