Man Freed in Killing Loses Bid to Sue Widow

A convicted murderer, who was released on a legal technicality and then filed suit against the victim’s widow, lost his legal battle Wednesday to proceed with the $500,000 claim accusing her of malicious prosecution.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert B. Lopez ruled against Eugene Clarence Hartman, 61, who was convicted in 1984 of the slaying of psychologist John T. Langlos. Lopez barred Hartman, whose conviction was later overturned, from proceeding with his complaint after declaring that Ruth Langlos, the victim’s wife, was not properly named in the lawsuit.

Lopez added that “the case is over as far as I’m concerned.”

Langlos’ blood-splattered body was found in 1976 in his Downey clinic. But Hartman was not convicted of second-degree murder until years later--only after the persistence of Langlos’ widow, Ruth.

Her husband’s death was originally blamed on a heart attack, but Ruth Langlos waged a determined, six-year campaign to convince authorities that he had been murdered. When a coroner’s jury finally agreed with her, the case was reopened and Hartman, a psychologist who occasionally worked with Langlos, was eventually convicted.

Hartman, who was released from jail in December, 1985, remained bitter about his conviction. He filed his lawsuit two years later, naming the State of California, the county of Los Angeles, Gov. George Deukmejian and Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp as co-defendants along with Ruth Langlos. While the others had already been dismissed from the case, Langlos remained a defendant until Lopez ruled Wednesday that Hartman had no grounds to serve her with his summons.

The 69-year-old Langlos, who now lives in Huntington Beach, was delighted with the ruling, her attorney said.

“She is extremely relieved,” said Harry Simon, an attorney with the Senior Citizens Legal Advocacy Program of the Legal Aid Society of Orange County. “I can only say that she feels vindicated, satisfied that she can get on with her life now, and that this matter is not hanging over her anymore.”

Hartman, who now lives in Sacramento, could not be reached for comment. But he had earlier claimed he was the target of a politically motivated prosecution and was innocent of the murder charge.

Shortly after Langlos’ body was found, Hartman was arrested by Oakland police after cashing a check drawn on the psychologist’s account and using Langlos’ credit card to buy a watch and airline tickets. Hartman was released, though, when the deputy medical examiner ruled that Langlos had died of natural causes.

Despite the blood and disarray in his office, authorities theorized that Langlos had suffered heart failure and fell, striking his head on his desk, and that Hartman then discovered and looted the body.

When the coroner’s ruling was reversed, the district attorney’s office filed a new murder charge against Hartman.

In 1985, however, the state Court of Appeal overturned Hartman’s conviction, ruling that he was denied due process because the lengthy delay between Langlos’ death and the trial resulted in a loss of evidence. When the state Supreme Court later that year declined to consider a prosecution appeal, Hartman was permanently freed.

Simon said that the statute of limitations now prevents Hartman from pursuing his case in federal court. “For all practical purposes, the lawsuit is over,” he said. “There is no way he can properly bring action against Mrs. Langlos again.”