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Cormac McCarthy's Ex-Wife Accused Of Using Vagina As Gun Holster [Updated]
The ex-wife of Cormac McCarthy—famed No Country For Old Men novelist—was arrested over the weekend after a domestic dispute with her boyfriend. Authorities say the couple argued over space aliens, before she put a gun in her vagina and then pointed said pistol at her beau.The Smoking Gun discovered a statement of probable cause that described in detail the bizarre dispute that took place in New Mexico on the morning of Jan. 4.
The report describes that Jennifer McCarthy, 48, had gotten in an argument with her boyfriend at their home over space aliens. After their row, McCarthy had some time to cool off, but then came out of her bedroom dressed in lingerie and with a silver gun in her vagina. She then allegedly proceeded to use the pistol as a sex toy and asked, "Who is crazy, you or me?"
McCarthy then allegedly pointed the gun at her boyfriend's head, but he took the gun away from her and later threw in the the toilet and then moved it again to a trash can outside. Police confirmed in the statement that they found a silver Smith and Wesson in the outside trash can after they arrived at the scene at 10:52 a.m.
She was arrested for aggravated assault and taken to the Santa Fe County Jail, but was released on a $5,000 bail.
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McCarthy had married the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author (who wrote the screenplay for the recently-released film The Counselor starring Cameron Diaz) in 1998, according to the Smoking Gun. They divorced in 2006 and have a teenage son together. A 1998 Texas Monthly article refers to her as Jennifer Winkley, a woman who had received her English and American literature degree at the University of Texas. It also mentions that the couple worked out together at Gold's Gym.
Update 9/17, 1:20 p.m.: The Huffington Post reported that the case against McCarthy was dropped in March. McCarthy told LAist that she never pointed a gun at Mark Paleologo nor did she place the gun anywhere in her body. She said she was the victim of domestic violence and Paleologo's version of the incident was "preposterous":
"I made the 911 call after having been choked, pushed to the floor and hit in the face by a drunken Mark Paleologo on Saturday morning following a silly argument the evening before," McCarthy said.
According to McCarthy, when she called 9-1-1, she described the attack to the dispatcher and Paleologo didn't deny her allegations when he also spoke to the dispatcher.
"By the time the police arrived Mr. Paleologo had settled down, and I told them almost nothing of what I had already described to the 9-1-1 dispatcher," she said. "My call to 9-1-1 obviously de-escalated the situation and at that point I thought the matter was resolved and did not require further law enforcement attention. Consequently I tried to protect Mr. Paleologo and minimized the attack to the officer."
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