Convicted Killer Seeks Sex-Change Surgery

By DENISE LAVOIE
AP Legal Affairs Writer

BOSTON

A man serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife is asking a federal judge to order the state to pay for a sex-change operation for him, saying that denying him the surgery amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

A psychiatrist testified Tuesday that he believes Robert Kosilek will kill himself if state correction officials refuse to allow the surgery and Kosilek is unable to complete his transformation into a woman.

Kosilek, 57, was convicted of strangling his wife, Cheryl, in 1990.

In 2002, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that Kosilek _ who now goes by the name of Michelle _ was entitled to treatment for gender identity disorder, but stopped short of ordering the state to pay for the sex-change operation.

Since then, Kosilek has received psychotherapy, female hormone treatments and laser hair removal. Kosilek, who wears his hair long and tucked behind his ears, has developed larger breasts since beginning hormone treatments.

Kosilek sued the Department of Correction for the second time last year, saying that numerous psychiatrists who had examined him _ including two of the DOC's own experts _ had determined that a sex- change operation is "medically necessary."

"We ask that gender identity disorder be treated like any other medical condition," said Kosilek's attorney, Frances Cohen.

Kosilek sat quietly in court Tuesday as his attorney and an attorney for the state Department of Correction made opening statements in a trial that is expected to last up to two weeks. Kosilek opted to have the case heard by Wolf instead of a jury.

During the 2002 trial, Kosilek testified that he has suffered from gender identity disorder since the age of 3. He said he had twice tried to kill himself and also tried to castrate himself.

Well, now that is unfortunate. Not only are you doing time for murder (on the tax-payers dollar), but you now are suicidal because you find (after years of freedom) that you are a woman trapped in a man's body.

Did anyone question the good doctor about a timeline for this anticipated suicide? Would the tax payer have to wait for a costly appeal?

Saw this case on the news this morning. They showed a picture of the inmate, who looks very similar to Ozzy Ozborne.

Isn't identifying this "gender identity disorder" as a disease opening the door for pedophiles to claim they are the victims of a disease and therefore not responsible for their actions?

Don't mean to be backwoods, but that is a little too much for me.

If he/she does have the surgery, wouldn't he/she be transferred to a women's prison?

If you had to spend life in prison, where would you rather stay?

Maybe the short guy from Nebraska just needed to have some slight changes made to find the "right" prison for him.

From the Boston Press Tattletale Lifestyle column

(UPI, sort of)

The state penitentiary of Massachussetts - Masacchusets -- Massachusetttss -- er, the state where Boston is, is looking forward to releasing Michelle, the killer formerly known as Robert. Michelle, abandoning frivolities such as a real name and body hair, now prefers to be known by her special sign which is impossible to reproduce here, but is real eye-catching and makes for an interesting tattoo.

Since the prison was forced to complete Robert's sex change at the expense of tax-funded programs such as elementary kids' hot breakfasts, lunches and utlities in the schoolhouses, the former Robert, former Michelle, former man, current killer must now be released from prison. Why, you ask? Because Robert Kosilek was convicted for killing his wife, not this other person who is not even the same sex as Robert. Why this new person doesn't even have the same name or hairstyle as the person convicted in that terrible crime years ago. "There is not a shred of evidence that a lady named Michelle killed another lady named Cheryl back in 1990", according to a gender crisis psychiatrist, a plumber and the fellow working the Tilt-A-Whirl at the Boston fairgrounds. And, most importantly, this new woman, Michelle Special Sign, is much too tall to be housed in a women's prison unit, not to mention the fact that no other inmates there have Adam's Apples, and being forced to be housed in a prison unit with the only Adam's Apple would compromise the safety and security of the new inmate, according to sources close to the sex change.

The Tattletale will continue to watch this amazing story as it and Special Sign's hips continue to develop.