Cheryl M. Lacey:Outnumbered

   

   Cheryl Marie Lacey was a New Year’s Baby born on the very first day of January in 1959 to Del and Dorothy Lacey.  They lived in Oak Forest, Illinois. It’s a suburb on the south side of Chicago. Cheryl had three sisters and two brothers. She graduated from Oak Forest High School. 

   Cheryl worked as a nurse’s aide in 1978. She lived in Harvey, Illinois with a couple of roommates at 15010 Washtenaw Ave. Harvey is not too far from Oak Forest, Illinois so she wasn’t too far away from her family when she needed them. Nineteen year old Cheryl was just venturing out into the world. 

   Cheryl and some of her friends went out on June 11th, 1978 to a disco, Eddie Mack’s Bar at 3915 W. 147th Street in Midlothian. They were young and disco was incredibly popular. Everyone wanted to dance to that music. (One article says that the bar was Lulu’s Tap at 3917 W. 147th Street. Another article said it was Eddie Mack’s next door at 3915 W. 147th.)

 

   Larry and Edward Bachar were brothers.  Larry was 20 and Edward was 21. Phillip Sturgell was a 27 year old friend of theirs. The three men also went to the bar on June 11th in Midlothian. They were from La Porte, Indiana.  That’s about an hour drive to the east. 

   The three men met 19 year old Cheryl in the bar that night.  She had not known them before. She left with them but nothing looked suspicious or dangerous to onlookers as they left.  But, to me, a nineteen year old girl leaving with three men doesn’t look at all safe or normal. The witness quoted in the paper who said that Cheryl left willingly was a man. No women witnesses were quoted in the paper. 

   The next day Larry Bachar went to the police in Westmont, Illinois. That’s several miles north and west of Midlothian and Harvey, Illinois. (Larry and Edward Barchar’s father, Edward Bachar Sr. was a policeman in Harvey, Illinois for decades at that time.) Larry said that his brother Edward and his friend Phillip Sturgell had murdered Cheryl Lacey with a roofing hammer the night before and dumped her near La Porte, Indiana.

   The Indiana State Police were notified and they found Cheryl’s body exactly where Larry Bachar said it would be. They arrested Edward Bachar at home and he was held in La Porte on a public intoxication charge pending the investigation. 

   On June 12th, 1978 Cheryl Lacey was recovered from a wooded area on the side of Wilhelm Rd. North of La Porte, Indiana. Her body was located about a mile and a half south of 1000 N.  It’s still a very rural road today with fields, barns and farmhouses. It looks more like a postcard than anything else. Cheryl was found still wearing a torn shirt but nothing else.  She had been raped and beaten and had suffered massive head trauma.  Her body had also suffered scratches and abrasions from being dragged into the woods. 

   Cheryl’s roommates reported her missing on June 13th. One newspaper slightly disparaged them for waiting but the old rule used to be that a missing persons report could not be filed for 24 hours. I would bet that was the case here. Her roommates were not interviewed by the newspaper. 

   Meanwhile police in Westmont had let Larry Bachar go and made him promise to turn himself in to the authorities in Indiana.  He failed to do so. By June 20th he was still on the run and his attorneys had promised he would turn himself in within 24 hours. Phillip Sturgell was also still being sought at that time. Edward Bachar was still in custody. 

   (At the time of the murder both Larry and Edward had criminal records. Edward Bachar Jr and his father Edward Bachar Sr. were involved in a domestic disturbance on July 28th, 1976. Edward Bachar Sr. was found bleeding and unconscious and Edward Jr, who was 19 at the time was found in another room at their home in La Porte. The father was taken to the hospital. The article reads: “Police subdued the son after he became belligerent with the officers.” Edward Bachar Jr was treated at a mental health facility in Illinois. 

  In January of 1977, Larry and his twin brother Gary, along with Edward were arrested in La Porte for an armed robbery they had committed in Harvey, Illinois.  It’s interesting that they would commit this robbery in the town where their father was a policeman. And that they chose to do this only 6 months after Edward Jr. put Edward Sr., the policeman, in the hospital. The article about this arrest states that the tactical unit was sent to arrest them because all three had a history of violent behavior.

  I could not find a yearbook in which Larry and Gary and Edward are attending school together.  Sometimes yearbooks just are not available online. But I am also wondering if the three boys were separated at times during their adolescence and maybe sent to live with relatives or some other living arrangement. If they were violent and out of control in their late teens perhaps their troubles started earlier. Maybe not. It’s hard to tell. It’s very difficult to find photos of them.)

   

Edward Bachar Jr.

   By the 22nd of June in 1978, Phillip Sturgell was in custody but Larry Bachar was still on the loose. Larry Bachar finally turned himself in eleven days after his initial report to the Westmont, Illinois police on June 23rd 1978. 

   Now, you’re probably thinking that they were all  convicted of murder because they took a girl from a bar and raped and murdered her. Prepare to be disappointed. If you read a great deal of true crime from the 1970’s you won’t be surprised by what comes next. 

   Edward Bachar was convicted not of rape or of murder but of voluntary manslaughter after plea bargaining in July of 1979. He died a free man in 1988 in Belvidere, Tennessee where his mother lived. His cause of death was not something I could find in my research.

   Phillip Sturgell was sentenced to three years starting in October 1979 for “assisting in the beating death” of Cheryl Lacey. In 1980 he was back in court pleading to be released. His ex-wife testified that his incarceration was a financial hardship. Phillip said he was sober now and that he had learned his lesson. Phillip died in 2016 in Newburgh, Indiana. His obituary said he liked flea markets and Jesus and his family. It also said that he and his second wife had 33 wonderful years together.

                 Phillip Sturgell

   Larry Bachar would be in and out of jail numerous times in the next decades. 1981-arrested in Portage for harassment. 1982-receiving stolen property and harassment. He was given 18 months probation. 1986-resisting police, criminal mischief and criminal trespassing. 1988-public intoxication and trespassing. 

Larry Bachar

  It seems like Larry, Gary and Edward Bachar probably struggled with mental health and addiction issues. Larry was still alive when Edward died in November of 1988. I haven’t found any news of the passing of Larry or Gary Bachar. 

  One thing that occurs to me again and again is how much suffering could have been avoided in the 1970’s and 1980’s if mental healthcare could have been more accessible and less stigmatized. It seems like if these young men could have gotten treatment when they were adolescents perhaps more pain and tragedy could have been avoided. 

   Cheryl Marie Lacey was only 19. She was just starting her life as a nurse’s aide when it was stolen from her. She was callously raped and her head was beaten in with a hammer. She was dumped like garbage. If not for the guilty conscience of Larry Bachar; she might still be in those woods off Wilhelm Road northwest of La Porte. 

   Cheryl Marie Lacey deserved a long life.  She didn’t get to pursue her career. She didn’t get to fall in love.  She didn’t get to be a bride or a mother or a grandmother. She didn’t get to travel and see the world. She was only nineteen. Cheryl would have been 65 in 2024. She would have been retiring. She might have been enjoying her grandchildren or thinking about what fun things she might do in retirement. She deserved to be here. 

Rest in Peace Cheryl Marie Lacey