Crimes Below the Belt: Penile Removal and Castration
Cut and Flushed
In February 2005, Vietnamese immigrant Kim Tran, 35, of Anchorage, Alaska, snapped after her boyfriend, 44, threatened to break up with her. Allegedly, the man Tran was having a relationship with her while he was married to her aunt. In fact, the three lived together for a period of time until the man moved out earlier in the year after problems among the three worsened, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Then late in the evening on February 19, an argument erupted between Tran and her unidentified partner. The couple quarreled because "Tran wanted the man to leave his wife, marry her and have children with her, according to the Anchorage Daily News. However, the man just wanted a sexual relationship with her, which made Tran feel "used and angry."
Following the fight, the couple engaged in sexual relations, during which Tran tied her partner's hands above his head and to the windowsill, Alaska's NBC-10 News reported. While the man was tied up, Tran went to the kitchen, got a knife then went back into the bedroom. In a fit of anger, she used the knife to sever her partner's penis, which she then flushed down the toilet, the article stated.
Tran then untied the seriously wounded man and drove him to Providence Alaska Medical Center's emergency room. Aurand said the man was still conscious and able to walk, although he was "shaking and in shock." While the man was being cared for, Tran left the hospital and returned home to clean the bloody crime scene at the man's home on Moose Run Circle.
The police arrived shortly and arrested Tran. When they learned that she had flushed her partner's penis down the toilet, the police employed the help of the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility to try to retrieve the missing organ. A utility worker managed to dislodge the toilet from its base, which was then tipped over into the bathtub, Aurand reported. The penis, which was stuck in the toilet, fell out into the tub, was packed on ice and rushed to the hospital.
Amazingly, surgeons were able to successfully reattach the organ. However, it is unclear whether the man will regain full use of his penis. Doctors say that only time can tell if the operation was a complete success.
Tran has since been charged with three felony counts including, first-degree sexual assault, domestic violence and tampering with evidence. She remains incarcerated at the Anchorage jail awaiting trial.