Male Model Accused of Killing Boyfriend & Wearing His Testicles for Healing Powers

A Portuguese male model is on trial for killing his former lover, castrating him and wearing his testicles on his wrists, the New York Daily News reports.

Renato Seabra, 21, killed his lover, Carlos Castro, a 65-year-old Portuguese society journalist and gay activist, in a sudden psychotic mental breakdown, according to the young man's lawyer, Rubin Sinis.

His attorney said that Seabra was in a tumultuous seven-month relationship with Castro that caused him to beat him to death with a computer, castrate him with a corkscrew and then to wear Castro's testicles on his wrists for what the model believed gave him healing powers. The murder occurred in a room in the upscale Intercontinental Hotel near New York's Times Square.

"He put one on each wrist," Sinins said. "He did this for his protection. He could also harness the power. He wandered the streets of Manhattan, touching people, because he had the power to cure people from AIDS, because he had the power to cure them." According to the Gothamist, Sinins said that the young man "believed Mr. Castro's testicles were demons, and that by pulling them out, everything would be right with the world."

He added that Seabra told police how and why he killed his boyfriend: because "he thought what he had done was right." Sinins argued that Seabra is not guilty because he had a sudden outburst of insanity and that he should be committed to a psychiatric institution.

Prosecutors countered that the model has a hot temper and is a gold digger who realized his relationship with Castro was coming to an end. According to them, Castro was flying Seabra to New York City in January of last year so he could get work through a Manhattan modeling agency.

"He wanted to pursue a career in modeling," said Assistant District Attorney Maxine Rosenthal. "He want to be famous and make money. He also wanted nice things: clothes, electronics, gifts for his family. He wanted to eat in nice restaurants. When Carlos Castro showed up in Renato Seabra's life, he saw a means to an end and he got on board."

During the trip, Castro became more cautious with what he bought for the young man, especially after he caught Seabra with a group of women. Castro soon booked his lover a flight to leave early and made it clear that their relationship was over, according to Rosenthal.

On Jan. 7, the two men got into a vicious fight over the end of their relationship, prosecutors argued. Seabra attacked Castro and beat him over the head with a computer monitor and then stomped on him until he died.

"This anger came from the end of a relationship with Carlos Castro," Rosenthal said. "He knew he was beating, stomping and mutilating Carlos Castro. And he knew it was wrong."