John and Lorena Bobbitt

John Wayne Bobbitt (born March 23, 1967 in Buffalo, New York) and Lorena Bobbitt (née Gallo, born October 31, 1970 in Bucay, Ecuador) are a former American couple, married on June 18, 1989, whose relationship made world-wide headlines in 1993 when Lorena cut off her husband's penis with a knife while he was asleep in bed. The penis was subsequently surgically reattached.

The incident occurred on June 23, 1993, in Manassas, Virginia, and the legal case surrounding the incident subsequently took place throughout 1993–94.

Lorena claimed in a court hearing that after coming home at night on June 23, 1993, her husband raped her. At some point after her husband had come home and gone to sleep, Lorena got out of bed and went to the kitchen. Grabbing a knife, she entered their bedroom, where John was sleeping, and removed the entire penis at its base.

After this, Lorena left the apartment with the severed appendage and drove away in her car. After a while, she opened the car window and threw it into a field. After realizing the severity of her crime, however, she stopped and called 9-1-1. John's penis was found after an exhaustive search, and it was reattached in the hospital where he was being treated. The operation took nine and a half hours.

Lorena was taken into custody. When she was arrested the night 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 Wentz was tape-recorded and the transcript was read later in the trial by Mary Grace O'Brien, the Prince William County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney prosecuting Lorena.

During the trial, the couple revealed details of their volatile relationship and the events that led to the assault.

Lorena stated that John sexually, physically, and emotionally abused her during their marriage. She said that he flaunted his infidelities, and had forced her to have an abortion. Her defense attorneys, which included well known defense lawyer Blair D. Howard, maintained that his constant abuse caused her to eventually "snap" as she was suffering from clinical depression and a possible bout of post traumatic stress disorder due to the abuse. John denied the allegations of abuse; however, when he was cross-examined by Howard, his statements often conflicted with known facts, severely weakening the prosecution's case.

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