The Trial of Earnest Lange

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Doctor uh... West, and we're here with you today to show you the data we have gathered in the past few months. Now, as you may have all seen in my report about this case, we are not very proud of our findings."

The doctor faced several men from the upper echelons of the country's police force. All suited-up with their gazes ready to pounce at him with their judgments. But this is not what the man is scared of; he is not afraid that he will be scrutinized and be punched to hell then kicked right back on earth. He's worried that they might see right through him. He doesn't want them to find out.

"Today, of course, I uh... I want to present the uh..." he dabbed a hanky on his forehead, he doesn't want to show the top investigators of the country that his sweat is showering his face like a waterfall.

He took a deep breath and paused for seven seconds, scanning the faces of the people watching his every move. "My team and I want first to show you what we all know already and our interpretation of this data. It is, of course, the trial of Earnest Lange, yes, our prime suspect, yes."

The projector lit up, showing a close-up video of a man's testimony in a courtroom.

...

Yes, your honor. I confess. I killed my wife. I am not apologizing for the crimes that I've made. I am not going to defend myself any further, nor am I going to act innocent.

I am the one at fault.

I'm the one who made all this mess, and though I am profoundly regretful and apologetic for what I have done, it doesn't mean that they did nothing wrong to me. That doesn't mean that I have forgiven the sins of those two people. Perhaps the Almighty God could, but I can't, for I am just a human. Only humans. And I did what I did with no remorse because I am human. You can't understand now, and I won't force you to try to, but I am sure if I were to let you relive the life I lead with her, you would've done the same.

I am to be blamed for the murder of my wife and our, well, her friend. They are to be blamed for giving me a motive for doing what I've done. We are all at fault for what had happened though for some reason I am the only one sitting here in front of you, I am the only one receiving a judgment in the hot seat. Ladies and gentlemen, honorable judge, lawyers, and of course, the members of the jury, hear my plea, my final scream.

I am Earnest Lange, as you may have already known, I am your usual thirty-three-year-old man living in peace with his loving, ahem, I'm sorry, with his loving wife in a quiet town here in Colorado. I met my wife, my precious beautiful wife when I was 19. She was Marian Hall, but she's Marian Lange when she became mine, and I hers. She's a goddess descended from heaven to save me from the emptiness of my life, or so I thought the first time we met.

I first laid eyes on her at a bar one fateful night when I was out drinking with my friends after I got the dream job I've always worked hard to attain. If you've known me personally, you would not question my hard work for getting that said job, and it's all so I could give myself and my mother the life we always wanted. She became a part of that vision later on when we got married.

Now that I think about it, what does she want from me? I gave her everything. I gave her my all. I gave her what I could provide; there was nothing left for me, what does she want from me!?

We celebrated, of course, you know, my friends and I, as I was saying. And amidst our celebration came across Marian. Since I am drunk at that time, I dared to talk to her. I approached her when she sat on the counter. I spoke to her; I tried to praise her, I said she's beautiful, but she ignored me. I take that as a challenge.

I asked her if I could buy her a drink, she said she could buy it herself. Well, our first meeting is not at all unusual; it's the common thing in my time, you know? A drunk guy in a bar, approaching a beautiful girl, wanting to buy her a drink, trying to be friendly, and all those lovely things! It's not at all rare! This kind of stuff, romantic ideas made on a whim. It's so cliché.

I hope you guys are still with me. I hope you all are still listening to my useless garbage of a story. Bear with me, bear with me, I'll get to the point.

With a little bit of persistence, a bit of persuasion here and there, we became friends. Lucky for me we became close, and I discovered that she's living nearby, so we exchanged a lot of emails and calls, sometimes we meet up, probably about twice a week, sometimes it exceeds, but it never lessens.

Ah, forgive me, your honor, my smile is—my smile right now might offend the court, but I hope you'd let me relish these few happy moments I had with her. And yes, we started dating. Eventually. I was so delighted when she said that she wanted me too. I was, well, I loved her more than anyone could've imagined! You can only guess just how consumed I am with my emotions to do... you know, the murder. How angry I was, you can only imagine.

I was so happy when I heard her say yes after gathering the courage to ask her to marry me, but for some reason, when I proposed to her, she was shocked, not the kind of shock where you can feel how happy she is and how excited she is for our wedding. She's shocked, but she's not at all pleased. I can see it in her eyes. I can hear it in her trembling voice; she's quite unwilling. Is it the pity that made her agree to my proposal, perhaps? I don't know, really, I really don't know if that made her say yes. It seems that we will never know.

I was so frustrated back then. Am I not good enough? I kept reminding myself that she said yes, but at the same time, the look in her eyes filled with utter disgust and über disappointment. I know what I feel. I understand my emotions and myself clearly. And I do believe that you all are smart enough to get what I'm saying! But that reminds me that all of you have stable marriages.

How can you get this pain I have? The anxiety that kept bottling inside me day after day even if I managed to make her say yes. Being with her and thinking about that proposal is so suffocating. I've thought of a future where we're together, but for some reason at the back of my mind, something tells me she probably doesn't wish to be in this hypothetical future in my head.

And you know, shit like that eats you up, it will; but how can you understand that? All of you are happy—all of you. All of you.

We pledged in front of the altar, in front of God, and his followers. I made a promise never to betray her trust and always to be the Earnest she loved and trusted. I made a promise never to look at any woman again. I never broke that promise, ever! I loved her unconditionally! Can't you all understand that? That I loved her even right now that I'm facing charges because of her! I would love her even if she dared to bite the forbidden apple in front of me!

I love her.

Call me crazy, call me stupid, call me anything you like, I don't care anymore; come on people, look at me, I'm literally stating how much I fucked up in front of you; I couldn't care less anymore even if I go to hell after this, I don't care; this is not caused by the stupid power of love anymore, this is caused by the disappointment I feel for my wife; she didn't say yes because she wants to!

She doesn't love me.

I strived so hard to make her happy; I strived so hard to give her anything she wanted, from the smallest bit of chocolate to the most expensive diamond ring, but she's still unpleased, so I worked harder, to the point where we never had the chance to talk like we used to do nor do we have the opportunity to show our affection to each other, but she's still mad; she would nag at me, you know, her eyes are so filled with evil, this hatred all around her, just because she thinks we're not spending enough time; well, what do you want me to do about it?

And we would do this every night. I'd ask her what she wants. Quit my job? I ask her that every night, she's never pleased, everything is never enough; what does she want from me?

You see, ladies and gentlemen, the only thing I ever wanted is to treasure her. I want to show everyone that I made it, and she's my trophy. She is my everything. I am completely and utterly devoted to her, and only to her, no one else. I'd respect her; I wouldn't even dare anyone harm her. I'm willing to kill just to protect her and oh how ironic that is. See, I'm like a country, this country; I'm like America. I think I'm so great, but I'm just messed up. And my wife, my wife, is my national anthem. And oh, is she the most beautiful thing I ever had. Our national anthem is the best thing our country has ever had. She's the only thing fair in my life, what remains of the dreams I had when I was young.

I get unstable sometimes, though; I get that. I get angry at my wife; I get that. I make things that make her feel unhappy; I get that. And that is probably the reason why I failed my wife.

I get that!

For all, I care she's probably seeing someone else years before I caught her. I don't care anymore. Funny how I say that I don't care anymore when truth be told I do care. I just feel a sting in my heart that wants to be released. I'm heartbroken, and sadly, no one can repair me. None of you here in this room gets that because all of you are so happy!

You know the story already, ladies and gentlemen. You've already guessed it; I know you lots are smart. I know I don't need to say it any further. It's the same thing you've probably heard once in a while in every court in every state. It's cliché, very cliché; you can watch this kind of story in every type of heart-melting drama everywhere.

Cheating is perhaps the most overrated sin I've ever seen, I've known it since I was a child because my mother and father had a divorce because of it, because of this wretched thing we call adultery!

One night I will never forget, September 23, 2011, precisely 7:36 in the evening I went home earlier to surprise my wife. Today is her birthday, and as his ever-faithful and loving husband I bought her favorite cake, I bought her a diamond necklace she always wanted me to buy for her, I purchased bouquets of red roses that she always admire and wanted to smell, those are her favorite flowers, I even bought her that dress she wanted to buy every time we go to the mall. All for her birthday! Because this is just how much I love her!

I opened the door and was shocked at what I saw. It's my wife, naked, and on top of her is a man. It was heartbreaking! I couldn't react; my mind is blurring. I saw her cheating with a man named Martin Lange. You know the story, you've been here hearing about it for days, weeks! I saw her cheating with my brother.

My own flesh and blood.

My biological brother.

The one person I never doubted would betray me was right in front of me, pounding his dick inside of my wife's vagina! Pardon my words, but I can't hold it in anymore. How cruel is that, right? I loved my brother. But he did this kind of thing knowing that I'll be hurt!? My own brother is the one who did it! Can't you guess how disturbing that is for me?

I rushed to them and pulled my brother away from her. Oh, up until now I still can't believe that there will come a time where I will say that my brother had a fling with my wife. I never would've guessed. I strangled his neck and punched him in the face. He was left there lying on the floor as I heard my wife screech in terror.

I slowly walked towards him and punched him like a madman. His bones are probably not functioning well right now because I swear to God I heard it crack loud a couple of times. I hit him again, and again, and again, and again! That stupid motherfucker deserved that! Do you hear me? I trusted him!

I took the lampshade nearby and bashed his face!

WOOOHOOOO!!!

I roared and growled like a prowling tiger! I screamed. I laughed, and alas, I felt great!

Shh!

You all be quiet! Stop murmuring!

STOP MURMURING, STOP, STOP, STOP! DON'T TALK!!!

SHHH!!!

My story IS NOT YET DONE!!! Shh! NOT DONE YET!

Do you know what I did next? I uh, shh! I can't hear what he's saying! Can't you see I'm having a conversation with my friend? What do you mean, you can't see this guy right beside me! What do you mean you all can't see him? That's rude, stop calling my friend like that! He exists! He's here!

Okay, okay, okay, so what happened next is I bashed his face, right? I BASHED HIS FACE LIKE A MADMAN!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I TRUSTED HIM, YOU KNOW? I do.

I trusted him.

I trusted her.

How could they do this to me? Am I that boring? AM I REALLY A FAILURE AS A HUSBAND!?

So I hit him. If I could, I would beat him a couple of billion times, and I wouldn't care if my arms would tear off!

I.

JUST.

WANT.

TO.

KILL.

THEM.

BOTH OF THEM!!! I HATE THEM!!!

But when I was about to hit him once more, my wife hurriedly came closer to us and protected my brother.

She, my wife, the woman I loved, protected my brother instead of me?

She, the person I trusted, would betray me for this cheap looking bastard?

How cliché, right? Tell me how many stories have you heard with that kind of plot, huh? Probably a bunch of them! See, up until the end, I'm nothing but a scoundrel. Tell me, everybody? I'm a loser, aren't I? I'm a loser with an overused story! Aren't I? Tell me, aren't I!?

WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME!?!?!?

... You all are just like them. You're all the same. You all think I'm shameful. And I am. I know that.

My wife looked at me, crying, and demanding me to stop. She even said that the one she loved was my brother all along, and he never once loved me because I was so preoccupied with my work. I wasn't surprised; I am expecting her to say that. She pushed me back with her left hand, and I was horrified when I saw that she's not wearing the wedding ring I bought for her.

She said she doesn't need it! It's just a simple ring, and it holds no meaning! She said she doesn't want to see me ever again! She said she'll live with my brother, the one who cared for her, somewhere else, somewhere away from me. She said that she liked it better with my brother. She even added that having sex with him is way better than doing it with my small dick.

I was hurt.

I was very hurt! Like a spear hit me straight to the heart! It's a menacing feeling, and until now I can still feel it—

She even dared to throw our wedding ring like a cheaply made iron accessory right for me! Because she said that I should take it! It was a pure diamond-studded wedding ring! Do you all know how that shit cost!? That shit costs more than my yearly paycheck back then, and she just threw it away like it's nothing!

All of this to be with that fucking asshole! It's laughable, but damn; I can't bring myself to laugh; I can't even smile! I was hurt, but I can't even cry! My mind is too preoccupied to strangle both of them at the moment! And believe me, even if they're lying lifeless in the morgue right now, I still want to bash their faces!

That's why when I heard what Marian said, my mind went blank. I couldn't see anything anymore. I pulled my wife's hair up, and a scream of terror enveloped our room. My brother is still lying on the floor, probably unconscious. I smiled like a deranged monster and looked at my wife straight in her eyes.

I said she's beautiful! And that I love her!

Then she spits in my face with a menacing glare.

I was enraged.

I threw her in the bed, used the blankets and tied her hands and arms with it, I even gouged her mouth, you know, just in case her whore mouth would scream for another man's dick again.

Cheating is overrated, I know.

But so is murder.

My wife tried to scream, but she couldn't. I took the diamond necklace in my bag and put it on her neck. She was dazzling. I took her in front of a mirror so she could see how beautiful she is too. I smiled and smelled her hair. Mmm! I took a long and meaningful sniff of her hair, and fuck, your honor, she smelled great, her hair, it feels so good. I sniffed and I sniffed and sniffed the shit out of her hair so long as I glanced at her face in the mirror. I remembered how funny she looked back then, trembling, crying, she looks so pathetic, so disgusting. I can see that her face is filled with terror when it reflected in the mirror. I asked why she's looking so afraid. I laughed because I forgot she couldn't respond to me with that gouge in her mouth. 'Twas a very entertaining sight!

I pulled the chain of the necklace I forced her to wear, strangling her pretty ivory neck, and then, of course, as her ever-loving and faithful husband, I greeted her! For it is her birthday. I said happy birthday, my love! I kissed her cheek, looked her in the eyes, and touched her body as she turned beet red from being choked. She's trying so hard to pull the necklace back from the opposite direction, but she can't out strength me. Instead, in her vain attempt to let go, she bruised her neck with scratches until it bled. She even managed to get hold of one of the bouquets, but what will she do with a bouquet? Smash my head to death with loving and compassion? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The time we had together that night is probably the most beautiful time we had together since we both married each other. It was a superb moment.

What joy!

You know, I finally felt that we had a connection; that by defiling her like this and by making me feel stupid we realized how much we respected each other; of course, I'd say we, my wife loves me, and everything we do is mutual, she's my national anthem and sometimes you have to make fun of that ol' thing once in a while, right; HAHAHAHAHAHA you hypocrites, I bet you all wanted to shit on our national anthem when you're young; heck, you've probably done it before you went to the courtroom, then you'd feel ashamed, waaahhh poor you, giving the anthem such a trash treatment; waaahhh, now after you whine, you'd accept a different form of respect for it because you're a fine adult and not a middle-schooler!

That's what happened to us!

Her eyes have gone perpendicular like one of those dead walking zombies on TV. Her saliva is already dripping out of her mouth, and as far as I don't want to admit it, the sight of me strangling to death is making me feel so hot to the point that my thing down there became rock solid! Well, she's already naked, and her pussy is asking for it in the first place, and since I've realized a newfound obsession as I see her struggling to fight my rage, I might as well fuck her right here, right now! Thus, without further ado, I unzipped my pants.

I've never felt her insides for a very long time, and boy, do I have a doozy! The sight of her face almost half-dead, and her body slowly weakening is not making me feel sorry for her instead, it made me want to do her more! I thrust her insides hard! Hard and rough! She couldn't even moan, let alone fight me. She couldn't do anything but to indulge, what an excellent way to die, good for her!

At least she gets to see my brother in hell with a smile of a whore!

At least she died as a whore, a death befitting a whore like her.

But our moment together was disturbed when my brother struck me hard with a metallic object, whatever it is I've already forgotten, but there is something I'll never forget, though. Although he pounded me so hard in my head, and even though I saw my blood dripping in my face, I still couldn't feel pain. I feel nothing. I heard a buzzing sound that never stopped, I could only see my brother untying my wife and planning to escape and tasted the blood in my lips and smelled the pleasant aroma of my wife's perfume in the room.

But I still couldn't move. I saw my wife and my brother escape the room without any hesitation, but when I finally stood up, I ran towards them so fast with a bottle of wine in my hand.

I knew by then a singular fact. These people's luck has finally dried out.

I smashed my brother's head with the bottle I was holding. Revenge, bastard! I'm still holding a broken piece of bottle shrapnel in my hand; it was tightly gripped in my hand as if I never wanted to let it go. I looked at my wife and then looked at the bottle in hand again. My wife begged for mercy; she said she's pregnant; it took me aback; she said it was my child, my heart almost gave up.

Almost.

Until I realized that it'd been three years since we last had sex, therefore, this baby is definitely not mine, no, it was my brother's, and I'm confident; I roared and ran towards my disgusting whore of a wife, stabbed her stomach, I thrust it multiple times, I didn't even know how many times; the autopsy says it was three times, but I believe the numbers are more than that, I just want that stupid evil infant to die while it's not too late; I don't want this bitch to produce another whore!

I pulled my wife to the kitchen. By the way, I was pulling her hair. She was unconscious, but I believe she's still alive, I can hear her breathing, you know? Haaah! Haaaah! I can hear her making those sounds; she's definitely alive! I tied her in an armchair with a rope and covered her mouth with tape. I took a hammer, eight needles, and a knife.

Do you want to know what happened next? Do you? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm sure you do!

I hammered her hands on the sides of the armchair. Every time I bang her palm in the chair, I can hear her scream with a muffled voice. But it's just an arm, baby, I whispered to her. I'm not even finished with the other, and she's already looking so miserable. The way she screams in horror every time I hear her bone crack as I hammer her arm to the armchair makes me want to do things to her! Things that only I, her husband, could do to her!

I have the right!

But this is only the beginning. As much as I love to hear my wife suffer I need to finish what is supposed to be done!

I hammered her right and left hand with two needles. I banged her feet into the ground; each foot, I used one needle. I then stuck two needles below her knee, I was supposed to hammer the other knee, but I'm all out of needles. It aggravated me so, and I was so frustrated! I was so angry!

There's only one thing to satisfy my frustration.

I must kill my brother, yes, that's right, I should do that! KILL HIM, KILL HIM, KILL HIM! MAKE HIM SUFFER, RIGHT? I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU, I'M TALKING TO HIM!!! NO, I'M NOT TALKING TO MYSELF HE'S RIGHT BESIDE ME!!!

AAARRRGGHH!!! CAN'T YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO MY FUCKING STATEMENT!?

I took the baseball bat I used when I was a kid, my brother and I used to play baseball back then. Now is the perfect time to reminisce. I tied him in a chair in front of my wife and started hammering his head with my baseball bat. Was I happy? If only you knew how amazing it felt. I beat the crap out of my miserable brother to the point that you can't even recognize him anymore.

But of course, I wasn't satisfied.

My brother was awake the whole time. He was screaming like a bitch. He was looking at me with menacing eyes; I did not falter. I approached my bleeding wife, is she dead? Nope, not yet, she can't die yet. She's a strong woman!

I let my brother know who owns my wife—before both of them fell into the scorching flames of hell. I squeezed my wife's breast tightly, so tight that it probably hurts. Then I put three of my fingers inside of her vagina. Even though she's already bleeding so much, it seems like she's enjoying how I treated her like a slut before she dies. What a death, she deserved this kind of treatment!

My brother saw all of this. Now he knows that I own this bitch, and he has no right to lay his filthy fingers on it because it's my fucking property!

I beat my brother again with a baseball bat, but this time with a twist. And by twist, I mean stabbing his chest with a huge ass knife and then twisting it like a blender! His screams are, of course, satisfying.

His roars sound so lame, but I still felt a slight form of accomplishment every time he screams!

What can I say? I'm already a devil; I might as well follow them, right!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOT LONG AFTER THIS, I GET TO KILL THE TWO OF THEM AGAIN IN HELL!!! WHAT JOY, INDEED!!!

I'll just take this out of my pocket.

Oh, why are you all surprised? It's just a gun! Don't worry; I won't kill you! Ahahahahaha! See, I'm ending it.

Come on now, guys, sing with me. Don't worry; I won't pull the trigger yet. Look, look, I'm just pointing the gun in my head! Nothing so special, right? Oh, why are you backing out? I told you, I am not going to kill you! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I am ending my testimony now, can't you see?

I'm on the top of the world looking down on creation and the only explanation I can find!

Why aren't you singing with me? Not a Carpenters fan? It's alright; we can fix that!

See, I wouldn't kill you all! Don't look so scared, Mr. Judge, I'm not going to murder again! Oh, don't be like that, police officers, as if you, pointing your gun at me, would scare me at this point! Why are you shaking jurors, I'm not even making a move yet!

I'm just pointing the gun in my head.

See?

Nothing special!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I can't help but laugh. Come now, sing with me! Dance with the dead man!

Would you sing with me too, friend?

Ang mamatay ng dahil sayo...

...

"And that's the gist of it, ladies and gentlemen. Before we begin, does anybody have a question?"

Everybody raises their hands.