CORONA, NY(AP) - Otto Herrarte,48, of Corona is accused of killing his wife and son by slitting their throats yesterday, wrapping them in black plastic, and stuffing them in a closet. Herrarte says it wasn't him. He says it was his alter ego, Roberto.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that Herrarte has been charged with the murder of his wife and youngest son.
"The defendant is accused of a particularly horrific and brutal crime - the murder of his own wife and child," said District Attorney Brown. "It is difficult to imagine the anguish being suffered by the surviving son in knowing that his mother and brother died such violent deaths and his father is charged with killing them. This case will be vigorously prosecuted."
Herrarte, who has been employed for nineteen years as a steward at the Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel at 569 Lexington Avenue and has held a second job as a cleaner at the New York Helmsley Hotel at 212 East 42nd Street for the last four years, is presently being held pending arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on two counts of second-degree murder, one count of tampering with physical evidence and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. If convicted, he faces up to 50 years to life in prison.
District Attorney Brown said that, according to the charges, Herrarte slit the necks and throats of his wife, Edna Herrarte, 55 and his son, Daniel, 14, with a knife sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20, 2009. Afterwards, it is alleged that he cleaned the knife and placed it back in the kitchen. An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the two victims died as a result of deep cuts to the throat and neck, in which the carotid artery and trachea of each individual had been severed. The Herrartes' other child, David, 15, was not home at the time of the alleged attack.
According to District Attorney Brown, Herrarte allegedly told police at the time of his arrest that he had a person named Roberto inside of him and Roberto was responsible for everything that was bad. That Roberto killed Edna and Daniel Herrarte while they were on their beds. Herrarte also allegedly told police that he (Otto) went to the store and bought black plastic and duct tape and that he put his wife and son in the black plastic bags and put them in the closet.
The investigation was conducted by police officers assigned to the New York City Police Department's 115th Precinct detective squad.
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