John and Lorena Bobbitt

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John Wayne Bobbitt (born March 23, 1967 in Buffalo, New York) and Lorena Leonor Bobbitt (née Gallo) (born 1970 in Bucay, Ecuador) were an American couple, married on June 18, 1989, made famous for a 1993 incident in which Lorena cut off John's penis with a kitchen knife.

1 Incident
2 Arrest and trial
3 Explanations for the incident
4 Life after the incident
- 4.1 John Wayne Bobbitt
- 4.2 Lorena Gallo (Bobbitt)
5 Cultural impact
6 Similar incident in Pakistan
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Incident

On the night of June 23, 1993, John Bobbitt arrived at the couple's Manassas, Virginia apartment intoxicated after a night of partying and, according to testimony by Lorena in a 1994 court hearing, raped his wife. (Note: He was tried and acquitted for this alleged spousal rape in 1994; he was prosecuted by the same district attorney who prosecuted Lorena for allegedly attacking John.) Afterwards, Lorena got out of bed and went to the kitchen for a drink of water. According to an article in the National Women's Studies Association Journal, in the kitchen she noticed a carving knife on the counter and "memories of past domestic abuses raced through her head." Grabbing the knife, Lorena entered the bedroom where John was asleep; and she proceeded to cut off more than half of his penis.^[1]

After assaulting her husband, Lorena left the apartment, with the severed penis. After driving a short while, she rolled down the car window and threw it out into a field. Realizing the severity of the incident, she stopped and called 911. After an exhaustive search, the penis was located by Barry Hermann, packed in ice, and brought to the hospital where John was located.

The penis was re-attached by Doctors James T. Sehn and David E. Berman during a nine and a half hour surgery.^[2]

[edit] Arrest and trial

Lorena was taken into custody and charged with "malicious wounding". After her arrest, she commented to police that ""He always have [sic] [an] orgasm and he doesn't wait for me to have [an] orgasm. He's selfish."^[3]

During the trial, the couple revealed details of their volatile relationship and the events leading up to the assault. Lorena stated that John sexually, physically, and emotionally abused her during their marriage. She also stated that John flaunted his infidelities, and forced her to have an abortion. Several witnesses provided testimony supporting Lorena's claims. Lorena's defense attorneys maintained that John's constant abuse caused Lorena to eventually "snap" as she was suffering from clinical depression and a possible bout of post traumatic stress disorder due to the abuse.^[3]

John denied the allegations of abuse. However, when he was cross-examined, his statements often conflicted with known facts, severely weakening the prosecution's case.^[3]

After seven hours of deliberation, the jury found Lorena "not guilty" due to temporary insanity causing an irresistible impulse to sexually wound her husband. As a result, she could not be held liable for her actions.^[4] Under state law, the judge ordered Lorena to undergo a 45-day evaluation period at a mental hospital, after which she would be released.^[3]

In 1995, after six years of marriage, Lorena and John divorced.

[edit] Explanations for the incident

David Reardon has hypothesized that the incident was an extreme manifestation of post-abortion trauma stemming from Lorena's unwanted abortion three years prior.^[5]^[6]^[7]

[edit] Life after the incident

[edit] John Wayne Bobbitt

After the incident, John Wayne Bobbitt attempted to cash in on his notoriety in a number of ways. He formed a band, "The Severed Parts", to pay his mounting medical and legal bills—though the band was unsuccessful and failed to generate enough money.^[8] In 1994, John appeared in the adult film John Wayne Bobbitt: Uncut, in another attempt to make money. In 1996, he appeared in another adult film, Frankenpenis (also known as John Wayne Bobbitt's Frankenpenis).^[9] In 1998 he appeared on the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw program alongside the porn star character Val Venis who had recently almost had his penis cut off.^[10] Not long after he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where he worked as a bartender, limo driver, mover, and tow truck operator. He also had a stint serving as a minister of a Las Vegas church.^[3]

After the divorce, John continued to have run-ins with the law. He was reportedly arrested seven times for offenses ranging from assault to grand larceny.^[3] In 1994, he was convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery against his former fiancée, Kristina Elliott, and sentenced to 15 days in jail.^[11] In September 1999, he was sentenced to five years probation for his role in the theft of more than $140,000 in clothing from a store in Fallon, Nevada, and ordered to pay $5,000 restitution and serve 100 hours of community service.^[8]

After two trials for domestic abuse against Joanna Ferrell, his third wife, in 2004—one ending in conviction for Bobbitt and the other in acquittal—he was arrested for a third offense in September 2005. Days after the third incident, he filed for a divorce. On February 8, 2006, a municipal judge found Bobbitt not guilty, due to insufficient evidence.^[12]

[edit] Lorena Gallo (Bobbitt)

After the trial, Lorena was treated as a feminist "hero",^[3] though she attempted to keep a low profile and resumed the use of her maiden name. In December 1997, Lorena made news when she was charged with assault for punching her mother, Elvia Gallo, as they watched television.^[13] She was eventually found guilty of assaulting her mother. As of 2007 she is employed in the Ashburn, Virginia area as a hair stylist.^[14]

[edit] Cultural impact

The Bobbitt case was one of the first scandals that brought legitimacy to the subject of marital rape and forced abortion.^[15] The case also brought attention to the issue of domestic violence. Within days of the incident, domestic violence and feminists groups rallied around Lorena, citing the continuous abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband that caused her to defend herself, albeit in an unusual and violent manner.^[16] Media attention surrounding the case resulted in national debate and also sparked a flurry of jokes, limericks, T-shirt slogans, advertising gimmicks, and an urban legend that she was killed in a car accident because (note the double-entendre) "some prick cut her off".^[17] Shortly after the incident, reports of "Bobbittmania", or copycat crimes, were reported.^[18] The name Lorena Bobbitt eventually became synonymous with "penis removal". The term “Bobbittised punishment” gained social acceptance.^[19] This incident was one of three news stories used in the song "Headline News" by "Weird Al" Yankovic, a parody of the Crash Test Dummies hit "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm", and was used as one half of the Julie Brown comedy film Attack of the 5'2" Women with the also topical Tonya Harding story.

[edit] Similar incident in Pakistan

Such similar incident was also reported in Pakistan sometime in April 2008 where a married female doctor had cut off the genitals of her boyfriend, who was planning on getting married. ^[20]