Friend describes fatal beauty surgery at Pa. hotel

A judge upheld a third-degree murder charge against Padge Gordon after the victim's friend testified about getting silicone injections to enlarge their buttocks in February 2011.

Theresa Gyamfi testified that Gordon gave them the injections in their room at the Hampton Inn and left when 20-year-old Claudia Aderotimi started having trouble breathing. The Londoners had no contact information for the woman they'd met through an intermediary online and knew only as "Lillian."

Gyamfi, 22, said they had had the same procedure done by Gordon at the hotel months earlier and had no problems. They then came back for a "touch-up." But Aderotimi had trouble breathing almost immediately after the second procedure, Gyamfi said. Aderotimi died at a hospital hours later.

Gordon, who remains in jail on $750,000 bond, looked down at the defense table when Gyamfi described learning of her friend's death and viewing the body at the hospital.

Delaware County Medical Examiner Frederic Hellman testified that the industrial-grade silicone went into the woman's blood, liver, lungs and brain. He said Aderotimi died of a pulmonary embolism.

Defense lawyer Christopher Mannix said he plans to challenge those medical conclusions at trial, along with allegations his client performed the injections. The 42-year-old Gordon, also known as Padge Windslowe, is also charged with practicing medicine without a license.

Police believe Gordon has performed at least 14 cosmetic surgeries, moving locations and using different names to avoid detection. They investigated Aderotimi's death for 18 months, with help from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, before filing the murder charges.