Relatives Doubt Split Personality Defense In Double Murder

After a Corona dad blamed his split personality for the gruesome murder of his wife and 14-year-old son, the victims' relatives have said they aren't buying the excuse. Friends and family of the victims claim that Otto Herrarte — who has blamed his alter ego Robert for slitting Edna and Daniel Herrarte's throats — is a domineering man with a fake defense. "It's just his way of trying to get out of it," said Edna's niece, who declined to give her name. "He tried to manipulate the situation."

Relatives said that Edna, 52, who worked as a psychologist before she moved from Guatemala to New York, would have noticed symptoms of multiple-personality disorder in her spouse. The niece also said, "He always tried to control her. He was always very dominant. What he said went. We always feared for her safety." Though relatives urged Edna to leave her husband — who, according to suspect's brother-in-law, was drinking and using drugs — she suffered from lupus and depended on his health insurance.

Authorities learned of the crimes when the 48-year-old Herrarte brought his mistress—a coworker at the Helmsley Hotel identified in the Post as Giovanna Fernandez— to the apartment and stated: "I want to show you my family." When he opened a closet and showed the woman the bodies of his 52-year-old wife and youngest son, which he had wrapped in black plastic, she called the cops.

The Daily News reports after "the slayings, the mistress even had the gall" to urge the surviving 15-year-old son, David — who is now staying with relatives — to be a part of her family. "She begged him to give her a chance," the niece said. "He said, 'No, I want to be with my family.'" According to the Post, when questioned by police Herrarte stated: "I am both Otto and Robert." Though he told investigators his alter ego committed the crime, he apparently confessed to tidying up the crime scene. "I cleaned the knife went to the store and bought duct tape and black bags. I cleaned up after him."