Woman Cuts Off Penis Of Friend’s Killer Police Say She Seduced Man Who Strangled Woman In ‘83

A woman apparently bent on avenging the slaying of a friend bided her time for more than a decade before she seduced the killer and then cut off his penis with a scalpel-like knife, police say.

Doctors were unable to reattach the organ to 48-year-old pipe fitter Alan Hall, who told investigators he had known his attacker for years, but only as “Brenda.” Police were still looking for the woman Wednesday.

Hall, who was convicted in 1983 of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Denise Denofrio, told police that he ran into “Brenda” at a gas station and that she led him back to his trailer, where they had sex.

Afterward, about 3 a.m. Friday, “Brenda” hinted that the woman he killed was a friend, which “caused the man to believe that she was seeking revenge,” a police statement said.

Hall told police the woman suddenly grabbed a cutting tool she found in the trailer - a pen-sized X-Acto knife with a razor blade three-quarters of an inch long - and sliced his penis. She then ran out.

“It happened very swiftly,” said police Lt. Bill Gresham.

After trying for hours to stop the bleeding himself, Hall stumbled out onto the front lawn, where a passerby spotted him and called for help. Hall was rushed to a hospital, but by then eight hours had passed, and it was too late to sew the penis back on.

“It was just too deep a cut,” Gresham said. “How do I put this? It was cut down to the base.”

Hall’s injuries were so severe that investigators were unable to question him in depth until Monday, when he got out of the hospital.

Family members said he left his trailer Tuesday and didn’t say where he was going.

Hall, who is 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, told investigators he couldn’t fight off the 5-foot-7, 135-pound woman. His blood samples were being tested for drugs or alcohol.

Few details were available about the woman. Police said Hall had known her for years and they last saw each other three years ago.

The attacker could face a felony charge of aggravated mayhem, which carries a two- to eight-year prison sentence.

Gresham said police were investigating Hall’s story, but also looking into the possibility that “Brenda” doesn’t exist.

John Mraz, the now-retired officer who investigated the 1983 case, said Hall strangled Denofrio, 22, with the cord of her sweat shirt during a sexual encounter.

Her body, naked from the waist down, was found in the front seat of a car parked at a restaurant.

Police solved the case several days later after finding a matchbook from the bar where Hall and Denofrio met. Patrons had no trouble describing Hall because of his distinctive curly hair, Mraz said. Hall served four years in prison.