Man sentenced for scalping his girlfriend tells judge to skip the lecture

Zachary Gross, 31, told a judge to skip the lecture. Photo / Boone County Sheriff's Office

Warning: Distressing details

A US man who scalped his girlfriend and ordered his pit bull to attack her has told a judge to skip the lecture.

Zachary Gross, 31, was sentenced on Wednesday to 21 years in prison for the horrific September 2015 assault of his then-girlfriend, Marilyn Stanley.

"For her injuries - I feel horrible for what happened," Gross told Judge Rick Brueggemann in Kentucky's Boone County Circuit Court, according to USA Today.

"I don't feel responsible. I maintain my innocence. It is what it is. I'm not asking for your mercy. Just give me the 20. I don't need a lecture."

Outside court, Stanley slammed her abusive ex for his callous attitude.

"In anything he has said throughout this entire process, he hasn't had any remorse for me," she said.

Stanley, a mother of one, has had six surgeries and has permanent nerve damage following the chilling attack.

A trauma surgeon testified at Gross' trial that cuts to her head were consistent with the use of a sharp knife.

She has no memory of the scalping, and prosecutors say she probably passed out from the trauma and blood loss.

"It's been proven," Stanley said. "I went in there and I had my scalp. I left and I didn't."

According to prosecutors, Gross became enraged when another man posted a photo of Stanley and her son on Facebook.

During a meal, he began to punch Stanley in the face before using a knife to detach 70 per cent of her scalp.

Gross then set his dog, Capone, on her. Capone ripped off Stanley's ear.

Zachary Gross scalped his then-girlfriend, Marilyn Stanley. Photo / GoFundMe

"When he's finished he praises the dog for the work he did. Then makes her stand in front of mirror to make her look at herself now," Tom Scheben, spokesman for the Boone County Sheriff's Office, told WKRC.

After the attack, Gross told her, according to prosecutors: "You're bald now. Who's going to want you, now?"

Sheriff's officials say Gross put Stanley's ripped-off scalp in a plastic bag and dropped her off in her mother's neighbourhood, where she called police.

More than US$22,000 ($31,890) has been raised through GoFundMe to support Stanley.

Where to get help:

If it is an emergency and you or someone you know is at risk, call 111.
• Women's Refuge: 0800 733 843
• Victim Support: 0800 842 846
• Lifeline: (09) 522 2999
• Family Violence Info Line: 0800 456 450