'Fetuses and blood all over the place': Medic's graphic account of 'be-heading live babies' at abortion 'House of Horrors' in Philadelphia
By Katie DaviesA medical school graduate has given a graphic account of working at a Philadelphia abortion clinic and how he routinely saw babies born alive and then killed with scissors
Stephen Massof, 50, of Pittsburgh, was giving evidence at the trial of his former boss Kermit Gosnell on Thursday.
Gosnell, 72, is accused of killing seven live babies at the Philadelphia Women’s Medical Society clinic and a woman who was administered too much anesthesia.
Testimony: Stephen Massof testified at the trial of his former boss on Thursday
On trial: Kermit Gosnell, pictured, is accused
of killing seven babies at the Philadelphia Women’s Medical Society
clinic and a woman who was administered too much anesthesia
Murder? Steven Massof, a former worker at the
Women's Medical Society, testified to seeing live babies killed at a
Philadelphia abortion clinic on Thursday
If found guilty he could be given the death penalty.
Massof, who is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to the murder of two newborns at the clinic, revealed Thursday that he witnessed an abortion at 26 weeks - two weeks beyond the 24-week limit in the state.
He also claimed he saw about 100 babies born alive and then 'snipped' with surgical scissors in the back of the neck, to ensure their 'demise'.
He also spoke of the gruesome scenes at the clinic which was allegedly found dirty and rundown with rusting surgical instruments.
'It would rain fetuses. Fetuses and blood all over the place. It is literally a beheading. It is separating the brain from the body,' he told NBC.
He also alleges the clinic's ultrasound machine was manipulated to make fetuses appear smaller and therefore younger.
The graduate explained how his medical degree came from Grenada in the West Indies and he hadn't completed medical residency when he joined Gosnell in 2003.
Massof, who is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to the murder of two newborns at the clinic, revealed Thursday that he witnessed an abortion at 26 weeks - two weeks beyond the 24-week limit in the state.
He also claimed he saw about 100 babies born alive and then 'snipped' with surgical scissors in the back of the neck, to ensure their 'demise'.
He also spoke of the gruesome scenes at the clinic which was allegedly found dirty and rundown with rusting surgical instruments.
'It would rain fetuses. Fetuses and blood all over the place. It is literally a beheading. It is separating the brain from the body,' he told NBC.
He also alleges the clinic's ultrasound machine was manipulated to make fetuses appear smaller and therefore younger.
The graduate explained how his medical degree came from Grenada in the West Indies and he hadn't completed medical residency when he joined Gosnell in 2003.
'House of horrors': Massof says he saw 100 live babies killed at the clinic, pictured
House of horror: A grand jury photograph shows
what police say are plastic bags hiding body parts in a refrigerator
inside the Philadelphia practice
Victim? Karnamaya Mongar, 41, died at Dr Gosnell's clinic
After two months he was examining women alone.
But he said he believed the intentions of his boss were honest and that the doctor believed he was helping the women, often extremely poor, who came to him
'I believe that Dr. Gosnell was honestly trying to help women and protect them from abuse and neglect,' Massof said.
The trial is in its third week and is expected to last another month.
Eight clinic employees have pleaded guilty to various charges, while a ninth is on trial with Gosnell.
Massof spent five years at the clinic before leaving in 2008 over a dispute with other staffers.
'I felt like a firemen in hell. I couldn't put out all the fires,' he testified.
He was charged with murder three years later, after a 2010 FBI probe of Gosnell's distribution of painkillers spawned a raid at the clinic, and the more serious abortion case.
But he said he believed the intentions of his boss were honest and that the doctor believed he was helping the women, often extremely poor, who came to him
'I believe that Dr. Gosnell was honestly trying to help women and protect them from abuse and neglect,' Massof said.
The trial is in its third week and is expected to last another month.
Eight clinic employees have pleaded guilty to various charges, while a ninth is on trial with Gosnell.
Massof spent five years at the clinic before leaving in 2008 over a dispute with other staffers.
'I felt like a firemen in hell. I couldn't put out all the fires,' he testified.
He was charged with murder three years later, after a 2010 FBI probe of Gosnell's distribution of painkillers spawned a raid at the clinic, and the more serious abortion case.
The doctor: Kermit Gosnell
Charged: Pearl Gosnell
Employee: Elizabeth Hampton
Arrested: Tina Baldwin
Assistant: Lynda Williams
Worker: Adrine Moton
Accomplice: Eileen O'Neil
Mugshot: Sherry West
Held: Maddline Joe
Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old refugee who traveled to the clinic from Virginia, died after an overdose of drugs allegedly given to her during a 2009 abortion.
A Grand Jury report said the clinic was crawling with cats and reeking of animal urine and feces.
Furniture and blankets were stained with blood and instruments were not properly sterilized.
Disposable medical supplies were also reused while vital medical equipment such as the defibrillator and EKG machine were 'generally broken'.
Disturbingly, the report alleged that fetal remains were stuffed into: 'cabinets, in the basement, in a freezer, in jars and bags and plastic jugs'.
Tiny baby feet, it is claimed, were discovered in specimen jars, lined up in a macabre collection.
Gosnell's lawyer denies the murder charge and disputes that any babies were born alive. He also challenges the gestational age of the aborted fetuses, calling them inexact estimates.
The trial continues Monday.
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