Lorena Bobbitt Biography

Lorena Bobbitt born Lorena Leonor Gallo is an Ecuadorian immigrant who is known for severing her then-husband John Bobbitt penis with a kitchen knife while he was sleeping and then flung it out the window while driving. It was later found and surgically reattached.

Lorena Bobbitt Age

Lorena was born on October 31, 1970 in Bucay, Ecuador.

Lorena Bobbitt Height

Lorena stands at a height of 5 feet 2 inches tall.

Where is Lorena Bobbitt Originally From

Lorena was born in Ecuador and was raised in Venezuela. She came to the United States in 1987 on a student visa.

Lorena Bobbitt Boyfriend

Lorena is in a relationship with her long time partner David Bellinger. They have been together for more than 20 years but haven’t gotten married yet. She says that not getting married is a choice. During an interview with USA Today, she said; “I believe in marriage as an institution, of course, and I respect that. It was my choice. He even says, ‘If you’re ready to marry, I’ll just show up!’”

The couple met in community college, a few years after Lorena divorced John in 1995. During an interview with IOL Bellinger said that he was aware of Lorena’s past when they entered into the relationship.

Lorena Bobbitt Daughter

Lorena and her boyfriend share a daughter known as Olivia.

Lorena Bobbitt Husband

Lorena was married to John Bobbitt. Lorena met John at a dance hall near the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, at the time John was serving as a Lance Corporal of Niagra Falls, New York. Lorena said; “I thought John was very handsome. Blue eyes. A man in a uniform, you know? He was almost like a symbol—a Marine, fighting for the country. I believed in this beautiful country. I was swept off my feet. I wanted my American Dream.”

The couple got married on June 18, 1989 at the time Lorena was 20 while John was 22. In 1991 John was discharged from the Marines.

Lorena accused John of physical, sexual and emotional abuse. She alleged that John forced her to engage in anal sex and later to undergo an abortion. On the other hand, John blamed Lorena of greed.

“Lorena was a good wife a lot of the time. But she was obsessed with having her American Dream, her American Dream, her American Dream—she said it all the time. Janna Bisutti had a big house, a cabin cruiser, a Mercedes. Lorena wanted those things. She just wanted too much, too fast.”

In June 1991 the couple separated for two weeks. In October they separated again and John returned to his family’s home in Upstate New York. In September 1992 they reconciled.

In May 1993 they agreed to divorce. On June 23, 1993 John returned to their apartment with his friend and houseguest, Robert Johnston, after a night of drinking. Lorena alleges that on that night John raped her before falling asleep.

John however said that the sex was consexual. “I was leaving her for good. It was what my mom said—If she couldn’t have me, no one could. And there was the green card, too. That didn’t come to my mind at the time, but it’s obvious. You have to be married to an American citizen for five years to get one, and we’d only been married for four.”

Lorena Bobbitt Severes John’s Penis

Lorena claimed that after John raped her and fell asleep she went to the kitchen for a glass of water and saw a knife by the dim light of the refrigerator and took it into the bedroom, where she cut off John’s penis.

Lorena got into her car and drove to Janna Bisutti’s house, flinging the penis out the window en route. Biscutti called the police and gave them the coordinates of where Lorena had thrown the penis. It was recovered and brought to Prince William Hospital where John was admitted. It was surgically reattached in a nine-and-a-half-hour operation.

Lorena Bobbitt Arrest

Lorena was arrested the same on June 23, 1993, the same night she cut John. She was charged with malicious wounding. During the trial, Lorena testified about what went through her mind when she saw the knife: “I remember the first time he raped me. I remember the put-downs and insults he told me. . . . There were so many pictures in my head. I remember how he did anal sex with me and hurt me. I remember everything, everything.”

Her lawyers argued that Loren acted on self defense as John had threatened to track her down and rape her if she left him. They added that the physical and sexual abuse triggered an “irresistible impulse” in her. The prosecutors argued that Lorena acted out of vengeance as she attacked John when he was asleep.

On January 21, 1994 Lorena was found not guilty of malicious wounding due to temporary insanity.

Lorena Bobbitt Sentencing

Lorena was found not guilty of malicious wrongdoing. She was acquitted by reason of temporary insanity. A psychiatrist for the defense testified that Lorena had clearly suffered from a “brief reactive Psychosis” under which she attacked “the instrument that was the weapon of her torture,” which was John’s penis.

Lisa Kemler, one of her lawyers said; “This case was not about a penis. Everyone was so consumed with that. But that’s not what this case is really about. It was really about a life.”

She was however sent to a mental hospital for 45 days which was in accordance with Virginia Law, since she was declared insane during that brief time period.

Is Lorena Bobbitt Out of Jail

Lorena was not sentenced to a jail term.

Lorena Bobbitt Where Is She Now

Lorena lives in Virginia with her boyfriend and daughter.

Lorena Gallo Foundation

Lorena runs a nonprofit organization known as Lorena Gallo Foundation where she advocates for survivors of domestic abuse. Part of her advocacy work focuses on the #MeToo movement and the domestic abuse many immigrant women in the United States.

During an interview with Times, she said; “I was the subject of so many jokes in the ’90s, and to me it was just cruel. They didn’t understand. Why would they laugh about my suffering? I’ll put myself through the jokes and everything as long as I can shine a light on domestic violence and sexual assault and marital rape.”

I was Lorena Bobbitt Lifetime

Lorena’s story will air on LifeTime, it will premier on May 25, 2020.  Lorena serves as the executive producer and narrator for the film. Dani Montalvo plays a younger version of herself while Luke Humphrey will play her ex-husband John Bobbitt.

According to Lifetime, the movie “tells [Lorena Bobbitt’s] story, and hers alone, for the first time. This film follows her journey from a wide-eyed, immigrant bride to a battered wife into an unlikely media sensation”

The movie will also document “her ultimately emerging as a strong, thoughtful woman who has devoted her life to advocating for other abused women.”

Lorena Bobbitt Song