Reason First: Was Wayne Lonergan Found Guilty Because he was Allegedly Gay?

There’s power in the press. The record of what occurs is something that grips nearly everyone in the world. With the case of Wayne Lonergan in 1943, the leak of an interview exacerbated the situation. This is before 24-hour cable news channels, Twitter and Instagram and YouTube and other social media sites and video services. So, this was a major development in Lonergan’s case.

What had he done? The 6’ Royal Canadian Air Force aircraftman was found guilty of bludgeoning his wife with a candlestick and throttling her.

Little evidence stood in his way before the conviction, however. The cops could verify that Lonergan was indeed in New York City at the time of the murder, but they couldn’t pinpoint him at the place of the slaying.

Allegedly, Lonergan confessed to the crime during a grueling 84-hour interrogation. In conversation, his sexuality came into question as he spoke of his nonexistent sex life with Patricia Lonergan, an heiress to millions of dollars.

Before he had a chance to have his name be cleared and rights respected, media outlets declared him guilty until proven innocent. Like a demo file for an upcoming pop singer, the news spread. This amounted to Lonergan essentially falling into the trap of being declared a murderer before his trial.

Once again, rumors about Lonergan being homosexual (people in the early 1940’s used the term in its clinical sense). Lonergan’s sexuality had nothing to do with his conviction. Just because he may have liked men over women did not mean that he committed the crime.

With every ounce of irony, Judge Garrett Wallace disallowed everyone but newspaper journalists to cover the trial. Why would he do this when the leak had already done its damage?

In all, Lonergan received 30 years to life based on a second-degree murder verdict. He spent over twenty years locked behind bars in Sing Sing. Released in 1965, Lonergan took up residence in Canada.

In a time where gays had been looked at as the scourge of the earth, more so than today, certain expectations laid upon their heads. Lonergan may have been convicted, but books like Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Cafe Society Murder raise questions about Lonergan’s innocence and his personal life.

The angle that he “did it for the money” seems plausible but wouldn’t it be too obvious? If he wanted his wife dead to receive the $6 million, wouldn’t he just hire someone to do his dirty work? The confession before the jury seemed to be a sealant on the case. But was Lonergan put up to it?

Did the pressures of being in the military and the estrangement of Patricia lead him to dispatch her? The evidence bore little fruits.

Just because Lonergan voiced his guilt, did that make him guilty? Why did the leak escape from the confines of the police station?

Again, Lonergan’s sex life cropped up in the case. A New York City psychiatrist discovered from Lonergan his questionable finances, his emotional “shallowness” and of course, his sexuality. Why did this play any role in even considering Lonergan’s fate? To this day, LGBTQ wrongfully receive convictions based on their preferences. Maybe Lonergan never participated in any gay sexual acts. Maybe he was just a man caught up in a murder mess that weighed on him like too much cargo on an airplane.

Lonergan spent a significant amount of time behind the wall. He lived a life of freedom as a Canadian, but if he didn’t do it, what did he do to search for the actual murderer? What steps did he take to legally avenge Patricia’s murder? The cops had been at his disposal, did he go to the police to remedy the situation upon release from Sing Sing?

The case set a precedent for the future TMZs of the world. Leaked information is now a hot commodity and is like platinum to sensationalist outlets to have a story ready so that advertisers can pay top dollar. Longeran’s status as being guilty did not even showcase just how much justice did not matter in the case. With the news of his supposed confession, people latched onto the idea that he had done the crime. This lack of thought, of reasoning might have led a man to sacrifice over two decades of his life in prison. Whatever his sexuality or his intent, he was found guilty and we may never know the truth.