YOUNGSTOWN Woman gets probation for stabbing boyfriend

By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- As Judge R. Scott Krichbaum heard today the story of Kimberly Gulu, who stabbed her boyfriend after catching him in bed with another woman, he was reminded of a song from the 1970s.
"I kept my cool, I ain't no fool.
Let me tell you what happened then.
I packed some clothes and I walked out
and I ain't going back again."
He was reciting lyrics to "Take A Letter Maria," a song recorded in the 1970s by Johnnie Taylor, about a man who caught his wife in the arms of another man.
Walked in
Gulu, 26, of Kendis Circle, walked into her boyfriend's house in April and found him "in the intimate act" with another woman, says defense attorney Robert J. Rohrbaugh II.
"It sparked anger. It sparked rage," Rohrbaugh said.
When she became angry and confronted the man, he punched her in the nose and doused her with beer, he said.
Gulu ran into the kitchen, grabbed a steak knife and stabbed him twice.
Judge Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court asked why Gulu chose to attack the victim with a knife rather than simply walking away, as was done in the song.
"I guess Johnnie Taylor would have handled the situation a lot better than my client did," Rohrbaugh said.
Gulu, a tiny, blond mother of two, was highly intoxicated that night and has struggled for years with drug and alcohol addiction, Rohrbaugh said.
Guilty plea
She was indicted by a county grand jury in May on a charge of felonious assault. In August, she pleaded guilty to an amended charge of aggravated assault, which means she was provoked into a sudden fit of passion or fit of rage.
The prosecutor's office and an officer from Community Corrections Association, which did a court-ordered background check on Gulu, recommended that she be placed on probation instead of being sent to prison.
That didn't sit well with Judge Krichbaum, though he relented and placed her on probation for three years. Gulu was ordered to complete a residential treatment program at CCA, where she is to receive counseling for anger management and substance abuse.
"I have a great deal of concern about someone who is so unable to control herself, who is so nasty, that you would stick a knife in someone, twice," Judge Krichbaum said.
Couple reconciled
He wanted to send Gulu to prison but was swayed by the victim, who said he did not want her to be locked up. He said they have reconciled and are once again romantically involved.
He said his injuries were not serious, requiring "only three stitches" to close.
bjackson@vindy.com