By Rebecca Henely
The Queens Supreme Court sentenced a Corona man who attempted to cut open his wife’s throat to 25 years in prison last week, while another Corona man pleaded guilty the next day to fatally slashing the throats of his wife and son, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
The would-be killer, Pedro Parrales, 67, of 51st Avenue in Corona, is receiving the maximum sentence for attempted murder as well as five years of post-release supervision, the DA said. Otto Herrarte, 50, of 111th Street and 39th Avenue, is expected to be sentenced to 35 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter for cutting the throats of his wife, Edna Herrarte, 55, and his son, Daniel Herrarte, 14, the DA said.
“The defendant’s actions have left emotional scars within his family that will remain long after the physical scars have healed,” Brown said in a statement regarding Parrales.
Shortly after hearing his wife and children would be moving out of the apartment, Parrales attacked his wife, 45, May 3 at 3 a.m., jumping on her while she slept and attempting to cut her throat with a hunting knife, the DA said. In the attack, his wife was cut on her face, head, chest and hands, the DA said.
Parrales and his wife’s 9-year-old daughter screamed for Parrales to stop, the DA said. Their son, 15, stopped Parrales twice, getting cut in the process, the DA said. Parrales tried to commit suicide two times before the police arrived, the DA said.
In May, Parrales was convicted of attempted murder, two counts of assault, criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, the DA said. Justice Kenneth Holder imposed the 25-year jail sentence this week, the DA said.
Otto Herrarte killed his wife and son Nov. 20, 2009, cutting their throats sometime between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m, the DA said. After he committed the killings, he cleaned the knife, bought black plastic bags and duct tape from a nearby store, put Edna and Daniel Herrarte in the bags and put them in a closet in their apartment, the DA said. The couple had another son, 15, who was not at home at the time, the DA said.
When questioned, Otto Herrarte said a person named Roberto, who was responsible for everything that was bad, lives inside him and it was Roberto who killed his family members, the DA said.
Otto Herrarte pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter last week, the DA said. Justice Gregory Lasak is expected to sentence him to 35 years in prison, the DA said.
“Today’s guilty plea ensures that the defendant will remain in prison for virtually the rest of his life for the deadly attacks on his wife and son and will spare the victims’ remaining family members from having to relive this nightmare at trial,” Brown said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
