Tuesday, 19th August 1913: Wife At Last Breaks Down, Overcome By Frank’s Story, The Atlanta Georgian
The Atlanta Georgian,
Tuesday, 19th August 1913,
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MOTHER OF LEO FRANK
Mrs. Rea Frank.
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After having braved every trying courtroom ordeal and faced every horrible charge hurled at her husband with a stoicism almost as unflinching and imperturbable as his, Mrs. Leo Frank gave away completely to her emotions and sobbed unrestrainedly as Frank said the last words of his wonderful and most impressive address to the jury Monday.
It was the final dramatic touch to a situation that had held a courtroom full of spectators in an irresistible thrall through four long hours of the afternoon.
The spell that had been cast over the room by the quiet but earnest words of the slight young factory superintendent was broken by the tones of the deputies, who shouted the moment Frank rose to leave the witness chair:
"Keep your seats, gentlemen, while the jury passes out."
Frank Rushes to Wife.
In the confusion that followed some did not notice that Frank rushed right to the side of his wife, who had thrown her head in her arms and was shaking with pitiful sobs as she moaned his name again and again.
The woman who had steeled herself against the accusations and innuendoes of the Solicitor General during the three long weeks of the trial col-lapsed when her husband himself took the stand to declare his innocence.
Many who had rushed into the inclosure to give their congratulations to Frank paused as they observed the piteous figure.
The jurors, already deeply impressed by the talk of Frank, were freshly touched by this exhibition of emotion. They had arisen to file over to the Kimball House. Juror Johenning, at the head of the line, stood for several minutes with tears running down his cheeks, oblivious of the fact that he was blocking the rest of the jurors and that three deputies were waiting to take them on their way.
Deputy Sheriff Plennie Miner leaned against the railing of the inclosure. There was a suspicious moisture in his eyes, which have grown accustomed to many tragic and affecting spectacles.
Troublesome Lump Rises.
Very few in the courtroom had much to say until they had managed to subdue that troublesome lump that persisted in rising in their throats.
"Rube, that boy put it all over you and me," muttered massive Luther Rosser, huskily, to Reuben Arnold, his partner in the case.
For many minutes after the packed courtroom had emptied itself a little group of persons remained in front of the judge's bench. Mrs. Frank, the wife of the man accused of the revolting murder, and the elder Mrs. Frank, his mother, were weeping hysterically, overcome by the appeal that had been made. Relatives surrounded them. Frank talked comfortingly to them for several minutes, and then, feeling in danger of breaking down himself, signaled Sheriff Mangum and returned to his cell in the Tower.