Ouch

LOS ANGELES - The California woman accused of severing her husband's penis and mutilating it in a garbage disposal was upset about "friends staying at the residence," prosecutors said Wednesday.

Indeed, authorities believe Catherine Kieu was consumed by jealous rage related to one or more females when she allegedly committed the heinous crime, a law enforcement source told the Daily News.

Kieu, a 48-year-old real estate broker, appeared in court Wednesday on charges of felony torture and aggravated mayhem. She faces a maximum of life in prison with the possibility of parole if convicted.

The 60-year-old victim earlier told police his wife was angry about their pending divorce.

He denied the existence of a love triangle.

"He's saying there isn't (another woman)," Lt. Jeff Nightengale of the Garden Grove Police Department told the News.

The man, a textiles business owner whose name is being withheld, was in "surprisingly good spirits" following emergency surgery and was listed in "good" condition at UC Irvine Medical Center late Tuesday, Nightengale said.

"Two veteran detectives interviewed him Tuesday and were surprised at his demeanor. They said he was able to answer questions and was in surprisingly good spirits considering everything he's gone through," he said.

Authorities say Kieu drugged her estranged husband's food Monday night to make him sleepy, tied him to the four corners of a bed with nylon ropes, cut off his penis with a 10-inch knife and ran the penis through the kitchen garbage disposal before calling 911.

"The garbage disposal element is going a whole step beyond. That's why we're going with aggravated mayhem instead of just mayhem. The garbage disposal took it to a whole other level," Nightengale said.

Pieces of the penis were recovered and transported to the hospital, but Nightengale said he couldn't comment on whether or not doctors successfully reattached anything.

He said Kieu "spontaneously" said her husband "deserved it" when she met police at the door of the apartment.

The couple married in December 2009 but separated in April and filed for divorce in May. The victim told cops he allowed Kieu to continue living in his apartment because she had nowhere else to go, Nightengale said.

The suspect, who's of Vietnamese descent, is being held without bail. She's scheduled to return to court July 22 for a bail hearing.

The food has been sent to a county testing facility.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/07/13/2011-07-13_california_man_whose_penis_was_allegedly_cut_off_by_wife_catherine_becker_in_goo.html#ixzz1S3kN3xXe