Midcoast Region
24
The Disappearance Of Fred Finnegan Eleven days in the Thomaston hole by Brian Swartz
A
uthorities wondered if Fred Finnegan had pulled a disappearing act at the Maine State Prison in Thomaston when he vanished on Saturday, July 13, 1946. Finnegan was a down-on-his-luck, small-time Portland hood when he arrived at Thomaston in 1944. Other men had gone to battle the Axis Powers while Finnegan had lingered in Maine, causing minor trouble and making himself known to law enforcement officials before he was arrested and convicted for robbery. A judge threw Finnegan into the Maine State Prison for fiveto-ten years. If Finnegan behaved, he would likely leave on parole earlier than later.
Perhaps he realized that he should have behaved instead of playing Harry Houdini on that July Saturday. While conducting an inmate headcount on July 13th, prison guards came up one finger short. They rechecked their charges, compared numbers, and agreed that someone was missing. That someone was Fred Finnegan, who although not quartered near an outside wall, had missed the enforced roll call. Maine prison authorities do not treat escaped prisoners lightly. A case in point is the furor in Bangor when a parole violator bolted from court in early June of 1998. Hounded by relentless pursuers, he stayed on the lam for only a few days before calling his attorney
and surrendering to the police. Fred Finnegan had called no one. Even if they could not account for the missing inmate, the Thomaston guards could vouch for the use of every phone
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Lower Round Pond Road, Round Pond • 529-5191
Shaw’s Fish & Lobster Wharf Restaurant “Casual Inside and Outside Dining on a Traditional Maine Fishing Wharf ”
“Seafood at its Best”
Steaks & Chowders Too!
Doug Fales, Owner
Featuring Single, Twin & Triple Lobster Specials and Select Your Own Larger Lobsters!
Office: 207-354-9278 Cell: 207-691-3170
207-677-2200
Route 32, New Harbor • Maine shaws-wharf.com
GRANITE HALL STORE A historic country store in Round Pond Village
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dfales2278@hotmail.com 89 Spear Mill Rd. • Cushing, ME 04563
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