Lorena's 8-inch Ginsu knife
Lorena Bobbitt used an 8-inch Ginsu kitchen knife — a brand advertised as never needing sharpening — to sever her husband's penis on June 23, 1993.
Where this was said
The Night of June 23, 1993
At 20:52 · chapter starts 20:20
The night that would define both of their lives began with John and his friend Robert Johnston going out drinking in Washington, DC, returning to the small one-bedroom apartment in the early morning hours. John's account is that he climbed into bed and some mutual 'petting' occurred, but Lorena's account is categorically different: he jumped on top of her, ripped off her underwear, and raped her — the second time he had done so in five days. After the assault, she lay awake beside him, processing what had happened. Eventually she got up for a glass of water. Standing at the kitchen counter, she noticed an 8-inch Ginsu knife. Later she would say, 'I didn't want to teach him a lesson. It was survival, life and death.' She picked up the knife, returned to the bedroom, and severed his penis entirely. Both Ash and Alaina pause on this moment, emphasizing that you have to be in an extreme psychological place to go through with such an act — not endorsing it, but trying to understand the state of mind that produces it. [1] — Lorena Bobbitt "I didn't want to teach him a lesson. No, it was survival, life and death. I was fearing for my life." 21:04
The Hot Dog Box: Recovering the Evidence
Lorena fled the apartment still holding John's severed penis, threw it from the car window near a 7-Eleven, then called 911 from the nail salon. Police located the organ in an overgrown lot but wouldn't touch it without gloves. One officer ran to the 7-Eleven and returned with a hot dog box filled with ice — the improvised vessel that helped save John's ability to have surgery.
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