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More than 30 years have passed since Lorena Bobbitt became a household name after she shamefully cut off her husband’s penis while he slept. Now, in a new documentary airing tonight, he opens up about his motivations.
I cut off his penis: the truth from the headlineswhich premieres on October 15 at 9pm BST, is an ITV documentary examining cases of ‘pecicide’. The film presents viewers with personal testimonies from women and men around the world who witnessed such cases and felt their effects, while asking the question why they happen at all.
Lorena was only 24 years old when she cut off her husband John Wayne Bobbitt’s penis with a butcher knife on June 23, 1993.
“The whole world knows that I cut off his penis,” says Lorena, now 55, in the documentary Daily mail. “There is no way to sugarcoat it; that’s what happened.”
Three decades later, Lorena maintains that the many salacious headlines and crime documentaries covering the event “miss the point of the story.”
Her lawyers argued that John’s physical and sexual abuse had driven her temporarily insane; however, he denied these allegations. He was later acquitted on charges of marital sexual assault in a related trial.
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Lorena Bobbitt was found not guilty of intentional wounding by reason of temporary insanity (AFP via Getty Images)
Police searched and recovered John’s severed penis from Lorena’s field, which had escaped from a moving car window, and managed to reattach it after a nine-and-a-half-hour operation. Lorena admitted that some moments after the act still remain unclear.
“The next thing I knew, I was driving with a penis in one hand and a knife in the other,” she recalled in the documentary. “I couldn’t drive straight, I have no idea how I got into the car. I got scared and threw it out the window, its organ. I wasn’t in my right mood. I couldn’t plan it; I mean, who would plan that?
The former couple met when Lorena worked as a nail technician in a beauty salon and John was a bar bouncer and former US Marine. They married in 1989, shortly after Lorena’s 20th birthday, although she claims “red flags” appeared soon after.
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In a related trial, John Wayne Bobbitt was acquitted on charges of marital sexual assault (AFP via Getty Images)
“The escalation of violence was not only physical – I had bruises on my arms, legs, arms and face – but it escalated to the point where I was raped,” she says in the documentary.
She claimed she had fallen asleep after a long day at work when she woke up and found John on top of her. “I was half asleep, half conscious. I thought to myself, “What’s going on here?” That’s all I remember,” says Lorena. “I know I went to get a glass of water, I don’t remember seeing a knife; I don’t remember any of it.
Lorena was later arrested and charged with malicious wounding, but in 1994 she was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. She was committed to a psychiatric hospital for a maximum of 45 days, and Lorena and John divorced in 1995.
“In my case, there was no element of revenge,” he says. “I didn’t want anyone to suffer. That’s not who I am, so that’s not why I did it. It’s about what put me in this situation.”
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Lorena Bobbitt currently lives in Virginia with her partner David Bellinger and their teenage daughter (Getty Images)
Currently, Lorena still lives in Virginia, where her current name is Lorena Gallo. She met her current partner, David Bellinger, in college over 20 years ago. The couple has a teenage daughter.
Meanwhile, John currently lives in Sarasota, Florida. After the couple’s trial and divorce, he appeared in adult films Uncut John Wayne Bobbitt AND Frankenpenis. In April 2024, he revealed that he had lost all 10 toes due to toxic peripheral polyneuropathy.
In 2018, Lorena established the Lorena Gallo Foundation to provide domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, intervention and awareness services to survivors of domestic violence and their children.
“Sometimes I wish it had happened to me, but my life is not a tape I can rewind,” he says. “I became a mother, I have a relationship with this wonderful man, I not only survived, but I have a new life.”
I cut off his penis: the truth from the headlines airs on ITV1 and ITVX at 21:00 GMT on Tuesday, October 15.
The National Domestic Violence Helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247. You can also visit Shelter website. It is dedicated advice line for men on 0808 8010 327. If you are in the US, you can call the domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
Other international hotlines can be found at www.befrienders.org.