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Defendant says second-hand ring sparked assault
Kenneth Slaby said he was embarrassed and humiliated by the incident.
Gail O'Toole said she felt cheap when Slaby offered her a second-hand engagement ring -- and scared when Murrysville police officers took her to jail on charges that she had attacked her ex-boyfriend with Super Glue in his sleep in May 2002.
The former couple is telling their story in civil court so that a jury can decide whether O'Toole, 56, of Murrysville, should pay Slaby, 58, of Pittsburgh, tens of thousands of dollars in punitive damages.
Slaby admitted to no permanent injury or loss of income -- only humiliation.
O'Toole said she earns only about $800 a month in alimony and disability payments that she gets because of a bipolar disorder.
Slaby and O'Toole took the witness stand yesterday on the second day of the trial.
"I hated the way he treated me. All the things I did to please him. The sex. The gifts," O'Toole said.
According to court records, Slaby woke up in O'Toole's bed after a nap with his penis glued to his stomach, his testicles glued to his leg and his rectum glued shut. Purple and red nail polish made his gray hair look tie-dyed. Profanity was painted on his lower back.
"I woke up in extreme pain. My whole groin area was on fire," Slaby said.
According to Slaby, O'Toole told him she had been planning to glue him together since they split up in December 1999. She also threatened to have his legs broken if he went to the police.
O'Toole, though, said Slaby saw humor in the situation. The two began drinking tea and talking about sex, she said.
"He gets up and looks in the mirror. 'Why did you do this to my hair?' We were laughing and carrying on," she said. "Because of the Elvis Chapel of Love thing, I painted sideburns and polka dots."
O'Toole said Slaby called her several days before the gluing, saying he wanted to take her to Las Vegas and marry her at the Elvis Presley Chapel of Love.
"It was one of those sweep-you-off-your-feet little deals," O'Toole said. "And I fell for it."
O'Toole said he was offering a hand-me-down ring that he bought from a friend's son.
"I felt pretty second-hand," O'Toole said. "Stomped on. Pretty much like the ring I'm being offered."
Slaby denied O'Toole's accounts.
O'Toole and Slaby started dating in 1999 and broke up months later.
Although Slaby dated another woman, O'Toole continued to call him, he said.
When she left a message on April 30, 2000, saying she would kill herself if he didn't call back, he decided to call her, Slaby testified.
About a week later, the two were at O'Toole's house when she began questioning him about another woman, Slaby said.
After O'Toole calmed down, he said, the two took a nap. He said he had no idea what had happened when he awakened. He said he left and called 911 from a convenience store a mile away.
Slaby spent four hours at Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville. When an oil used to dissolve the glue didn't work, nurses had to peel Slaby's flesh apart. They took pictures of his body.
He said he felt "puzzled," "embarrassed" and "humiliated."
Police arrested O'Toole the next day.
A jury of 10 men and two women will continue hearing testimony this morning.
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