The mother of an Australian man who died after injecting silicone into his genitals has sued her son’s BDSM partners for wrongful death and negligence.
Jack Chapman, also known as Tank Hafertepen, was in a polyamorous master-slave relationship with five other men. As part of the relationship, Dylan Hafertepen acted as the “master” and the others, including Tank, acted as his submissive “pups.”
Each pup had to follow Dylan’s orders to stay in the group. Chapman legally changed his name to Tank Hafertepen six years into the relationship.
The 28-year-old blogged on Tumblr about his relationship and sexual activity with the other lovers. He was also known for photos of extreme body modifications as part of the group, including steroids and the dangerous saline and silicone injections to enlarge his penis and testicles.
But last October, Tank died from “silicone embolism syndrome” and lung complications according to his death certificate, Buzzfeed reported at the time.
Now Linda Chapman, Tank’s mother, is suing her son’s former partners for wrongful death, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress on Tank, the Daily Beast reports.
Named are other partners Dylan Hafertepen, Daniel Balderas Hafertepen, Charles Osborn, Matthew Scott, and Philip Myers.
The complaint alleges Tank himself had told friends Dylan abused him both psychologically and physically, including subjecting him to “physical imprisonment”.
Speaking to Buzzfeed last year, Dylan denied forcing Tank to get the dangerous and illegal silicone injections that led to his death.
“This was his fetish. I did not make him inject silicone,” he said.
“On the contrary, I helped him get some removed.”
Tank Hafertepen changed his will weeks before his death
Linda alleges that Dylan never notified them of Tank’s hospitalization or even death. She says she did not even hear of her son’s death until a week later.
Dylan allegedly cremated Tank’s remains just days after his death after a week at the hospital in a coma.
The complaint also claims three weeks before Tank’s death, he changed his will. Tank left everything, including a $200,000 inheritance from his late father, to Dylan.
Linda said Tank always intended to leave the money to care for his autistic brother. In June, Dylan claimed the money in an Australian court but has not yet received it, according to the family’s lawyer Joe Murphy.
“We filed this suit to bring some closure and resolution. One of the most important parts to her will be discovery,” Murphy told the Daily Beast.
“She wants to know what happened. Why was she never called?
“They robbed her of her right to be his mother.”
Tank’s Linda previously spoke to The Project at length about her son last November.
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