219 Page – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

Here is the translated text as follows:

LEO M. FRANK, 187

After drinking beer, which had caused him to sweat, Jim Conley was approached by Leo Frank, who asked if he could write. Frank then dictated to Conley three times, informing him that he intended to send the note in a letter to Conley's family, recommending him. Frank questioned, "Why should I hang?" He then took a cigarette from a box and handed the box to Conley. Upon crossing the street, Conley discovered two paper dollars and two silver quarters inside the box, prompting him to exclaim, "Good luck has struck me."

At a beer saloon, Conley purchased a half-pint of whiskey, a bucket, fifteen cents' worth of beer, ten cents' worth of stove wood, and a nickel's worth of pan sausage. He gave his wife $3.50 and did not leave home until around noon on Sunday. On Tuesday morning, Frank came upstairs and told Conley to be a good boy. On Wednesday, Conley washed his shirt at the factory and hung it on a steam pipe to dry. The detectives took the shirt, found no blood on it, and returned it.

On May 29, 1913, Conley made another affidavit, stating that Frank had told him he had picked up a girl, let her fall, and Conley had shouted that the girl was dead. Frank instructed Conley to go to the cotton bag and retrieve a piece of cloth. Conley obtained a wide piece of cloth and attempted to carry the girl on his right shoulder, but she was too heavy and slipped off. He called for Frank's help, and Frank used a key to operate the elevator. Together, they carried the body downstairs, and Frank told Conley to take the body back to the sawdust piles. Conley lifted the girl onto his shoulder while Frank returned up the ladder. Conley then removed the cloth from around her, collected her hat and slipper, which he had picked up upstairs where her body had been lying, and brought them downstairs. He untied the cloth, brought the items back, and "threw them on the trash pile" in front of the furnace.

When Frank was arrested and indicted for the murder, intense excitement and fear of lynching gripped Atlanta. The Governor of the state had the military on standby to protect the prisoner if the jail was attacked. During the trial, the spectators were once again filled with anticipation and tension.