Man admits to strangling cross-dressing doctor

GOSHEN - A Monroe man on Friday admitted to strangling to death a doctor who had posed as a woman and performed oral sex on him. Jason Bardsley, 27, said he suffered extreme emotional distress when Dr. Robert Binenfeld lifted his dress and revealed male genitalia on Dec. 21, 2004. Bardsley said the doctor then grabbed his testicles, which prompted Bardsley to strangle him. Bardsley pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree grand larceny. Bardsley, who went to the doctor's home to buy a car, admitted to taking Binenfeld's credit cards and using them in the days following the killing. Bardsley faces five to 25 years in prison when sentenced Oct. 25. Binenfeld, 65, was found guilty of professional misconduct in 1988 for having sex with prison inmates. He lost his license six years later for offenses that included prescribing drugs to a narcotics addict. Authorities said Bardsley's emotional distress played a role in the plea bargain. Bardsley originally faced a second-degree murder charge, but evidence that he suffered a psychiatric breakdown at the time of the crime helped garner a plea bargain.