A Wisconsin woman was arrested and admitted to a psychiatric hospital for observation after she allegedly bit off part of her husband’s tongue during a goodnight kiss.
A Sheboygan woman accused of biting off her husband’s tongue while kissing him was charged this morning with felony mayhem and ordered to undergo a mental evaluation.
Karen Lueders, 57, of 2833 Windepoint Court, allegedly severed half of Willard Lueders’ tongue about 11 p.m. Monday, police said.
She now faces a rarely used felony – related to intentional disfigurement or mutilation – that carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
Karen Lueders made an initial appearance this morning before Judge L. Edward Stengel, but that was adjourned when Stengel ordered that she undergo a mental evaluation.
Assistant District Attorney Jim Haasch had requested the evaluation, calling the behavior “very bizarre to say the least.” He said Karen Lueders had experienced “very manic episodes” of late.
Stengel ordered her held on a $5,000 cash bond.
Karen Lueders did not speak during the court appearance, but she leaned over to a reporter as she was escorted out in handcuffs, saying, “I love you, it’s too bad you don’t listen.” While leaving the courtroom she continued in the same sing-song voice, saying, “I love you. Karen Lueders.”
The complaint filed this morning said Karen Lueders was “still carrying a New Year’s horn in her hand and singing Christmas carols” outside her house as the first police officers arrived on scene.
As officers asked what kind of help was needed, she blew the horn in the officer’s ear. She also threw a coffee cup at police.
Police found Willard Lueders, 79, in a bedroom holding gauze to his mouth.
Emergency responders told police his tongue had been bitten off, and he confirmed by nodding to officers’ questions that his wife bit off his tongue.
Lueders also told officers she had bitten off her husband's tongue.
Police had come to the home in response to a 911 call from William Lueders.
In a later written statement, he said the incident began when he went into the bathroom while his wife was on the toilet.
When he leaned over to kiss her, she went into a “manic state,” grabbing his genitals and biting off his tongue.
Willard Lueders said his wife had been behaving oddly in the preceding days, speaking very fast and talking about spiritual things.
Willard Lueders was taken to Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center and then transferred to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa, where doctors were working to reattach the tongue.
About half of his tongue was bitten off.
Online court records list no prior convictions for Karen Lueders.
... and they didn't say what kind of trailer they lived in!!
