25 years later, looking back at the infamous Lorena Bobbitt case that captivated America

Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband's penis with a knife on June 23, 1993.

June 23, 2018, 6:01 AM

Twenty-five years ago to the day, the name Lorena Bobbitt became notorious: on June 23, 1993, the young wife cut off her husband's penis with a kitchen knife.

Here's a look back at the key moments from the sensational case that transfixed America.

The infamous assault

Lorena Bobbitt, a 24-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant, claimed the knife attack occurred minutes after her husband, John Wayne Bobbitt, drunkenly returned to their Manassas, Virginia, home and raped her.

"He jumped on top of me and he started grabbing my arms really tight," she told ABC News in an interview at the time. "I said, 'I don't want to have sex'... he forced me... my underwear was ripping off. I was just fighting... He wouldn't listen."

As her attorney James Lowe studies documents, Lorena Bobbitt listens to testimony on the third day of her malicious wounding trial in Manassa, VA, Jan. 12, 1994.
AFP/Getty Images

After the alleged rape, "I was crying and I just wanted to get a glass of water," she said.

She went to the kitchen, picked up a knife and returned to their room, where her husband was asleep.

"I took the sheets off and I cut him," she told ABC News, crying.

The knife used by Lorena Bobbitt to cut off the penis of her husband, John Bobbitt, is part of the evidence used in her malicious wounding trial at the Prince William County Courthouse in Manassas, Va., Jan. 13, 1994.
Steve Helber/AP

"I didn’t know she cut it off," John Wayne Bobbitt said in a 2016 episode of "Scandal Made Me Famous." "She did it so fast and ran so fast, I thought maybe I saw a little bit of her in my peripheral running out the bedroom door. But I looked down and there was blood everywhere."

"I applied pressure," he said, "I get up and try to put my pants on, and tried to get to the hospital as fast as I could."

John Wayne Bobbitt points during testimony on the sixth day of his wife Lorena Bobbitt's malicious wounding trial at the Prince William Courthouse in Manassas, VA Jan. 19, 1994.
AFP/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Lorena Bobbitt jumped in her car and fled.

She later testified that she didn't realize what she had done until she noticed while driving that she had the knife in one hand and the severed penis in the other, The Washington Post reported at the time. She then threw the penis out of the car window.

A sensational trial

Judge Herman Whisenant listens to testimony during the second day of the malicious wounding of the Lorena Bobbitt trial in Manassas, VA, Jan. 11, 1994.
AFP/Getty Images

Lorena Bobbitt was charged with malicious wounding and faced up to 20 years in prison.

In court, Lorena Bobbitt claimed she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by her husband, including the night of the knife attack.

"He would be on top of me and he would use his hands to choke me ... every time he did that he'd hit me," she told ABC News in a 1993 interview. "He forced me into sex ... I would just cry."

PHOTO: Lorena Bobbitt cries as she testifies about the night she cut her husband John Wayne Bobbitt's penis off,  Jan. 14, 1994 on the fourth day of her malicious wounding trial in Manassas, VA.
Lorena Bobbitt cries as she testifies about the night she cut her husband John Wayne Bobbitt's penis off, Jan. 14, 1994 on the fourth day of her malicious wounding trial in Manassas, VA.
AFP/Getty Images

Her highly-publicized trial -- a year before the O.J. Simpson double murder case began -- pushed domestic violence into the national conversation.

John Wayne Bobbitt, a former Marine, denied her allegations. He was charged with marital sexual assault and found not guilty in a separate trial.

After her eight-day trial that captivated the country, Lorena Bobbitt was found not guilty of malicious wounding by reason of temporary insanity. She spent five weeks at a mental hospital for treatment and evaluation.

Lorena Bobbitt (L) arrives at the Prince William County Courthouse in Manassa, VA, Jan. 12, 1994 with her attorney Lisa Kemler for the third day of testimony in her trial for the malicious wounding of her husband John.
David Ake/AFP/Getty Images

After her release from the facility, she opened up in another interview with ABC News, saying she regretted her actions.

"I never meant to hurt anybody. I never hurt anybody before," she said, "It just happened."

Lorena Bobbitt takes the witness stand in her trial for cutting off her husband's penis Jan. 1994.
Getty Images

"We both were victims of a tragic situation ... two crimes," she said. "Sometimes we're so trapped in a psychologically mental situation that we might just, can't take it anymore, and this is exactly what happened to me."

The Bobbitts -- who were married for six years -- divorced in 1995.

The aftermath: John

John Wayne Bobbitt testifying in court in Manassass, Virginia, against his estranged wife, Lorena, during her trial for cutting off his penis, Jan, 1994.
Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images

John Wayne Bobbitt's penis was recovered from the field where Lorena ditched it and the body part was successfully reattached in a 10-hour surgery.

"With microsurgery, you either establish the circulation and it works, or it doesn’t -- there’s no in between," Bobbitt’s surgeon, Dr. David Berman, said in a 2016 "Scandal Made Me Famous" episode, according to People Magazine.

Post-surgery, John Wayne Bobbitt went on to appear in several adult films and Howard Stern paid for him to have a penis enlargement, the Daily Mirror reported.

John Wayne Bobbitt arrives at the Prince William County Court House Jan. 10, 1994 for the first day of his wife's trial on charges of malicious wounding.
J. David Ake/AFP/Getty Images

Though John Wayne Bobbitt was acquitted of marital sexual assault after Lorena's allegations, he went on to be convicted of domestic violence offenses involving two other women, The Huffington Post reported in 2016.

As for his feelings towards his infamous ex, he said in the 2016 "Scandal Made Me Famous" episode, "I don’t blame Lorena."

"We both hurt each other," he said in the episode, according to People. "I wish her the best."

The aftermath: Lorena

Lorena Bobbitt is interviewed by ABC in 2010.
ABC

ABC News caught up with Lorena Bobbitt 17 years after the assault. By that time a lot had changed: she started using her maiden name, met a new partner and became a mother.

She also said her newfound passion was counseling domestic violence victims. She founded the domestic violence organization Lorena's Red Wagon in 2007.

Now, 25 years later, Jordan Peele -- the Oscar winner behind "Get Out" -- is creating a four-part docu-series for Amazon called "Lorena."

"When we hear the name 'Bobbitt,' we think of one of the most sensational incidents to ever be catapulted into a full-blown media spectacle," Peele said in a statement this year. "With this project, Lorena has a platform to tell her truth as well as engage in a critical conversation about gender dynamics, abuse and her demand for justice. This is Lorena's story, and we're honored to help her tell it."