A Californian woman is accused of cutting off her estranged husband’s penis and running it through the garbage disposal.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Debra Carrillo today rescheduled Catherine Kieu until September 23 and set bail at $926,000.
Ms Kieu, 48, is charged with torture and aggravated mayhem, with sentencing enhancements for great bodily injury and use of a knife. If convicted of all counts, she could face life in prison without parole.
Ms Kieu appeared in court briefly Friday local time in a blue jail jumpsuit, with chains rattling as she walked. Her long dark hair blocked portions of her face, and she answered Carrillo’s questions through a Vietnamese-language interpreter.
Frank Bittar, Ms Kieu’s lawyer, declined to comment on the allegations, except to say, “There’s a lot there, to the case…more than meets the eye.”
During the hearing, Mr Bittar asked Ms Carrillo to ban the media from photographing or filming Ms Kieu to ensure her safety in jail and avoid creating a biased jury pool. Senior Deputy District Attorney John Christl opposed the request and the judge denied it.
Authorities say they believe Ms Kieu spiked her 60-year-old husband’s tofu dinner July 11. After he went to lie down and fell asleep, she tied his hands and feet to the bed with nylon rope and attacked him with a 25-cm kitchen knife as he woke, authorities said.
Ms Kieu’s husband had filed for divorce in May after 16 months of marriage. Authorities said the couple still lived together but she was moving her things out of his Garden Grove condo.
On the evening of the attack, Ms Kieu had allegedly argued with her husband about him having a friend stay at the home.
Authorities said Ms Kieu allegedly called police later that night to report a medical emergency and told arriving officers “he deserved it” before pointing to the room where the victim was found bleeding profusely. She was taken into custody without incident and refused to talk to officers further, police said.
The victim, whose name was not released by police, was taken to University of California at Irvine Medical Center and has since been released, said hospital spokesman John Murray.
In 1993, Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband’s penis in Virginia and threw it out of her car window into a field on the side of the road. She claimed years of sexual abuse drove her to the attack, and she was acquitted by reason of insanity. The penis was later reattached.
by Sasha Dubronitz
