MA. - New theory emerging in 1974 murder of Hell’s Angel

OFF THE WIRE
By Robin Kaminski / The Daily Item
This is the latest in a series of cold case stories in Lynn.

LYNN - The door was perched open at the former Lynn Tap bar in the early morning hours of April 23, 1974, where four reputed members of the Hell’s Angels sat drinking. Little did they know that a man was lurking in the shadows, getting ready to fire a barrage of bullets.

Now 37 years later, the murder of motorcycle gang member David Urban, 25, remains unsolved, but a new theory is coming into play that the incident is one piece of a much larger puzzle that left a trail of blood throughout the city.

According to Lynn Police Captain Mark O’Toole, there is speculation that the murder stems from a stabbing at the former Arena Cafe on April 7, 1974, where the owner, Thomas Abernathy Jr.’s, son was allegedly stabbed by two Hell’s Angels.

The plot thickened after one of the men sentenced in the brawl was released from prison just a few days before Abernathy Jr. received a mysterious package on the porch of his Orchard Street home, which exploded in his face on March 24, 1975. He was blinded by nails that pierced his eyes, lost his left arm and his right hand in the explosion that blew out the window of his porch door.

“It was a big incident and we believe it was all connected,” O’Toole said.

On the night of Urban’s murder, O’Toole said the victim and three other Hell’s Angels walked into the 77 Marion St. bar together around 11 p.m. Two of the men had recently been arrested in the Arena Cafe incident and were out on bail.

After sitting down at the first four barstools, the men drank without any issues, according to reports, until a few minutes after midnight, when the suspect quietly crept toward the open door. Four shots rang out in the quiet bar — three of which pierced 28-year-old Mark W. Veherbon’s stomach and leg, with the fourth bullet ripping into Urban’s heart.

“He was shot under his left armpit and the bullet hit his heart,” O’Toole said. “It was a clean shot and he died fairly quickly, there wasn’t much that could have been done for him.”

Urban, a Buffalo, N.Y. native, and Veherbon, of Menlo Park, Calif., were rushed to the former Lynn Hospital, where Veherbon recovered from his injuries. Both victims were allegedly just visiting the area and were staying at the Lynn chapter of the Hell’s Angels on Mt. Hope Terrace.

One of the gang members who was not injured in the shootout gave a vague description of the suspect to police, that he saw a man with black, fairly long hair and a mustache.

O’Toole said the firearm allegedly used in the shooting along with a jacket were found in a parking lot behind the bar around 10:30 a.m.

“There are probably a lot of people out there who at least remember this incident,” O’Toole said. “We conducted a lot of interviews, but there wasn’t a lot of cooperation, which was likely out of fear.”

Thumbing through a stack of old files, O’Toole noted that a couple of hairs had been found with the gun and jacket, which he said may now be able to be further analyzed due to advances in technology.

Anyone with information about this cold case is urged to call the police at 781-595-2000.

Anonymous tips can be submitted by texting the word tiplynn and the information to tip411. Tips can also be sent through the department’s website, http://www.lynnpolice.org/, and clicking the “submit tip” icon.

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