A furious wife was so enraged when a pizza shop got her order wrong she ordered her husband to stab and disembowel a worker, police say.
Catherine Harper, 45, and her husband Corey Harper, 47, have been charged by cops in Norfolk, Virginia after a 24-year-old worker at MOD Pizza was slashed on Monday.
Court documents described a horrific scene that cops arrived to around 2pm, as the male victim, who has not been identified, was stabbed across his torso.
The stab wound exposed the employee’s intestines, and the vicious nature of the injury led a judge to deny the Harper’s bond and keep the couple locked up.
Despite his organs being exposed in the shocking episode, the worker’s injuries were described as non-life-threatening after he was raced to hospital.
Both Catherine and Corey are charged with malicious wounding, and Corey was also slapped with an additional charge of brandishing a firearm.
According to court records reported by WAVY, the slashing unfolded around 2:25pm when Catherine visited the MOD Pizza by herself.
Catherine then got into a heated argument with the employee over a ‘botched order’, court documents said.
She called in her husband Corey to ‘handle the situation’, and once he arrived he allegedly began stabbing the employee several times.
It was then that he allegedly disemboweled the worker, and the couple reportedly fled the scene as witnesses called 911.
The stabbing stunned the community of Norfolk, and a judge ordered the Harpers to both be held at Norfolk City Jail without bond after reviewing the case against them.
A neighbor of the Harpers, Wayne Sarapata, told WAVY that he was surprised to see the couple involved in the alleged stabbing, and said he often loans gardening tools with Corey.
‘I’m surprised, this is a quiet neighborhood and we’re all friends here,’ he said.
‘I would think that is out of character from what I know about them, but like I said, I know them as a neighbor.’
MOD Pizza said in a statement it was ‘dismayed’ by the stabbing at one of its locations.
‘We were dismayed to learn about an argument inside our Norfolk-area Lake Wright restaurant involving one of our employees and two guests,’ the company said.
‘The altercation resulted in one of our MOD squad members being hospitalized and the arrest of one of the guests. Please understand this is an active investigation and we are cooperating with the local police.
‘While our team member recuperates in the hospital, we are conducting our due diligence and will make a well-thought-out decision about this situation.
‘MOD Pizza has zero tolerance for behavior that escalates conflicts, whether initiated by a guest or a team member.
Moments like these force organizations to re-examine employee training and look for ways to reinforce values and expectations. We are fully cooperating with the Norfolk Police Department in their investigation.
‘Our top priority is creating a fun and inspiring place to work and a great place to eat.’