Allan Levine - Details Are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Cafe Society Murder

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Nonfiction

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Copyright 2020 Allan Levine

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Levine, Allan Gerald, 1956- author.

Title: Details are unprintable : Wayne Lonergan and the sensational caf society murder / Allan Levine.

Description: Guilford, Connecticut : Lyons Press, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: Examines the murder of Patricia Burton Lonergan and the subsequent arrest, trial, and conviction of her husband, Wayne Lonergan Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020004418 (print) | LCCN 2020004419 (ebook) | ISBN 9781493050918 (hardback) | ISBN 9781493057870 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Lonergan, Wayne. | Lonergan, Patsy Burton, 1921-1943. | MurderNew York (State)New YorkCase studies.

Classification: LCC HV6534.N5 L398 2020 (print) | LCC HV6534.N5 (ebook) | DDC 364.152/3092 [B] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020004418

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020004419

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

For Angie, with love

Throughout the pattern of the Lonergan murder case are woven the purple threads of whispered vices whose details are unprintable and whose character in general is unknown to or misunderstood by the average normal person.

NEW YORK JOURNAL-AMERICAN,
OCTOBER 30, 1943

I hope that (a) people who attend and read about the trial will take a short course in abnormal psychology beforehand; (b) theyll realize that Wayne Lonergan is on trial not because of sexual irregularities, but on a charge of having murdered his young, beautiful wife.

THYRA SAMTER WINSLOW, NEW YORK DAILY MIRROR,
FEBRUARY 29, 1944

There is a really good book in this incident.

WAYNE LONERGAN, GLOBE AND MAIL (TORONTO),
FEBRUARY 19, 1972

First and foremost, I would like to thank Rick Rinehart, executive editor at Globe Pequot Press/Rowman & Littlefield for his initial interest in this project and for his diligent comments and editing on the manuscript; and my literary agent, Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists for her continued support and friendship. At Rowman & Littlefield/Globe Pequot Press/Lyons Press, my thanks also to senior production editor Meredith L. Dias and Bruce Gore for designing the cover and jacket; as well as freelance copyeditor Melissa Hayes for her superb work with the final manuscript.

For their assistance in providing me with a digital copy of the New York District Attorneys files of the Lonergan case, I extend my sincere gratitude to Kenneth R. Cobb, assistant commissioner, New York Department of Records & Information Services and his colleague, Rossy Mendez, the head of Research Services. Other important archival and research support came from: Prof. Ellen Belcher of the Lloyd George Sealy Library, John Jay College of Criminal Justice/City University of New York; Darren Yearsley, senior media librarian, CBC; and librarians and archivists at the New York State Archives in Albany; New York University Medical Archives; Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library; Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin; University of California, Los Angeles, Library Special Collections; and Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa.

I am most grateful to Daniel Richman, a former US federal prosecutor and a professor at the Columbia Law School, for his perceptive review and commentary of the various legal issues raised in the case. Thanks, as well, to these legal scholars and writers who took the time to answer my many questions on New York State law and US Supreme Court decisions: Christopher Slobogin and Nancy King of Vanderbilt University Law School; Stephen Gillers, New York University School of Law; Richard Leo, University of San Francisco School of Law; Brandon Garrett, Duke University School of Law; Beth Schwartzapfel, the Marshall Project; New York criminal lawyer Marvin Schechter; and author D. P. Lyle.

For their assistance in arranging interviews and for agreeing to speak with me about Lonergan or matters connected to the case, I thank: agents Ronda Cooper and Penny Noble; actors Gordon Pinsent and Leah Pinsent; journalist Ken Lefolii; Major William March (retired), historian Royal Canadian Air Force; Cynthia Sutherland of the 21 Club; Gerda Ray, the daughter of J. Franklin Ray; Justice Gerald Loehr and his brother John G. Loehr for speaking to me about their late father, John Loehr, and for providing me with a photograph of him; and editor Margaret Happel Perry for information about the work of her late husband, author and journalist Hamilton Darby Perry.

My family, as usualmy wife, Angie, and our children, Alexander, Shannon, Mia, and Geoffoffered their support and encouragement for which I am always most appreciative. I want to especially acknowledge Mias enormous assistance in organizing the digital version of the case files and for her work as my in-house graphic designer and photographer; Shannons keen eye and stellar copy editing in polishing the draft manuscript; and Angie, who this book is dedicated to, for her discerning advice and for being my most honest critic during the past thirty-eight years (on occasion, she doesnt think Im listening, but I always am). Finally, to my three beautiful grandchildren, Ana, Kole, and Mickey, for inspiring me every day and for making me realize what is truly important in life.

Allan Levine

Winnipeg, Canada
June 1, 2020