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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, known for a 1993 incident in which Lorena severed John's penis with a kitchen knife.

On the night of June 23, 1993, John Bobbit arrived at the couple's Manassas, Virginia apartment intoxicated after a night of partying and, according to testimony by Lorena Bobbit in a 1994 court hearing, raped his wife. After the incident, Lorena got out of bed and went to the kitchen for a drink of water. While in the kitchen, she noticed a carving knife on the counter and, according to a report in an article in the National Women's Studies Association Journal, "memories of past abuse raced through her [Lorena's] head". Grabbing the knife, Lorena entered the bedroom where John was asleep and proceeded to cut off almost half of his penis.

After assaulting her husband, Lorena left the apartment, still clutching 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, Lorena stopped and called 9-1-1. After an exhaustive search, Barry Hermann finally located the severed penis in a field, where it was packed in ice and brought to the hospital where John was located.

The severed penis was reattached by Dr. James T. Sehn and Dr. David E. Berman during a nine and a half hour surgery.After a year-long recovery process, John would eventually make a full physical recovery.

Arrest and trial

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

During Lorena's 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.

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.

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. Under state law, the judge ordered Lorena to undergo a 45-day evaluation period at a mental hospital, after which she would be released.

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

Explanations for the incident

One hypothesis for the timing and form of Lorena's attack centers on her testimony of how John had pushed her into an unwanted abortion a year after they had been married, and almost exactly three years before the attack. The theory that this incident was an extreme manifestation of post-abortion trauma was first proposed by David Reardon, Ph.D. In support of this view, Reardon analyzes dozens of facts reported from the trial, three of which are described here. First, Lorena testified that she had experienced flashbacks to the abortion just before picking up the knife used for the attack. Secondly, she testified that she had experienced an anxiety attack and psychosomatic abdominal cramping four days before the attack. Reardon interprets this as evidence that she was experiencing a post-traumatic anniversary reaction, which involves an intensified period of PTSD symptoms. Third, Lorena testified to experiencing fears she would never be able to have children following the abortion. From these and other bits of evidence, Reardon asserts: "It takes no leap of imagination to see how a woman, such as Lorena who, on an unconscious level felt that she had been sexually mutilated by her abortion, would, in a moment of bitter passion, attempt to 'castrate' her husband. Lorena's subconscious decision to limit her attack to his penis, I would suggest, may have reflected an "eye for an eye" form of justice. He had robbed her of her fertility; she robbed him of his.

Life after the incident

John Wayne Bobbitt

After the incident, John Wayne Bobbitt attempted to cash in on his notoriety by forming a band called "The Severed Parts" to pay his mounting medical and legal bills. The band was unsuccessful and failed to generate enough money to pay his bills. 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).

John's foray into the adult film industry was short-lived, and he soon 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.

After John and Lorena's divorce, John continued to have run-ins with the law. He was reportedly arrested seven times for offenses ranging from assault to grand larceny. In 1994, he was convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery against his former fiancée, Kristina Elliott, and was sent to jail for 15 days. In September of 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 in restitution and serve 100 hours of community service.

After two trials for domestic abuse against Joanna Ferrell, John's 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 from Ferrell. On February 8, 2006, a municipal judge found Bobbitt not guilty, due to insufficient evidence.

Lorena Gallo (Bobbitt)

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

Cultural impact

The Bobbitt case was one of the first scandals that brought legitimacy to the subject of marital rape and forced abortion. 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. 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". Shortly after the incident, reports of "Bobbittmania", or copycat crimes, were reported. The name Lorena Bobbitt eventually became synonymous with "penis removal". The term “Bobbittised punishment” gained social acceptance. 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".

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