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Bobbitt mutilation case
The Event Lorena Bobbitt mutilates her
husband’s penis
Date June 23, 1993
Place The Bobbitts’ apartment in Manassas,
Virginia
This case dominated the media and the attention of the
American public for months. It also brought attention to the
issue of domestic violence.
Lorena Gallo came from a lower-middle-class family
from Ecuador. In 1986, she immigrated to the
United States on a student visa. In June of 1989, she
married John Wayne Bobbitt. They bought a house
in 1990. At that time, Lorena Bobbitt was working
ten hours a day, six days a week as a manicurist, mak-
ing only $17,000 a year, and John was in the Marines.
After his discharge from the Marine Corps on Janu-
ary 1, 1991, John jumped from one menial job to an-
other. Lorena would later claim that John was very fi-
nancially irresponsible and that his spending habits
caused them to lose their house.
According to Lorena, John was both verbally and
sexually abusive during their marriage. On June 23,
1993, John came home drunk after a night of party-
ing. Lorena stated that he demanded sex and ended
up raping her. John then fell asleep, and Lorena said
that she went into the kitchen to get a drink of water.
Instead, she came back with a knife and lifted the
sheet that was covering John and sliced off almost
half of his penis.
Lorena said that she left the apartment in a men-
tal fog and decided to drive around. While driving,
she realized that she had John’s severed penis in her
hand and threw it out the car window into a field.
Lorena later called 911 and reported John’s condi-
tion. Emergency medical personnel took him to the
hospital. Other personnel looked for the severed
body part in the field where Lorena said it was
located. Eventually, emergency personnel found
the severed penis. It was taken to the hospital and re-
attached during a nine-and-a-half
hour surgery. Doctors felt confident
that John would eventually regain
full function of his penis.Impact Lorena Bobbitt became an
icon for women who suffered do-
mestic violence. Her defense in-
cluded insanity, depression, posttrau-
matic stress disorder, and battered
women’s syndrome. On January 21,
1994, the jury found her not guilty
by reason of insanity. The judge or-
dered Lorena to spend forty-five
days in the custody of the commis-
sioner of mental health for observa-
tion and diagnosis.
John and Lorena Bobbitt di-
vorced in 1995, and John continued
to move from job to job. He starred
in pornographic films, including
John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut(1994) and
Frankenpenis (1996). In 1997, he108 Bobbitt mutilation case The Nineties in America
Supporters of Lorena Bobbitt hold signs outside her trial on January 19, 1994.
Charged with maliciously wounding her husband, who she claimed had sexually
abused her, Bobbitt was acquitted two days later when the jury found her not guilty
by reason of insanity.(©Jeffrey Markowitz/Sygma/Corbis)