The killer whose gruesome rampage of horror spawned The Post’s most famous headline, “Headless Body in Topless Bar,” will remain behind bars — at least for now.
Charles Dingle, 51, was denied parole this month, for the third time in 27 years.
But in an exclusive interview with The Post at Elmira State Prison, the convicted murderer recently vowed that his fight for freedom was far from over.
He claimed he was not the person behind the 1983 atrocity at a Queens strip club, in which one man was decapitated, a dancer was raped and several others were robbed and held hostage.
“I have spent the last 27 years studying the law and fighting this conviction,” said Dingle, as he cited court cases and appellate decisions like a seasoned lawyer.
In deciding not to release Dingle, the parole board noted that his crime “demonstrated a propensity of violence and a total disregard for human life.”
A 23-year-old Dingle, of Brooklyn, had been drinking at Herbie’s Bar in Jamaica on April 13, 1983, when he shot owner Herbert Cummings, 51, in the head. He held four women hostage and, drinking heavily and snorting cocaine, he raped one of the dancers and robbed the others.
While rummaging in the bar manager’s purse, he found her business card, which revealed she also worked as a mortician.
He ordered her to dig the bullet out of Cummings’ head so his gun could not be tied to the murder. After she was unable to retrieve the bullet, he forced her to decapitate him with a steak knife.
After terrorizing the women in the bar for hours, he released two of them and then hijacked a gypsy cab and took the other two with him — along with the severed head in a box. He drove to Manhattan and parked on Broadway and 168th Street, where he passed out behind the wheel.
The two hostages escaped and told a transit cop of the horror.
Dingle was convicted of murder, kidnapping, rape and robbery. He was sentenced to 25 years to life.
The sensational crime gave birth to the iconic Post front page — and a media firestorm that Dingle said made it difficult for him to get a fair shake at trial.
Without giving specifics, he said, “Everything is not as it appears,” and clamed he was convicted on the word of disreputable witnesses.
“They expect you to come in and plead guilty and take responsibility for the crime,” he said of the parole board. “I can’t do it because I didn’t do it.”
Over the years, Dingle said, he has earned an associate degree with honors and a certificate in legal studies. He said he spends his time studying law and working on his appeal, for which he is acting as his own lawyer. If released, he said, he hopes to work as a paralegal. Dingle’s next parole hearing will be in December 2011.
“Don’t think I don’t have hope,” he said. “The board might let me go one day, but until then, I’m gonna fight. That’s all I can do.”