He became a household name in 1993 after his wife cut off his penis while he slept – but over 30 years on, John Wayne Bobbitt’s life hasn’t been any easier.
The former US Marine, 57, who lives in Las Vegas , had been married to Lorena Gallo for four years when she famously sliced off his member with a butcher’s knife in the middle of the night on 23 June 1993.
The sensational case achieved worldwide coverage – with the term ‘Bobbitt’, meaning to ‘cut off a penis’, even being added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Thanks to a fast-acting medical team, John’s penis was reattached during a nine-hour surgery.
During the trial, Lorena’s lawyers argued that she was driven by temporary insanity following years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her husband. John has always denied these allegations.
In 1994, she was found not guilty of malicious wounding and the couple’s divorce was finalised the following year. The case features in the new ITV documentary I Cut Off His Penis: The Truth Behind The Headlines, which airs tonight at 9pm.
Lorena and John Wayne Bobbitt at their 1989 wedding. Lorena claims that domestic violence and sexual abuse soon followed but he has always denied the allegations
Riding the wave of publicity, John formed the band The Severed Parts and sold T-shirts that showed a caricature of his ex-wife brandishing a knife in a bid to make money.
The former barman then famously went on to star in the pornographic films John Wayne Bobbitt: Uncut and Frankenpenis.
Earlier this year, John announced that he had lost more body parts – 31 years since his ex-wife’s attack.
Here FEMAIL reveals what happened to the man at the centre of one of the most famous US trials in history.
John Wayne Bobbitt met his wife Lorena Gallo at the Marine Corps officers’ ball in 1988.
Speaking to ABC News in 2019, John recalled: ‘I was there with a friend and saw her over there.
‘And she looks shy and innocent, and I went over there and asked her to dance. She can barely speak English… [and] I go, “here’s my number.”‘
At the time, Lorena – who is originally from Venezuela – was in the US on a student visa.
Pictured: Lorena Bobbitt leaves Prince William County Courthouse in Virgina in November 1993
The former US Marine, 57, who lives in Florida , had been married to Lorena Gallo for four years when she famously sliced off his member with a butcher’s knife
Lorena’s attorney told the publication that she thought John was an ‘absolute gentleman’ at first.
John claims he started to feel pressure from his mother-in-law to get married as Lorena’s visa was due to expire. However, Lorena has previously said that she never mentioned her visa to John.
He added: ‘Had to bite the bullet, I guess, get married.’
In 1991, John was discharged from the Marines and struggled to find work – prompting Lorena to start baby-sitting for a local salon owner before then taking a job as a nail technician.
In an interview with ABC around the time of the trial, Lorena claimed John first hit her one month after their wedding – and was subjected to physical and sexual abuse during their marriage.
Although John has always denied these allegations, he claims he only fought back to ‘subdue or restrain’ his ex-wife, who he described as ‘very jealous and very possessive’.
In 1993, Lorena discovered she was pregnant – but had an abortion out of fear that John, who felt they ‘weren’t ready’, would leave her.
John (pictured) claims he started to feel pressure from his mother-in-law to get married in the late 1980s as Lorena’s visa was due to expire
During the trial, Lorena’s lawyers argued that she was driven by temporary insanity following years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her husband
During the trial, John claims he woke up on 23 June 1993 to feel a ‘tugging’ at his groin and didn’t realise what his wife had done at first.
He said: ‘I grabbed at myself and I jumped up. It hurt a lot.’
Lorena claimed that she cut off John’s penis after he sexually assaulted her five days earlier and then again that night.
Speaking in the ITV documentary, Lorena said: ‘The escalation of abuse was not only physical – there were bruises on my arms, on my legs, shoulders, on my face – and it escalated to the point that I was raped.’
Following the incident, Lorena drove from the family home in Manassas in northern Virginia and threw the severed member into a field, where it was later retrieved by police and infamously preserved on ice in a hot dog box
She said: ‘I couldn’t drive straight, I have no idea how I got into the car. I got scared and I threw it out of the window, his organ. I was not in my right frame of mind. There was no way I could plan this; I mean who would plan this?’
Pictured: the butcher’s knife Lorena Bobbitt used to slice off her husband’s penis on the night of 23 June 1993
Lorena today. She claims: ‘The whole world knows I cut his penis off. There’s no way to candy-coat it; that’s what happened’
Dr. Sehn said when John was taken to the emergency room, he was holding a sheet over his groin and he expected to carry out a perineal urethrostomy, ‘in other words, converting to a female plumbing system, which is a pretty brief and quick operation’.
But, he then learned that the penis was still intact and had been found in the field where Lorena threw it. It has been ‘contaminated’ but was good enough to be reattached.
It took longer than need be for the organ to be brought in because none of the officers who found it first wanted to touch it.
He said: ”They called an EMS squad because they knew those guys always had gloves, and they stood around staring at it, until the ambulance came up and gloves were obtained from the ambulance and they finally had the courage to pick it up, if you can imagine that, and carry it in with gloved hands into the 7-Eleven to put it in the hot dog bag on ice.’
Within a few hours, he and plastic surgeon Dave Berman were reattaching it in the operating room.
‘It took us about nine hours to do the case and it went really very nicely,’ he said, adding that by the end of the procedure, it was ‘pink and doing well.’
He says neither he nor the hospital received any payment from Bobbitt for the lengthy procedure, despite him going on to profit from being a victim, because he declared bankruptcy afterwards. 30 years on, it’s unclear whether the surgeon has been paid.
‘The other thing that was really disappointing for me was that as soon as John signed up with the media attorneys, there was an attorney that was hired who immediately took John to federal district court in Alexandria and Chapter 11’ed all of his debts.
John Wayne Bobbitt takes the oath as he prepares to testify during the malicious wounding trial of his wife Lorena
John Wayne Bobbitt pictured after the trial ended – when he was pursuing a career as a porn star
Robin Byrd and John Wayne Bobbitt – whose penis was famously cut off by his wife – at the Tunnel, New York in 1994
‘That meant all the care he got at our hospital — and we’re not a wealthy hospital, we’re a suburban hospital — all of his debts went into bankruptcy, so even though $6 million was made on the porn films, none of those bills for John’s medical care were ever paid.
‘The hospital and all of the other doctors and nurses were given nothing,’ he said.
Around this time, Lorena was charged with malicious wounding. At her trial, she took the stand and was later acquitted by reason of temporary insanity.
Prosecutor Paul B Ebert claimed John had ‘tormented’ his wife with a list of women he had slept with and read it out loud five days before the attack.
‘It was my own private copy,’ John said. ‘I didn’t show that to her. Ever.’
During the trial, Lorena alleged that John had read the list to her when he was attacking her.
In 1991, John was discharged from the Marines and struggled to find work – prompting Lorena to start baby-sitting for a local salon owner before then taking a job as a nail technician
Lorena pictured arriving at the court house in Manassas, Virginia, in 1994 for the first day of her trial on charges of malicious wounding
Lorena was sent to a mental hospital where she was discharged after a month. John Wayne Bobbitt was charged with marital sexual assault. In a 1994 trial, he was acquitted and he continues to assert his innocence.
Following the case, Lorena went on to remarry – but claims she continued to hear from her ex-husband even 20 years later.
Lorena claims John tried to reach her through her charity, which provides emergency shelter and immediate assistance to survivors.
Speaking to Oprah Daily in 2020, Lorena said: ‘He tried to reach out to me through my foundation, and often posts rude comments and bad reviews on my foundation’s Facebook page—which is a sign of being controlling and mentally abusive, 20 years later. Basically, this man needs help.’
In 1994, Lorena’s ex-husband starred in the pornographic film John Wayne Bobbitt: Uncut, which is reportedly one of the highest grossing adult films in history. Two years later, he starred in the follow-up film Frakenpenis.
Speaking to People in 2016, John said he wanted to make the films as the public were curious about whether he still had sexual function.
One week after his surgery, John recalled calling his mother to tell her about an encouraging development.
He said: ‘I called my mom from the hospital. My mom answered, and I said, “Mom, I can’t believe it! I got an erection.” My mom said, “I don’t want to hear that. Talk to your dad.”‘
A compelling new ITV documentary called I Cut Off His Penis: The Truth Behind The Headlines, will air on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm tonight
John Wayne Bobbitt pictured near his home in Las Vegas in July 2018 – 25 years after his wife cut off his penis
In April 2024, John revealed that he had lost all 10 of his toes after being toxic peripheral polyneuropathy
Lorena claims John (pictured) tried to reach her through her charity, which provides emergency shelter and immediate assistance to survivors
In April 2024, John revealed that he had lost all 10 of his toes after being toxic peripheral polyneuropathy.
The former Marine was exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune military base in North Carolina in the late 1980s.
The condition causes nerve damage to extremities, which has led to the amputation of his toes over a period of several years. The last few digits were removed in 2023.
John said that he now has just two stumps for feet and needs special prosthetic shoes. On top of this, the condition has left him experiencing chronic infections and painful skin issues.
The former adult star also said his experiences at Camp Lejeune impacted both his physical health including his cognitive functioning and mental well-being which he believes may have affected the relationship with his ex-wife Lorena.
‘I wasn’t behaving the way I should have. Maybe I would have made better decisions if my cognitive functioning wasn’t distorted by the chemicals,’ he told The Sun.
The Camp Lejeune contamination has been described as ‘one of the worst water contamination cases in US history’ and saw oil, industrial wastewater, and toxic chemicals all knowingly dumped in local storm drains at the army base between 1952 and 1987, contaminating the local water supply for 35 years.
‘They knew. They were testing the water and it was like up to 3,500 times above normal safety standards,’ John said.