Metro

‘Headless Body in Topless Bar’ killer seeks release from prison

It should be a no-brainer.

The maniacal murderer who spawned the famous New York Post headline “Headless Body in Topless Bar” is trying to get sprung from prison, The Post has learned.

Charles Dingle, 53, will ask a three-person parole panel this week to free him from the upstate Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo.

But if his 1983 psychotic rampage and ensuing pathetic prison record are any indication, his chances are questionable.

The convict’s infamous blood-drenched spree is considered one of New York’s most notorious crimes.

On April 13, 1983, Dingle, then 23, was high on cocaine and booze when he whipped out a gun in Herbie’s Bar in Jamaica, Queens, and blew away the owner, Herbert Cummings, 51.

Dingle then took four women hostage and raped one of them — a topless dancer — while robbing several others.

As Dingle was rifling through a pocketbook, he learned that one of the female hostages was a mortician. The madman then ordered her to dig the bullet out of Cummings’ head so police couldn’t link his gun to the slaying.

Once she completed the gruesome task, Dingle forced her to cut off Cummings’ head with a steak knife.

Hours later, he released two of the hostages. Then he went on another tear — swiping a gypsy cab and driving around with the other two hostages, along with Cummings’ head in a box.

He finally parked the cab on Broadway at West 168th Street in upper Manhattan, where he fell asleep behind the wheel. The terrified hostages jumped out and frantically told a transit officer what had happened.

Dingle was convicted of murder, kidnapping, rape and robbery. He is serving a 25-year-to-life term.

Since 1984, the killer has repeatedly assaulted prison staff and tried to conceal deadly weapons, including a shank, sources said.

His latest infraction was in April 2011.

Dingle has already been shot down twice by the parole board: once in 2008 and again in 2010. His 2009 appearance was postponed.

In a 2010 interview with The Post, Dingle blasted the media for having made it hard for him to get a fair trial.

“Everything is not as it appears,” Dingle said, claiming he was convicted on the word of disreputable witnesses.

Of the parole board, he added, “They expect you to come in and plead guilty and take responsibility for the crime. I can’t do it because I didn’t do it.”

But “don’t think I don’t have hope,’’ Dingle said. “The board might let me go one day, but until then, I’m gonna fight.”