Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 13, 1994 TAG: 9402130148
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PETERSBURG LENGTH: Medium
For the past week, Bobbitt has been deluged with mail and gifts from men across the country, said her friend, Bobbie Lore.
"She's gotten a lot of cards, a lot of candy, a lot of flowers," Lore said.
Bobbitt is being evaluated at Central State to determine whether she is a threat to society or to herself after a jury found her innocent but insane when she cut off her husband's penis on June 23.
Lore, of Leesburg, once worked with Bobbitt as a manicurist at the Nail Sculptor in Manassas, and the two have been friends for five years.
Lore said Bobbitt was concerned during her trial about the way men perceived her.
Lore said the cards and Valentine's Day gifts probably make Bobbitt "feel a lot better."
Based on the mental health evaluation, a judge will decide Feb. 28 whether Bobbitt should stay in an institution, receive outpatient treatment, or be released with no restrictions.
During her January trial, Bobbitt said that her husband, John Bobbitt, had abused her for years before the penis-cutting incident.
The trial, widely covered by the news media, apparently moved some people so much that they've tried contacting the Bobbitts by mail.
Some of the mail was sent to the estranged couple via the Prince William courthouse. Not all of it is supportive of Bobbitt.
A plastic meat cleaver was sent there. The cleaver arrived unwrapped, with Lorena Bobbitt's name and the courthouse address printed on one side.
One letter to John Bobbitt from a man in Portland, Ore., was addressed: "Mr. John Bobbitt, A great American Hero, Role Model Good father-Figure, Loyal American And Victim Of Jezebel's Viciousness, Manassas, Va."
by CNB