John Ronald Brown - Murder Conviction

Murder Conviction

On May 9, 1998, Brown performed a leg amputation on Philip Bondy, a 79-year-old, retired satellite engineer from New York, in Tijuana, Mexico. Bondy was one of the rare individuals suffering from Body integrity identity disorder – a desire to have a healthy limb amputated. Very few reputable surgeons are willing to treat this disorder by carrying out such an amputation.

A short time afterwards, Bondy was found dead, in a National City, California hotel room, by a friend – another BIID sufferer who had traveled with him to Mexico, but had backed out of having surgery with Brown at the last moment. An autopsy showed Bondy had died of gas gangrene. A police search of Brown's home – a ground floor unit in a San Ysidro apartment building – revealed blood-soaked towels, sheets and mattresses, as well as anaesthetizing drugs. Police also discovered video tapes of Brown's operations.

Brown was prosecuted in California for second-degree murder – an unusually severe charge in medical cases. A surgeon, who was a witness for the prosecution, testified that Brown had not left a large enough skin flap to properly cover the bone and stump. The flap was stretched too tightly to allow adequate blood flow and the tissue in the flap died, allowing an infection of Clostridium perfringens and producing gangrene. To make the murder charges stick, the prosecution had to establish that Brown had a history of incompetence and recklessness. A number of transsexual women gave testimony of their experiences of Brown's treatment and subsequent medical history. However, he continued to have some supporters amongst former patients, even after his arrest.

Brown was convicted by unanimous decision and sentenced to fifteen years to life in prison.