Trooper Paul Minneman was shot and killed while searching for members of the Brady Gang, wanted in connection with the armed robbery of $2,688 from the Goodland State Bank in Newton County and previously for killing two other police officers.

   He and a Cass County deputy sheriff were parked on the side of a road when a car passed and shots were fired at them. They gave chase, lost sight of the car and stepped out of their vehicle at a small rural church west of Royal Center to look for tire tracks.

   They were met by automatic rifle fire by the hiding suspects, striking both officers. Trooper Minneman was shot over 20 times and died of his wounds at St. Joseph Hospital in Logansport two days later. Although seriously wounded, the deputy survived.

   On October 12, Al Brady, 26, and Clarence Lee Shaffer Jr., 20, were shot and killed in a shootout with police in Bangor, Maine.

   The third suspect, James Dalhover, 30, was captured and convicted of murder and bank robbery under federal law and sentenced to death. On November 18, 1938, he was executed by electrocution at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

   The Brady Gang also killed Sergeant Richard Rivers of the Indianapolis Police Department on April 27, 1936. Although never proven, they were also suspected of killing Officer Frank Levy of the Anderson Police Department on November 25, 1935.

   Trooper Minneman, from Logansport, was assigned to the Lafayette post. He was survived by his wife, unborn daughter, sisters and parents. In 1987, Trooper Minneman was posthumously awarded the agency's Gold Star Award for Valor for his extraordinary heroism.