Man convicted of killing LaPorte mayor, wife dies in prison

LAPORTE, Ind. (AP) - A man who was convicted of killing a northern Indiana mayor and his wife 33 years ago has died in prison.

Harold Lang, who was convicted of murder, attempted murder and burglary in the deaths of La Porte Mayor A.J. Rumely and Rumely's wife, Frances, died Friday in the prison's infirmary, New Castle Correctional Facility spokesman Mike Smith said. Lang was 63.

The preliminary cause of death was pulmonary edema, an accumulation of fluid in the lungs, Smith told The LaPorte County Herald-Argus (http://bit.ly/1EK8Cj6 ). The results of an autopsy have not been released.

Lang, a former city sewage department employee, broke into the mayor's home on May 31, 1982, and shot the couple with a .38-caliber revolver equipped with a homemade silencer made from a muffler.

Frances Rumely, 69, died at the scene after being shot twice. The mayor was shot three times, but survived more than five months and underwent nine operations at a South Bend hospital before dying from his injuries on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 71. The couple had been married for 41 years.

Footprints found outside the mayor's home led investigators to Lang, who also came under suspicion because of his recent dismissal from the sewer department. On top of that, Lang's mother had gone to the mayor's home to quarrel with the mayor before the shootings.

Lang confessed to the shootings a day after they occurred, citing revenge as his motive. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sentenced to three consecutive terms totaling 110 years in prison. His earliest release date was 2037.

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Information from: The La Porte Herald-Argus, http://www.heraldargus.com