Charlie chop-off

Descrição

„Charlie Chop-off” (rough translation from English – „Charlie the Chopper”) is the nickname of the serial killer responsible for killing four African American boys and maiming a fifth between 1972 and 1973 in Manhattan. This nickname was given due to the fact that the perpetrator usually cut off his victims’ penis. Suspect, Erno Soto (English Erno Soto), confessed to one of the murders and was sent for treatment, however, the identity of the offender was not officially established and the case remains open to this day.The murders1972 yearOn March 9, the body of eight-year-old Douglas Owens was found on the roof of a house on East 121st Street two blocks from his home in Harlem. The boy was 38 times and his penis was cut in half.On April 20, a 10-year-old boy was seriously injured in the hallway of a West Side apartment building. The perpetrator stabbed him, raped him, cut off his penis and took him with him. The victim survived and was able to give a of the attacker: he was a swarthy, thin man who limped while walking. The perpetrator introduced himself as Michael and lured the boy into the building, promising to give 50 cents. The police found the boy’s penis in the park where did the children play with him…On October 23, the body of nine-year-old Wendell Hubbard was found by boys playing on the roof of a building on Fifth Avenue. Hubbard was stabbed to death and his penis was cut off.1973 yearAt about 1:00 pm on March 7, the body of eight-year-old Luis Ortiz was found in a stairwell in the basement of 200 West 106th Street. He suffered 38 stab wounds and mutilations similar to those inflicted on the previous victims.On August 17, the body of seven-year-old Steven Cropper was found on the sixth floor of a block of flats at 325 East Houston Street. The boy was partially stripped and had several cut wounds on the parts of the body. The killer left the victim’s penis intact.Suspect15 May 1974 33 year old Erno Soto was arrested for molesting a Puerto Rican boy. Since 1969, he has been intermittently treated at a mental hospital in Manhattan. Soto confessed to killing Stephen Cropper, and the only boy who survived the attack stated that Soto looked like the attacker, but refused to confidently identify him. The employees of the hospital where Soto was detained argued that at the time of the murder he was undergoing treatment, but nevertheless they did not rule out that he could leave the hospital without asking, as he had done on several occasions.Despite the fact that Soto was not found guilty of the murders, researchers believe his guilt is likely, in part because the murders ended with his arrest. Soto’s possible guilt was claimed by an anonymous source. Also noteworthy is the reason for his placement in a psychiatric hospital. Soto reconnected with his wife, whom he had separated from several years before. During this time, she gave birth to a son from a black man. When the boy was eight, Soto’s mental state deteriorated completely and in 1969 he became a patient in a psychiatric hospital.In her book On the Track of Murder, writer Barbara Gelb used the pseudonym Miguel Rivera for Soto. The book was published in 1975, and since then, several authors, including Peter Wronski, have mistakenly referred to the suspect by that name in their books.