MANASSAS, Va. -- A 26-year-old suburban Washington man whose wife
cut off his penis with a kitchen knife while he slept yesterday
morning was reported in satisfactory condition last night after 9
1/2 hours of surgery to reattach the organ, officials said.
Authorities learned of the incident when the man showed up at
the local hospital at about 5 a.m. Police officers were dispatched
to his apartment to search for the missing penis but couldn't find
it.
About the same time, the man's wife called authorities from a
pay phone to say she had been raped, had fled the apartment "in a
panic," unknowingly taking the penis with her, and had thrown the
penis out the window of her car at an intersection.
The penis was recovered at the intersection, packed in ice and
taken by fire and rescue personnel to a hospital where the surgical
reattachment procedure began, said James Sehn, a urologist who was
one of two doctors who participated in the delicate operation.
Prosecutor Paul Ebert said last night that the couple, who
were not identified, "had been experiencing considerable domestic
difficulty."
The woman told police that her husband had raped her shortly
before she cut off two-thirds of his penis. "After he went to
sleep, she got a kitchen knife," Ebert said.
A police spokesman said the woman was released after being
treated as a rape victim at the same hospital where her husband was
undergoing surgery.
Police charged the woman last night with aggravated malicious
wounding, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in
jail.
[Note: If he does get charged and convicted of raping her he would get a maximum penalty of 15 years.]