Charlie Chop-off American serial killer Country: USA

Biography of Charlie Chop-off

Charlie Chop-off, an American serial killer, terrorized the Manhattan area between 1972 and 1974. He earned his nickname for mutilating the genitals of his male victims, who were predominantly African-American children. While the case remains open, Erno Soto was presented as a suspect. Soto confessed to one of the murders but was deemed mentally unfit and sent back to a psychiatric hospital.

On March 9, 1972, the lifeless body of 8-year-old Douglas Owens was discovered. He had been stabbed 38 times, and his penis was mutilated. Another African-American boy was found injured on April 20, with his genitals severed, but he managed to survive. Wendell Hubbard, a 9-year-old, was fatally stabbed on October 23, and his penis was severed. Luis Ortiz suffered 38 knife wounds and genital injuries on March 7. Finally, on August 7, 1973, 9-year-old Steven Cropper was fatally slashed with a razor, but his genitals remained intact.

Erno Soto was arrested by the police on May 15, 1974, following an unsuccessful attempt to abduct a Puerto Rican boy. Soto had been a long-time patient at Manhattan State Hospital since 1969, and in 1973, he confessed to killing Cropper. His only surviving victim identified Soto as the attacker but refused to definitively identify him. Officials from Manhattan State Hospital claimed that Soto was under their supervision at the time of the murder. However, they later admitted that Soto could have evaded their restricted movement system, as he had done so before. Despite the lack of formal charges, investigators still consider Soto the prime suspect, as the murders ceased after his arrest. They emphasize an anonymous source placing him as the potential killer.

It is worth noting that Soto reconciled with his Puerto Rican wife, whom he had been living apart from for several years, after she gave birth to a child with an African-American man. Initially, Soto rejected the child, but in 1969, he accepted the boy when he was admitted to the Dunlop-Manhattan Psychiatric Center.

In 1975, Barbara Gelb published the book "On the Track of Murder," using the pseudonym Miguel Rivera for Soto. Since then, numerous authors, including Peter Vronsky, have mistakenly referred to Miguel Rivera as the murderer.