Shortly before Thanksgiving 1919, as Antone Lepara was waiting to be hanged for murder, his soon-to-be widow received an unusual request. The letter asked Mrs. Lepara if she would be willing to sell her husband’s testicles after his death. The writer, a wealthy businessman, was willing to pay $10,000 — almost $150,000 in today’s money. It was a good arrangement all-around for the businessman. He’d have a new, virile pair of testes from a man no longer in need of them, and one of America’s foremost experts on gland surgery worked right on the prison premises: San Quentin Chief Surgeon...