The "Butcher of Bega" earned his name in a hospital room. It was in Pambela Hospital and Bega Hospital - places patients visit to heal - where Doctor Graeme Reeves deliberately removed the majority of Carolyn DeWaegeneire's genitals and indecently assaulted other patients.
The most supreme court in Australia - the High Court - has begun reviewing the notorious case. His lawyers are expected to contest the legal definition of "informed consent", whether he had a malice intention to inflict grievous bodily harm, the doctor's mental health and the technicalities of expert testimony.
The most horrifying details of the case are not disputed by The Butcher and have irreversible damaged his victim, Carolyn DeWaegeneire.
She went into surgery eleven years ago to have a 2cm patch of pre-cancerous skin removed from her labia, she left without a clitoris. In the victim's words, Dr Reeves has taken away the core of her being.
Carolyn DeWaegeneire had just begun to feel the affects of general anesthesia when the Butcher of Bega leaned over and whispered in her ear, "I'm going to take your clitoris too." She woke up with a pain that confirmed his threat, the majority of her genitalia was gone.
The nurse noticed the large amount of removed tissue and repeat to the NSW District Court what she told the Butcher, "You wouldn't be taking my clitoris, no matter what."
"He then said that the patient's husband was dead so it did not matter."
It mattered to the victim, she can't engage in any sexual activity, suffers an impaired ability to urinate and it has profoundly affected her identity.
By the time of DeWaegeneire's operation the Butcher of Bega had already received a number of complaints and was under a professional ban at the time but this went unnoticed by the hospital. New South Wales doctors are now legally obligated to report their colleagues' serious misconduct, including sexual abuse while practising and large violations of professional standards of care.
The District Court gave him a three and a half year sentence with a two year non-parole period, ''I was hoping a woman would be treated equal to a man. If a penis and scrotum had been cut off what sentence would you give to him?''
The NSW Court of Appeal upped his sentence by 18 months.
The Butcher of Bega's lawyers believe that it too high-a-price. Dr Reeves was suffering severe depression at the time, which may have impaired his judgement.
They are also expected to argue that while he intended to cut out a large part of her genitalia, he did not intend malice harm. If it is not beyond reasonable doubt that he honestly believed that it was in her best interest to remove her clitoris, then his lawyers might be right.
Consent is also more tricky than it sounds. The patient consented to a procedure and the High Court will have to define the limits of that consent and whether it included removing her clitoris.
Two of Reeves' victims travelled to Canberra for today's hearing, which will be decided at a later date.
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