 At this, Strack hired sadistic mobster Robert G. Durant to get the document and in the process, Durant and his gang brutally disfigured Westlake, killed his assistant and destroyed his lab.Julie believed he was dead and a funeral was held, but Westlake's hideous body was placed in a clinic that was used for various experiments to sever Westlake's pain receptors, which enhances his strength but leaves him unable to feel tactile sensations.The experiments, however, affected Westlake's mental stability and he became an impulsive, bipolar, sarcastic, and violent man.