Grave of gangster Al Brady marked after 70 years

BANGOR – A service to dedicate a newly placed marker on the grave of Public Enemy No. 1 Alfred James Brady will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, at Mount Hope Cemetery.

On Oct. 12, 1937, Brady, 26, was shot and killed by federal agents, along with accomplice Clarence Lee Shaffer Jr., as they returned to Dakin’s Sporting Goods, 25 Central St., to purchase a submachine gun. A third man, James Dalhover, was captured and later executed for the murder of Indiana State Trooper Paul Minneman.

The public and the press are invited to attend the service.

As part of “Flashes From the Past – The Day the Brady Gang Came to Bangor,” an Oct. 7 fundraiser for the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, Northeast CONTACT, the Brady Parade and Re-Enactment Committee decided to mark the grave so that families touched by this tragedy, along with historians and the general public, could visit it. With no fanfare, Brady’s unclaimed body was buried in the cemetery’s city grounds on Oct. 15, 1937, and his grave remained unmarked for 70 years.

Richard Coffin, president of Rogan’s Memorials, inscribed and placed the permanent marker as a charitable donation to the Brady re-enactment activities.

Graveside services will be officiated by Brother Don of Friars’ Bakehouse, located at 21 Central St. Also speaking will be Gerry Palmer, Northeast CONTACT executive director and a Bangor city councilor. In the Oct. 7 re-enactment, Palmer will portray the role of Shep Hurd, owner of Dakin’s Sporting Goods and a central figure in the shootout.

“We are here, not to praise this murderous thug, but to help the public recognize some of its central history of events that happened in Bangor 70 years ago and to bring some closure to this sad story,” Palmer said. “Recently, Loren Hylton of Indiana and his wife Karen visited this grave site with Brady historian Richard Shaw and myself. Carroll County Commissioner Hylton is the nephew of Indiana State Trooper Paul Minneman, shot to death in cold blood by the Brady Gang on May 25, 1937.”

Karen Hylton said, “We are thrilled that this Brady re-enactment is finally being held on Oct. 7. We read that this event was taking place and, as we were visiting friends in Milbridge, we came straight to Bangor. Visiting this grave site with the new tombstone helps bring closure for those of us representing the Paul Minneman family, as I am sure it will many other families and citizens.”

To visit the grave site, take Hogan Road onto Mount Hope Avenue, toward the Bangor Humane Society. Follow Mount Hope Avenue until reaching the Korean War Memorial on the right. Take the left directly across from the memorial onto a dirt cemetery road, Eastern Avenue – unmarked. Travel straight two-tenths of a mile, passing two cemetery roads on the left. Brady’s grave, with a stone flush with the ground, is on the left side of Eastern Avenue, near the chain link fence.

For information, contact Palmer at 944-8000, and visit www.albradygang.com.