October 2020
Details Are Unprintable
Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Cafe Society Murder
by Allan Levine
The body of 22-year-old New York City socialite Patricia Burton Lonergan was found in her bedroom. Charged with her death was her husband of two years, Wayne Lonergan. Details Are Unprintable is a suspenseful account that builds from the moment the body was discovered in October 1943 to Lonergan’s conviction in April 1944. The case focused on the tantalizing rumor that Lonergan, a 26-year-old cadet and playboy, was a “homosexual,” who killed his wife in a fit of rage when she removed him from her will. Part fast-paced drama and part social history, this is a chronicle of Lonergan in denial living in an intolerant world, contrasted with the life of his entitled wife. What truly happened on that tragic night? Should we accept Lonergan’s confession as the jury did? Or was he a victim of physical and mental abuse by the state prosecutors and the police, as he maintained for the rest of his life?
