Cop who busted fiend behind 'Headless body in topless bar' headline dead
· Toronto Sun
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The headline became more famous than the murder.
In fact, it has been cited as the most famous headline in American history, and it landed like an atomic bomb.
On April 15, 1983, the New York Post unloaded with this masterpiece: ‘Headless body in topless bar.’ The headline was written by an exuberant Vinnie Musetto .
But the cop who pinched the maniac behind the headline had a role in the drama as well. Musetto is long gone and now so is retired New York City Transit Police Detective Frederick “Freddy” Mack, 79.
Shot owner in the head
“He was a man full of character,” daughter Debbie Comstock, 58, told the New York Post . “He always had stories and jokes to tell. He was loved by many.”
Mack became a part of history when dirtbag Charles Dingle, 25, was boozing at low-rent watering hole, Herbie’s Bar, in Queens. Dingle got into a beef with the owner, Herbie Cummings, and shot him in the head, killing him instantly.
But Dingle wasn’t going anywhere in the early morning hours. He took two women hostage, and when he learned one of them was an undertaker, ordered her to sever Cummings’ head and put it in a box.
The maniac then stole a taxi and drove the women into Manhattan. Dingle promptly fell asleep and the women fled to the Columbus Circle station and told Mack, a transit detective, about the horror show.
He was initially skeptical. When he came to the car, Dingle had a gun. Mack did not.
Dingle didn’t make it out of prison alive
“That’s when he confronted the suspect, wrestled him, took (Dingle’s) gun and then looked in the backseat and saw the head,” retired NYPD Sgt. Mike Fanning told the Post .
His recalled that her father — a great raconteur — mesmerized his family with the bizarre story that night at dinner.
A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Mack had also been a bat boy for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Tommy Lasorda became a lifelong friend.
Fanning added: “Freddie was an excellent investigator and an even better friend. He worked in Transit Major Case working on all the big cases, but he always had time for young cops. He was a dogged detective and a great teacher, very helpful. He was also very funny.”
Mack retired in 1988 after he was hit by a taxi, moved to Florida and did all kinds of things. He also volunteered at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
As for Dingle, he was sentenced to 25 years for his sickening actions. He denied committing the crimes and was repeatedly refused parole. He died in prison in 2012.
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