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Erno Soto |
VICTIMS : 4 |
I will begin by telling you that no one was ever charged with the "Charlie Chopoff" murders. So for everything that may suggest that Erno Soto had anything to do with the crimes, put an 'allegedly' in front of it. So lets get to the story. The place is New York. The time is 1972. The victims, well lets find out about them. The first was an eight year old black kid, his name was Douglas Owens. On March 9, 1972, he was stabbed 38 times. His penis was sliced but, unlike the later victims, was not severed. Not long after the attack police received an anonymous phone call stating that Soto was the killer. The call was ignored. Six weeks later the killer struck again. An unnamed 10 year old boy was brutally sodomized, then gutted by the man who also hacked off and 'stole' his penis. From this point of he would be known as 'Charlie Chopoff'. Somehow the kid survived the attack. The next victim wasn't quite so lucky. Wendell Hubbard, 9, was stabbed to death on the rooftop of the East Harlem house where he lived on October 23. Apparently he was rather badly mutilated. His penis was also carried away by the attacker. 'Charlie Chopoff' took a bit of a holiday break following this attack but was back in business the following March when he killed Luis Ortez, 9. He slaughtered the kid in pretty much the same way as the previous victims, again taking a souvenir from the boys groin region. At this stage police were getting pretty worried about the case. They had 3 dead kids in the morgue and a guy who had a taste for young boys running loose in the streets. The only lead they had was from the survivor who's description of the killer was that he was either Spanish or Italian (he was actually Puerto Rican), his skin was neither dark nor fair, and he may have had a limp. Pretty flimsy stuff. On August 17, 1973, Steven Cropper, 8, was found dead. He had a slashed artery in his arm and a chest resembling mincemeat. This victim differed from the earlier ones as the body was not sexually mutilated, and the weapon used was a razor blade instead of a knife. 'Charlie Chopoff' took another break, not even attempting to strike again until May, 1974. But he screwed up, he let the kid get away. Neighbors, all aware of the recent string of murders were quick to jump into action at the sight of a young boy running from a man screaming for help. They caught, and held, the suspect until police arrived. Soto was charged for the attempted kidnapping, and immediately suspected of the 'Charlie Chopoff' murders. Under questioning (no doubt this was very stressful, and probably very violent) Soto cracked. He claimed that God had instructed him to turn little boys into little girls. This was seen as complete proof that this was the guy they were after. Police called in the earlier survivor of 'Charlies' attack, but the kid DID NOT pick him out of a line up. This was not seen as a problem by police. They just went out and 'found' someone who happened to see Soto with Steven Cropper on the day he was murdered (funny how this guy didn't come forward until police had caught the guy). But police were to be let down by those higher up. Soto was found too mentally unstable to stand trial, meaning all that hard police work following the arrest was to go down the drain. What a shame. As far as I know Soto has never actually been found guilty of these crimes, but is still in a mental institution somewhere in New York. In Hunting Humans (Newton, 1990) it states that the case is still open, but there were no more 'Charlie Chopoff' murders following Soto's incarceration. Interesting stuff: Soto's wife had left him a few years before the murders. When he attempted a reconciliation in 1969 he found out that she had a black child. Since both he and his wife were Puerto Rican it didn't take long for him to figure out that it wasn't his. It was during this time that he started to lose it. He was placed in the Manhattan State Hospital (a psych. hospital) in 1969. This wasn't his only visit to the place. Also of interest to those who believe sometime police get it wrong, Soto has an alibi for at least one of the killings. He was in a mental institution on the date in question. Obviously he could have 'jumped the wall', committed the crime, then come back, but it is something worth thinking about. |
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MY OPINION A favorite of my brothers (I think he just likes the name 'Charlie Chopoff) and I can see why. Stealing penis's is something that doesn't happen everyday, and when the guy claims God has ordered it, it just gets funnier. A truly interesting case, and one that really has no other like it. And you've just love originality. |
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