John Bobbitt was the subject of one of the most scrutinised court cases of the 1990s
Warning: This article contains mentions of domestic violence and rape that some readers may find triggering
John Bobbitt went through a man’s worst nightmare in 1993 when he woke up to find that his penis had been cut off. It’s a horror story that involves one of the USA’s most famous ‘he said, she said’ cases of all-time, between a young married couple and one night of madness that took the media world by storm. John and Lorena Bobbitt (née Gallo) met in 1988 at a Marine Corps officers’ ball while he was enlisted, and hit it off instantly.
The couple got married the following year, which John said was because of pressure from her and her mother as her visa was expiring – though Lorena said John proposed on his own accord.
But things started to get complicated as the couple settled down in Virginia in 1991 after John was discharged from the Marines.
He struggled to find a full-time job, while Lorena was a nanny of the owner of a local beauty salon, Janna Bisutti, later becoming a manicurist at the shop. Bisutti told ABC News 31 years ago: “She was going to do anything to try to make her marriage work.”
John recalled in 2019 to ABC News that they were fighting over everything, while during an interview with the same outlet in 1993, Lorena claimed that John hit her for the first time just one month into their marriage. Claiming that he was just ‘subduing’ her as she was the violent one, John said that his ex-wife was ‘jealous and possessive’, revealing that he would get a punch if she was upset.
After falling pregnant, Lorena was thrilled but John suggested that they wait as they weren’t ready, and she aborted the baby as she thought that he would leave her if he didn’t.
Their fights would escalate, as retired sergeant Kim Chinn revealed that there were complaints of domestic violence at the Bobbitts’ home ‘half a dozen times’, with one instance seeing both be charged with assault and battery.
Aside from this, Lorena claimed that John forced her into having sex and raped her numerous times, claiming through her attorney Blair Howard that he was ‘excited by violent sex’, saying it was frequent and she felt ‘trapped’.
He denies raping Lorena or enjoying violent sex.
John asked for a divorce aged 26, and Lorena aged 24. Though he claimed she was ‘begging’ as she didn’t believe in divorce, and it all came to a boiling point on the night of 22 June 1993, as John’s friend Robert Johnston come over to stay with them while they were deciding who gets the apartment.
After a night of drinking, John came home as Lorena claims she was woken up by a slamming door before he forced himself on her and raped her, while John says she was awake in bed and made sexual advances on him, though he was ‘exhausted’.
Claiming he had ‘no idea what happened’ as he was in ‘deep sleep’, Lorena claimed she was raped and went to the kitchen to get water, and came back with a knife, admitting that things ‘came to her mind’, including all the alleged abuse and the abortion, as she explained: “I pick up the knife and … I went back to the bedroom. I took the sheets off and I cut him.
John says he was asleep when his wife cut his penis off, and he explained what he first did when he woke up in terror: “I sprung up and I was bleeding, I was applying pressure, then immediately I thought it was something out of a horror movie,
“A nightmare… turned into reality.”
Lorena fled with the knife in one hand and John’s manhood in the other, throwing the penis out of the window and driving as fast as she could. She later called the police and explained what she had done.
John was taken by his friend to hospital, leaving plastic surgeon Dr. David Berman naturally in shock. Though after police retrieved the penis in a field and put it on ice, the surgeon got to work and after a nine and a half hour operation, it was successfully re-attached.
Lorena was arrested and charged with malicious wounding and faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Though she pleaded not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
He stated in 2019: “I was innocent. I didn’t know why I was there [in court].”
The two attended separate trials on different dates, with no cameras allowed in the courtroom for John’s case, though Lorena’s trial was broadcast to the world.
After being acquitted in November 1993, John stood witness at his ex-wife’s trial, and had trouble answering questions around domestic abuse, saying that he ‘got a little cocky’.
On 22 January 2024, the jury found Lorena Bobbitt not guilty by reason of temporary insanity, as she was ordered to spend five weeks at a mental hospital.
Lorena reflected on the situation in 1994, saying they both ‘were victims of a tragic situation’.
John rebukes that, stating: “I don’t believe that. I don’t believe she was a victim. No. She was just greedy, selfish and she was stubborn.”
The shocking case will be explored in the documentary I Cut Off His Penis: The Truth Behind The Headlines, which airs on ITV tonight (15 October) at 9pm.
