Lorena Bobbitt Never Went To Prison For Her Infamous Crime (2024)

• A new Lifetime movie, I Was Lorena Bobbitt, tells the real-life story of a woman arrested for chopping off her husband's penis.
• Lorena was abused by her husband, John Bobbitt, for years.
• Lorena was arrested and put on trial for her crime.

Lorena Bobbitt's name became synonymous with revenge in the ‘90s after she was arrested for chopping off her husband’s penis. Now, people joke about her infamous act, but there’s a serious backstory to it. And a new Lifetime movie premiering on Monday is diving into the whole thing.

The movie, called I Was Lorena Bobbitt, follows the story of how Lorena was an immigrant bride who was abused by her husband John Bobbitt for years, before cutting off his penis with a knife in 1993. Lorena executive produced the whole thing, BTW.

Lorena ended up going through a sensational trial, and the movie covers this as well.

But, of course, this is a movie and not, ya know, RL. Here’s what you need to know about what actually happened to Lorena and whether she spent any time in jail.

Okay, so what was Lorena Bobbitt's crime exactly?

Early in the morning on June 23, 1993, Lorena took an eight-inch knife from her kitchen and used it to cut off her husband’s penis, according to Biography. From there, she left the apartment in her car and threw the penis into a field in Manassas, Virginia. (FWIW: John ended up having a successful penis reattachment surgery.)

Lorena was eventually arrested and put on trial.

During the trial, Lorena defended her actions by saying that she was a victim of domestic abuse and that her husband had raped her before she took action. John denied her allegations.

John also claimed that he was planning to divorce Lorena and that would put her green card at risk, but she claims she didn’t get married to try to get citizenship. Lorena later said in an interview with Vanity Fair that she was once in love with John. "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,” she said.

Lorena was acquitted of her crime.

The trial lasted for two weeks and, in 1994, Lorena was found not guilty of injuring John due to temporary insanity brought on by the trauma of being abused, per The New York Times. Under Virginia law, she needed to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. From there, she spent 45 days in a mental hospital, according to Biography. She was released after that.

Where is Lorena now?

Lorena now goes by her maiden name—Gallo—and works as an advocate for victims of domestic violence. Lorena became a U.S. citizen in the summer of 1994, according to The New York Times, and founded the Lorena Gallo Foundation, founded in 2007 to help victims of domestic violence.