Woman cuts off Husband's Genitals Following Arguement Over Her Husband's Male Friend Staying At Divorcing Couple's Home.

 

• Catherine Kieu given $1m bail and could get life behind bars for 'attack'
• Followed argument over husband's male friend staying at divorcing couple's home
• Kieu told police her husband 'deserved it'

 

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Accused: Catherine Kieu is alleged to have cut off her husband's penis and then dialled the emergency services

A woman who faces life in prison for allegedly drugging her husband before cutting off his penis with a kitchen knife and grinding it up in a garbage disposal reportedly told police, 'he deserved it'.

Catherine Kieu, 48, is said to have made her 60-year-old husband dinner at their California home earlier this month and put a poison or drug in the food to make him pass out.

When he woke up, he was tied to a bed and could not move while his wife took a 10 inch knife to his genitalia before throwing the organ into the garbage disposal and turning it on, police said.

On Friday Mrs Kieu pleaded not guilty to aggravated mayhem as Orange County Superior Court Judge Debra Carrillo set bail at $1million.

The couple, who married in late 2009, were involved in divorce proceedings and the horrific attack followed an argument over the husband having a male friend around friend to stay at the house, according to prosecutors.

Kieu appeared briefly in a blue jail jumpsuit, with chains rattling as she walked. Her long dark hair blocked portions of her face, and she answered Carrillo's questions through a Vietnamese-language interpreter.

Hiding: Catherine Kieu hid her face behind her hair as she appeared in court

Behind bars: Kieu faces life in prison if found guilty and given the maximum sentence

She is charged with torture and aggravated mayhem, with sentencing enhancements for great bodily injury and use of a knife. If convicted of all counts, she could face life in prison without parole.

Frank Bittar, Kieu's attorney, declined to comment on the allegations, except to say 'there's a lot there, to the case - more than meets the eye.'

Authorities were called to the couple's home in Garden Grove, just south of Los Angeles, after Kieu called 911 reporting a medical emergency.

Kieu, who works as a real estate broker, told officers who found her husband tied to the bed and bleeding from the groin that he 'deserved it'.

She had blood spattered on her legs and shirt when authorities arrived, according to court documents.

The man was rushed to the University of California-Irvine Medical Center in Orange where he underwent emergency surgery. The severed organ could not be reattached.

The husband told police she served him a tofu dinner which tasted 'metallic' and he went to bed at about 9pm feeling tired.

Prison: Kieu is being held at Orange County jail charged with poisoning and spousal abuse

While he was sleeping, Kieu 'tied the victim’s legs and arms to the four corners of the bed with nylon ropes', prosecutors said.

The victim told authorities that when he woke up, Kieu pulled his pants 'grabbing the victim’s penis and severing it with a knife'.

Kieu then took the penis to the kitchen and threw it in the garbage disposal, 'turning it on, and mutilating the organ'.

In 1993, Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband's penis in Virginia and threw it out of her car window into a field on the side of the road.

She claimed years of sexual abuse drove her to the attack, and she was acquitted by reason of insanity. The penis was later reattached.