CAMDEN, Maine — Renowned singer/songwriter Don McLean, who has been charged with domestic violence abuse, said Thursday, “I am not a villain.”
“This last year and especially now have been hard emotional times for my wife, my children and me,” McLean said in a statement emailed to the Bangor Daily News and posted on his official website three days after his arrest in connection with a domestic violence incident at his Hope Road home.
“What is occurring is the very painful breakdown of an almost 30-year relationship. Our hearts are broken and we must carry on,” the 70-year-old said in the release.
In a handwritten statement filed in Knox County Unified Court in Rockland on Tuesday, the alleged victim wrote that McLean had terrorized her for four hours from Sunday night until Monday morning and that she feared for her life before she managed to lock herself in a bathroom and call 911.
She indicated in her statement, which was filed to obtain a temporary protection from abuse order, that McLean had physically and verbally assaulted her for years, dating to the 1990s. The woman is not being named by the BDN because she is the alleged victim of domestic violence.
On Thursday, the woman told the BDN that she was not aware her statement to the court would be made public and that she was blindsided when what she wrote appeared in news publications.
“This is extremely distressing to me and my family,” she said.
She had no further comment.
McLean and his wife have two children, a 23-year-old son who lives in Camden and a 25-year-old daughter who lives in Plattsburgh, New York.
In the statement she filed with the court, the alleged victim said McLean’s temper had subsided about 20 years ago, but that he had once again become abusive. She indicated that on Sunday night, “He was scaring me with the intensity of his rage and the craziness in his eyes.”
When she warned him to cool down or she would call the police, he told her he wanted to “strangle you so bad” and he wanted to “deck her,” according to her statement.
After she called 911, police arrived at the home, arrested McLean and charged him with domestic violence abuse. He was taken to the Knox County Jail in Rockland, where he was released shortly before 4:30 a.m. Monday on $10,000 unsecured bail.
McLean’s attorney, Walter McKee, said Wednesday evening that his client “vigorously denies all of these allegations” and would be pleading not guilty to the domestic assault charge. McLean’s initial court date on the charge is Feb. 22.
“There are two sides to the story here, and at the right time, Don’s side will be told,” McKee said.
Bail conditions prevent McLean from having any contact, direct or indirect, with the woman. The temporary protection from abuse order approved Tuesday by Judge Susan Sparaco also prohibits McLean from having any firearms or knives. The temporary order is effective until a hearing on it can be held Jan. 28.
“There are no winners or losers but I am not a villain,” the singer — best known for his song “American Pie” — said in his release Thursday. “I may never recover from this but I will try and hope to continue to entertain you all as I always have. I ask God to give us the strength to find new happiness and I hope people will realize that this will all be resolved but I hope I will not be judged in this frantic media environment.”