An estranged husband’s penis is alleged to have been severed by his wife in California, who then reportedly disposed of it in a garbage disposal.
Judge Debra Carrillo of the Orange County Superior Court has scheduled Catherine Kieu’s next court appearance for September 23, with bail set at $926,000.
Charged with torture and aggravated mayhem, Ms Kieu, 48, faces sentencing enhancements for significant bodily injury and knife use. If found guilty of all charges, she may be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Dressed in a blue jail jumpsuit, Ms Kieu appeared briefly in court on Friday, her footsteps marked by the sound of chains. Long dark hair obscured parts of her face as she communicated through a Vietnamese-language interpreter, replying to Judge Carrillo’s inquiries.
Refusing to elaborate on the charges, Ms Kieu’s lawyer, Frank Bittar, merely noted, “There’s a lot there, to the case…more than meets the eye.”
During the proceeding, Mr Bittar requested that Ms Carrillo prohibit media from photographing or filming Ms Kieu, citing safety concerns in jail and the importance of preventing a biased jury pool. However, Senior Deputy District Attorney John Christl contested the request, leading the judge to deny it.
According to authorities, on July 11, Ms Kieu allegedly laced her 60-year-old husband’s tofu dinner with drugs. After he went to bed and fell asleep, she tied him to the bed with nylon rope and attacked him with a 25-cm kitchen knife as he woke up, officials stated.
After 16 months of marriage, Ms Kieu’s husband had initiated divorce proceedings in May. Although the couple was living together, she was in the process of moving her belongings out of his Garden Grove condominium.
On the night of the incident, it is claimed that Ms Kieu and her husband argued over a friend staying at their home.
Later that night, authorities reported that Ms Kieu called the police to report a medical emergency, allegedly telling the officers, “he deserved it,” while indicating the room where the victim was discovered bleeding heavily. She was arrested without any resistance and chose not to speak to the police further.
The victim, whose identity has not been disclosed by the police, was transported to the University of California at Irvine Medical Center and has since been released, according to hospital spokesman John Murray.
In a similar historical instance, in 1993, Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband’s penis in Virginia, discarding it from her car window into a field. She claimed her actions were the result of years of sexual abuse, ultimately being acquitted by reason of insanity. The severed penis was later successfully reattached.
by Sasha Dubronitz
