Horrific case: Norwegian ‘butcher’ mutilated customers on live broadcast

A self-described “eunuch” who mutilated customers and broadcast it online in Great Britain has been jailed for life for a minimum of 22 years. Marius Gustafsson admitted crimes, including five counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

The 46-year-old Norwegian ran a lucrative body modification business as the administrator of a website where subscribers could watch castrations and mutilations in his London flat. Witnesses described life-threatening actions on vulnerable victims in unsterile environments that were broadcast on his website for the sexual pleasure of viewers.

The Norwegian “Butcher” was the perpetrator, organizer and main leader of the lucrative and wide-ranging conspiracy which included up to 29 crimes against 13 victims and organ trafficking.

Gustafson had just performed one of his gruesome operations in his basement apartment when a stranger showed up to buy his penis. The man known as the “castration maker” took a jar from a mini-fridge behind his living room sofa before handing it to the shopper, who paid in cash before leaving.

Judge Mark Lacraft said Gustafsson masterminded a “shocking, grim, wide-ranging” and “extremely dangerous” operation. “In one case, Gustafsson cooked what appeared to be human testicles, which were then distributed to be eaten and kept for other body parts.” He said: “As prizes.”

The judge said he was “entirely satisfied” that the motive “was a combination of sexual gratification and financial reward”. He said some of what happened was “little short of human carnage.”

The court heard how the defendant’s pay-per-view website “Eunuchmaker” advertised services such as castration, penis removal and limb freezing. Prosecutors also heard during the trial how Gustafson also encouraged others to perform surgeries on him, including removing his penis, testicles, left nipple and leg.

A eunuch maker was today jailed for 22 years. I went to Norway to collect the life of Marius Gustafsson 🧵 pic.twitter.com/czMwspEhX1

– Max Stevens (@MaxStephensTele) May 9, 2024

The court heard that Gustafsson earned nearly €349,000 from his website, after amassing 22,841 visitors from around the world who paid to watch the horrific video. Subscribers who paid the €116 annual subscription would be entitled to VIP access, while victims were promised money from video proceeds.

Court documents also showed that Gustafson used his business to sell human tissue obtained from these procedures, pointing to a “buy now” button. Ultimately, it was the courage of the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that led to the site being taken down. In 2020, he told the police about the procedures carried out on him and presented a USB device containing 5,000 WhatsApp messages, 100 photos and several videos.

He told police how he was under the influence of drugs when Gustafsson first cut him with a scalpel in his flat in Harrigy, north London, and how he put him on the bed and shocked him with electricity.

In later proceedings, the man told police how his testicles had been squeezed and how Gustafsson had used a hot iron to brand him with his initials EM – which stood for ‘eunuch’. In a victim impact statement read to the court, the man described how he had been “infatuated” with Gustafsson, but now admitted he himself needed to see a psychiatrist “not a surgeon down the street”.

*Information from the trustee