Warning: This article contains discussions of domestic violence and rape which some readers may find distressing.
A man who woke up to discover that his wife had cut off his penis described the moment as 'something out of a horror movie'.
US marine John Bobbitt had first met Lorena Gallo in 1988 and they got married the following year, but the relationship was not a happy one as you might have guessed from the premise of this article.
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Lorena claimed that her husband hit her a month into their marriage while he alleged that he was 'subduing' her and accused her of being the violent one, claiming his wife was 'jealous and possessive' and that if she was upset he would get a punch as a result.
There were numerous complaints of domestic violence from their home and at one point both of them were charged with assault and battery.
She claimed that her husband was 'excited by violent sex', forced her into having sex and raped her on multiple occasions, all of which he denies.
The ITV documentary I Cut Off His Penis: The Truth Behind The Headlines covers the details of their relationship and is available to stream on ITV X, while it also delves into other similar cases around the world.
On the night of 22 June, 1993 Lorna claims she was woken up by a slamming door before her husband forced himself on her and raped her, John claims that she was already awake in bed and was the one who made advances on him despite him being 'exhausted' and didn't know what happened because he was in a 'deep sleep'.
She said that she went to the kitchen to get some water and came back with a knife, saying she pulled back the bedsheets and cut off his penis.
When John woke up and realised that his penis had been cut off he was rather shocked by the ordeal.
He said: "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 the scene with the kitchen knife in one hand and her husband's severed penis in the other, she would throw the dismembered member into a field and then tell the police what she had done.
John was taken to hospital and his penis was retrieved by police from the field it had been thrown into, the phallus was put on ice and after a nine-and-a-half hour operation it was surgically reattached.
Both of them were put on trial, as Lorena was charged with malicious wounding and John was charged with marital sexual assault.
He pleaded not guilty after being arrested based on Lorena's claims that he raped her, and he was acquitted in 1993.
She pleaded not guilty by reason of temporary insanity and this was the verdict the jury delivered in 1994, with her being ordered to spend five weeks at a mental hospital.
Reflecting on it all Lorena said that they were both 'victims of a tragic situation', an assessment John didn't agree with as he responded by saying: "I don't believe that. I don't believe she was a victim. No. She was just greedy, selfish and she was stubborn."
Topics: Crime, True Crime, US News, Documentaries
Joe Harker