Woman accused of cutting off husband's penis to be arraigned

 

By Michael Martinez, CNN

July 22, 2011 -- Updated 0503 GMT (1303 HKT)

Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, is facing torture and aggravated mayhem charges in the knifing incident.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, is charged with aggravated mayhem and torture
• She is accused of drugging her husband and cutting off his penis, police say
• The couple is going through a divorce, according to police
• Becker is to be arraigned Friday in Orange County Superior Court

Los Angeles (CNN) -- A Southern California woman accused of cutting off her husband's penis and throwing it into a garbage disposal was scheduled to be arraigned Friday on torture and aggravated mayhem charges in an Orange County court.
Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, who is also known as Que Anh Tran, is also facing special allegations, or sentencing enhancements, for great bodily injury and personal use of a deadly weapon, specifically a knife, according to the felony complaint.
If convicted on all counts, she faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said.
Becker, of Garden Grove, California, is being held without bond, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney's office.
An initial police investigation alleged Becker put a drug or poison in her 60-year-old husband's dinner Monday evening to make him sleepy.
Prosecutors have said they are waiting on toxicology reports about the alleged drugging.
Becker told authorities he "deserved it" when they arrived at the scene after she called 911, the police report said. Becker and her husband are going through a divorce.
On the night of July 11, Becker and her husband argued about friends staying at their Garden Grove residence, prosecutors said in a press release.
Becker served her husband dinner, and after feeling tired at about 9 p.m., he went to bed, authorities said.
Becker allegedly tied her husband's legs and arms to the four corners of the bed with nylon rope, according to the district attorney's office. As he woke, she pulled down his pants, grabbed his penis and severed it with a knife, prosecutors said.
Becker then took the penis to the kitchen, threw it into the garbage disposal, and turned it on, "mutilating the organ," the prosecutors' statement said.
The husband underwent emergency surgery at UC Irvine Medical Center, authorities said.
On Thursday, Emami said prosecutors weren't commenting on the husband's condition out of respect for his privacy.
The Orange County case has been widely compared to the 1993 attack against John Wayne Bobbitt by his then-wife, Lorena, who cut off his penis with an 8-inch carving knife while he slept.
Lorena Bobbitt then drove away, tossing the penis out her car window. The penis was eventually found and surgically reattached.
Lorena Bobbitt was later found innocent by reason of insanity. During her testimony, she tearfully described her life at the hands of her abusive husband.

In a separate trial, Bobbitt was acquitted of sexually assaulting his wife. After successful surgery to reattach his penis, Bobbitt made appearances on "The Howard Stern Show." He also made a number of adult films.

RELATED TOPICS

• Catherine Kieu Becker
• Crime
• Orange County