Pete and Barb

By Ecklebob Chiselfritz

Mark was my best friend when I was sixteen. For a time he had a girlfriend named Barb. I knew Barb before she and Mark became an item because she was one of the cadre of girls we ran around and partied with. I remember she really, really, really, really liked Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane. Other than that I don't remember too much about her.

I don't remember how I met Pete.

I do remember kicking his older brother Tom's ass one night, but I don't remember why.

Given another night and different circumstances he probably could have kicked my ass.

Whatever.

Me and Pete got along fairly well and drank a lot of beer and smoked a lot of dope together.

I would play poker with Pete, Tom and a couple other guys occassionaly. Small stakes. I was there more for the alcohol and dope than the love of the game. One time we were playing cards and having a blast. Very casually Pete pulls out a kit and proceeds to hit himself up with heroin. I stay cool while watching this, but I was horrified. I mean we all did a lot of different drugs. We were young and bullet proof. I was no angel, but needles were not among the toys I played with. Nor was heroin.

Well, Pete passes the shit over to his brother Tom and he partakes of the shit using the same needle. By this time I'm ready to jet. These fuckers are too crazy for me. Tom finishes up...and passes the rig to Andre who is more than ready for his turn using the same needle as Pete and Tom have already used.

I'm out of there and I believe that was the last time I ever saw Pete.

Flash forward almost fifteen years to around 1991...


Me and Mark drifted apart years ago. Apparently so did he and Barb because I heard her and Pete married and had three kids.

I'm married with three kids. I'm working too much. Drinking too much. And my marriage is on the rocks limping toward an inevitable conclusion.

I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Did I mention Barb stabbed Pete to death in 1989?

I had heard about it, but really gave it no thought because I was so wrapped up in all the misery I was creating in my own life.

I'm out in the street unloading and carrying my family's possessions into a rental duplex because we moved a lot in those days.

A car slows down and I hear a female voice call my name. I turn around and it's Barb. I was kind of shocked because I thought she was in jail for killing Pete, but lo and behold she's not. Actually she lives three doors down from the place I'm moving into. We lived in that duplex for two years and I never saw Barb again after that first time.

I had assumed she had just gone off the deep end and murdered Pete because both of them were whacked out on drugs. I hadn't given it any thought because as I alluded to earlier. My life was a mess and I was too wrapped up in myself to give a damn about people I hadn't seen for years.

I don't know what possessed me to think about Pete and Barb after so many years. I Googled their names today and now I feel shame for not taking time to reach out to Barb and at least offer a shoulder for her to cry on when she probably would have appreciated it.  

April 27, 1989
Chicago Tribune

A Wayne Township woman was charged Wednesday with the stabbing murder of her husband following an apparent domestic dispute, according to Du Page County law enforcement officials.

Barbara J. Lange, 27, of 2N119 Prince Crossing Rd., near West Chicago, was charged with the murder of Peter P. Lange, 29, her husband of six years. The couple had been experiencing martial difficulties and had been separated for about a year, with Peter living at 28W520 High Lake Rd., West Chicago, Sheriff`s Cmdr. Bruce Wachtel said.

Barbara Lange was being held in Du Page County Jail after Judge Edward Bart set her bond Wednesday at $100,000.

A spokesman for the Sheriff`s Department said the department responded at about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday to a 911 emergency ambulance call at the Wayne Township address and took Peter Lange to Central Du Page Hospital, Winfield, where he was pronounced dead from a stab wound.

Wachtel said that when Barbara Lange was initially questioned she maintained that she had found her husband semiconscious and bleeding when she arrived at her home.

Assistant State`s Atty. Richard Stock said she was charged with the crime after sheriff`s investigators continued to question her and she eventually made more statements concerning her alleged involvement with her husband`s death.

Police also recovered several items of physical evidence at the stabbing scene that reportedly included a 7- to 10-inch kitchen carving knife that they believe was the weapon used.
Peter Lange was a part-time roofer and his wife was unemployed. The couple`s three children-ages 6, 3 and 1-have been placed with relatives by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

Barbara Lange is expected to be arraigned on May 15 before Judge Robert Cox.

November 14, 1989
Chicago Tribune

A West Chicago mother of three, described by her attorney as the "classic battered wife," pleaded guilty Monday to killing her husband and was sentenced to 6 months in jail after prosecutors agreed to the punishment. ``I just don`t want anyone else to get hurt,`` a weeping and visibly shaken Barbara Lange, 27, of 2N119 Prince Crossing Rd., told Du Page County Circuit Judge Brian Telander.
 

``I hope no more families are hurt, and all I want to do now is give my children the love they need,`` she said.

Lange was charged with the April 25, 1989, murder of her husband, Peter, 29, who died from a single stab wound in his back that severed his aorta.

``There is never any justification for using the force she used, but she believed circumstances existed that dictated those actions,`` said Telander. The judge accepted a plea bargain agreement that called for a 6-month jail term, 36 months of work release in which Lange must spend nights in the county jail, and 4 years` probation.

``I believe this is the appropriate finding,`` Telander said. ``The unlawful taking of another human life is never excused, but in this case there are so many factors.`` The judge told Lange he would not impose a fine. ``because you have three children to look after.``

Married for seven years with children ages 6, 3 and 1, the couple had been separated for a year at the time of Peter Lange`s death. On several occasions West Chicago police were called to the home at Barbara`s request because of her husband`s alleged abuse.

Barbara had also received several orders of protection from Du Page County judges ordering Peter to leave her alone.

On the night of the slaying, according to Assistant State`s Atty. Robert Spence, it is believed that Peter had been drinking when he came to the home to see his children, as he often did. His autopsy showed a blood alcohol level of .11 percent. A person is considered legally drunk with a reading of .10 percent.

Prosecutors said that Peter then became abusive and starting throwing Barbara around the room, demanding sex and threatening her. Prosecutors said that he told her, ``You`re dead meat,`` and ``I`ll kill you,`` to which she responded, ``I`ll kill you first.``

Spence argued that after Peter fell asleep on an empty bed Barbara took an 8-inch carving knife from the kitchen and stabbed Peter once in the back.

After initially claiming that she came home and found her husband in a pool of blood, she confessed to police that she stabbed him to scare him.

``Barbara was as much the victim as was Peter,`` said Assistant Public Defender David Sotomayor. ``She was the victim of serious physical, mental and sexual abuse.``

Her guilty plea, prosecutors said, holds the defendant responsible for the act but acknowledges that she believed she was in danger.

If she had been found guilty of first-degree murder, the minimum sentence would have been 20 years.

The three children will continue to live with Barbara`s parents while she is in jail.

``Du Page State`s Atty. James Ryan is to be applauded for his courage and compassion,`` said Sotomayor of Ryan`s decision not to seek a trial and lengthy prison term. ``This action should not be construed as opening the floodgates in Du Page County. Barbara suffered a great deal and was a battered woman and now wants to get on with her life.``

 November 19, 1989
Chicago Tribune
 

After six years of being beaten by an abusive husband, Barbara Lange said it feels strange to wake up each day and realize there`s no longer anyone there to fear.

``Some days, I wake up and I can`t stop crying,`` she said, ``and other days, I wake up feeling good because it`s been so long since I`ve been beaten. It`s hard when you`ve been beaten for so long, to not expect to be beaten.

 ``Like when I have a little disagreement over something with my father . . . it used to be that a fight would mean I`d get thrown through a wall (by her husband), but things like that don`t happen now.``

Life changed for Lange on April 25, the day, she has confessed, that she stabbed her husband, Peter, 29, once in the back, severing his aorta and killing him.

The West Chicago mother of three pleaded guilty to the slaying last Monday in exchange for a plea-bargain agreement that calls for a 6-month jail term (which likely will be shortened to 90 days if she gets credit for good behavior), 30 months of work release and 4 years of probation.

The work release will involve staying overnight in jail, working for four hours at a part-time job and then spending eight hours with her children, ages 6, 4, and 20 months.

The Lange children are living with Barbara`s parents. Barbara will be there with them until she goes to jail shortly after Thanksgiving. For the first time in their lives, the children are experiencing a relatively tranquil family existence, going to gymnastics classes and Girl Scouts, while also seeing a therapist. For both mother and children, the scars run deep.

 Sitting in the Du Page County public defender`s office last week, Lange, 27, spoke at length about her old life with Peter and her hopes for a new life. The freckle-faced, slender woman was composed as she spoke, only infrequently squeezing her eyes shut and taking deep breaths as she talked about the more traumatic days of a turbulent marriage.

Barbara and Peter had known each other for several years before they began dating when Barbara was 20. Initial plans to marry were dropped. ``I backed out at the last minute. Something just told me not to do it,`` Barbara said.

But after becoming pregnant, she changed her mind and decided to ``try and make a marriage work.``

After growing up in a stable, abuse-free family, Barbara saw no warning signs of Peter`s violent nature before the marriage, but she said Peter was very possessive, wanting to be around her 24 hours a day.

That possessiveness is one of the many aspects of their relationship that is considered classic in battered-woman syndrome. Experts said the Langes were a textbook case in other respects as well.

``All the elements are present-physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse,`` said Dr. Frank Osanka, who, with associate Sara Lee Johann, evaluated the Lange case as expert witnesses for the defense.

 ``Peter was possessive, and that`s where he clearly had the personality of the male abuser. As soon as he had control (after they were married), he began to isolate her from friends, so that she couldn`t communicate with them and they couldn`t witness what was happening to her.``

The initial personality of the abused female isn`t as well defined.

``It would be wrong to say that a certain personality is potentially an abused person (someone on whom abuse is inflicted),`` said Osanka, but what is classic is what happens to women, ``who are abused over a period of time. It creates a certain mind-set of low esteem, of fear.``

The first time Peter beat Barbara, she was six months` pregnant with their first child. She said he threw her into a closet so hard that she broke through the wall and fell into the bathtub in the next room. Peter was apologetic afterwards, and said it wouldn`t happen again.

But it did, and as the years went on, the abuse became more frequent and more violent, said Barbara, describing another common theme-that of escalating violence if there`s no intervention.

Peter`s drinking and drug abuse (marijuana and cocaine) also increased, until he was up to a case of beer a day. READ MORE