Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

John and Lorena Bobbitt

John Wayne Bobbitt (born 1967)and Lorena Bobbitt (née Gallo; born 1969) were an Americancouple married on June 18, 1989, whose relationship receivedinternational press coverage in 1993 when Lorena cut off John's peniswith a knife while he was asleep in bed. The penis was subsequentlysurgically reattached. Lorena claimed that her husband had raped andabused her for years; John was charged with rape later that year, butwas acquitted. The next year, Lorena was acquitted of assault. Theydivorced in 1995.

Attack

The incident in which Lorena Bobbittsevered her husband John Wayne Bobbitt's penis occurred on June 23,1993, in Manassas, Virginia. Lorena stated in a court hearing that,after coming home that evening, her husband had raped her. After hethen went to sleep, she got out of bed and went to the kitchen for adrink of water. She then grabbed an 8-inch carving knife on thekitchen counter, returned to their bedroom, pulled back the bedsheets and cut off his penis.

After this, Lorena left the apartmentwith the severed appendage and drove away in her car. After a lengthof time driving and struggling to steer with one hand, she threw thepenis out a window into a roadside field. She eventually stopped andcalled 9-1-1, telling them what had happened and where the peniscould be found. John's penis was found after an exhaustive search,and after being washed with antiseptic and packed in saline ice, itwas reattached in the hospital where he was treated. The operationtook nine and a half hours. John went on to star in two pornographicfilms in the 1990s, and stated in 2018 that his penis is "backto normal". John also went on to accumulate a record ofserious abuse allegations and some criminal convictions.

Arrest and trial

When Lorena Bobbitt was arrested thenight of June 23, she told the police, "He always have orgasm[sic], and he doesn't wait for me ever to have orgasm. He's selfish." This conversation with Detective Peter Weintz was tape-recorded,and the transcript was read later in the trial by Mary Grace O'Brien,the Prince William County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorneyprosecuting Lorena.

During the trial, the Bobbitts revealeddetails of their volatile relationship and the events that led to theassault. Lorena stated that John sexually, physically, andemotionally abused her during their marriage, claiming that he hadflaunted his infidelities and forced her to have an abortion. Herdefense attorneys, who included the defense lawyer Blair D. Howard,maintained that John's constant abuse eventually caused Lorena to"snap" because she was suffering from clinicaldepression and a possible bout of post traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) due to the abuse. John denied the allegations of abuse;however, when he was cross-examined by Howard, his statements oftenconflicted with known facts, severely weakening the prosecution'scase.

Lorena testified that John had rapedher and physically battered her on multiple occasions prior to theevening of the incident, that they lacked financial stability, andthat he stole her earnings and spent the proceeds. Both theprosecution and the defense conceded that John had demonstrated ahistory of abuse toward his wife and that this abuse created acontext for the assault. Expert witnesses for both sides testifiedthat "he had mentally and physically battered her; that theabuse was escalating; and that, by 1993, she lived in constant fearof him." The defense strategy emphasized Lorena's action asbeing a mix of self-defense and temporary insanity constituting an"irresistible impulse" due to the history andpattern of abuse and rape. One expert witness testified that, "Lorenabelieved and was immobilized by John's threat, 'I will find you,whether we're divorced or separated. And wherever I find you, I'llhave sex with you whenever I want to.'"