Donald Lang

Case record

Donald Lang was an illiterate deaf mute.

Lang was born around 1945 in Chicago and worked on the loading docks. He became deaf at about six months after a high fever and a fall from his baby crib. He grew up without schooling and did not learn American Sign Language or lip reading. His only means of communication was simple gestures and crude line drawings.

The offence

Lang was charged with his first murder, of a Chicago woman, in 1965.

In 1972, Lang was charged with killing another Chicago woman.

Investigation

In the first incident, witnesses saw a young black man who appeared to be deaf approach a 37-year-old prostitute, Ernestine Williams, while she was plying her trade in a bar on the South Side. Witnesses saw the man put his hand to Williams’s crotch and then hold up ten fingers, as if offering ten dollars. Ernestine agreed and they left the bar together. She was not seen again until the next morning when she was found stabbed to death in an outdoor stairwell.

Lang was quickly identified as the deaf man seen with Ernestine Williams, and he was arrested. When taken to the scene where the body was found, Lang demonstrated to officers how he had attacked the woman and thrown her body down the stairs. Officers treated this as as good as a confession and charged him with murder.

For the second incident, in July of 1972, again on the South Side, Lang was observed checking into a by-the-hour motel with a prostitute named Earline Brown, 39. Lang went downstairs later and left, but Earline Brown never appeared. The next couple to use the room found Earline Brown in the closet, badly beaten and strangled to death.

Lang was again identified as the man seen with the woman just before her death and was arrested. The account described blood on Lang’s sock and that Lang rolled the sock top down to cover the stain after seeing detectives had noticed it. It also described Lang’s face as badly scratched and his right hand appearing injured. It further described that Lang drew a figure of a woman with Earline’s big Afro hairstyle and deliberately crossed it out.

Arrest

Lang was arrested shortly after the 1965 murder of Ernestine Williams.

Lang was arrested after the 1972 murder of Earline Brown.

Trial

After the 1965 arrest, a lawyer named Lowell Myers was appointed to represent Lang. Myers was deaf himself and specialized in representing deaf clients and issues. Myers attempted to communicate with Lang but realized Lang was mute and illiterate, unable to use sign language or read lips. Lang repeated the same gestures as before, adding a stabbing motion. Officers believed this was a confession, while Myers felt it might be an attempt by Lang to explain that he, Lang, had witnessed someone else commit the crime.

In 1966, Lang was found mentally and physically incompetent to stand trial and was placed in Illinois’s Dixon State School.

The Illinois Supreme Court addressed the state’s interests in trial versus indefinite confinement. It considered that Lang could not hear, speak, read or write, did not understand sign language, could not understand what was happening at trial, and could not communicate with his attorney to help prepare a defense.

The court ultimately ruled that Lang should be tried, and the trial was scheduled to begin next week.

A report included a quote by Bernard Deeny:

"The court has ordered us to give him a trial, but I don't see how we can."

A report included a quote by Michael Newton in connection with the case discussion:

"The facts in this case are unique in American jurisprudence," said the Illinois Supreme Court.

A report also included a quote attributed to Myers:

"Lang went into a bar and tried to get some help. Nobody paid any attention."

And it included another quote attributed to Myers:

"Lang can't tell me what happened."

For the 1972 murder of Earline Brown, the evidence was described as overwhelming. Lang was found guilty and sentenced to something like 25-to-life. The record also stated that Lang was sentenced to life in prison in 1972.

Sentencing

In 1965, Lang was ruled incompetent for trial.

Lang was confined in institutions for the deaf and for the mentally impaired following legal wrangling after the 1965 case.

Lang was released from asylum in 1971, after the state supreme court decreed that he must either be tried or released.

In 1972, Lang was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Appeals

The 1972 conviction was overturned on appeal. The record stated that the conviction was overturned on appeal because Lang could not communicate with his attorneys. Lang was remanded into custody of the state mental health department.

Outcome

Lang’s status remained under custody of the state mental health department following remand after the overturned conviction.

Despite highly-publicized escape, in March of 1982, a Chicago judge granted Lang permission to leave the hospital grounds a month later, for purposes of learning sign language and meeting with other deaf patients. The court acknowledged that Lang was “potentially dangerous,” but ruled that “a reasonable risk” should be taken to help him develop emotionally.

Verbatim quotes attributed to the court were included:

"potentially dangerous," but ruled that "a reasonable risk" should be taken to help him develop emotionally.

Aftermath

After the first case, at Myers’s insistence, Lang was sent to a minimum-security prison and largely given the run of the place, acting as the caretaker’s assistant. It was described that Lang loved to work and seemed happiest and most manageable when kept busy.

Although Lang was only ever charged with two killings, he was suspected of involvement with several others. A quote attributed to “one cop” was included:

"I don't know about him, but everywhere he's been, we find a dead broad."