Category: ALONZO MANN HOAX

Date: March 4, 1982 Location: State of Tennessee, County of Sullivan AFFIDAVIT In the State of Tennessee, County of Sullivan. The undersigned, being duly sworn, deposes as follows: My name is Alonzo McClendon Mann. I am 83 years old. I was born near Memphis, Tennessee, on August 8, 1898. My father was Alonzo Mann, who was born in Germany. My mother was Hattie McClendon Mann. When I was a small boy my family moved to Atlanta, where I spent most of my life. In 1913 I was the office boy for Leo M. Frank, who ran the National Pencil Company.

Pinkerton Report: Leo Frank Case Source: Leo M. Frank Collection, M. S. 237, Box 1, Folder 1, American Jewish Archives, 3101 Clifton Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45220 Reporting Officer: Assistant Superintendent Harry Scott Location: Atlanta, Georgia Date: Tuesday, May 6, 1913 Detective Black and I left the Quinn residence at 11:06 a.m. and walked very slowly along Mr. Quinn’s reported route, stopping five minutes at Wolfsheimer’s store, then proceeding to the factory, arriving at 11:25 a.m. Upon arrival at the factory we interviewed Alonzo Mann, the office boy, residing at 109 South Gordon Street. Employed at the factory for only one

The original 91 page document contains a 55 page typed transcript of an affidavit given by Alonzo Mann (Born on August 8, 1898 and passed away on March 11, 1985). The affidavit was stenographed by a court reporter and allegedly videotaped on November 10, 1982, concerning the April 26, 1913 molestation-murder of Mary Phagan, nearly seven decades earlier. The first application to exonerate Leo Frank, submitted immediately after this affidavit, was denied in 1983. A second effort, however, led to a posthumous pardon of Leo Frank without exoneration, some three years later, following years of non-publicized backroom negotiations between members

Page 1. AFFIDAVIT      IN THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, COUNTY OF SULLIVAN      The undersigned, being duly sworn, deposes as follows:      My name is Alonzo McClendon Mann. I am 83 years old. I was born near Memphis Tennessee, on August 8, 1898. My father was Alonzo Mann, who was born in Germany. My mother was Hattie McClendon Mann. When I was a small boy my family moved to Atlanta where I spent most of my life.      In 1913 I was the office boy for Leo M. Frank, who ran the National Pencil Co. That

page 2 practically nothing. I was nervous and afraid that day. There were crowds in the street who were angry and who were saying that Leo Frank should die. Some were yelling things like, "Kill the Jew!"      I was very nervous. The courtroom was filled with people. Every seat was taken. I was interested mostly in getting out of there.      I spoke with a speech impediment and had trouble pronouncing the "r" in Frank's name in those days. The lawyers put their heads together and said that it was obvious I knew nothing and since I

Page 3       My job required that I open the mail, file papers, keep the office orderly, run errands and the like.       Leo Frank arrived in the building that morning shortly after I did. He came into the office and spoke to me. I always called him "Mister Frank" and he referred to me by my given name, "Alonzo." I do not know whether Leo Frank had seen Jim Conley on the first floor when he came into the building that morning.       A substitute secretary worked for Leo Frank that morning. As

Page 4.       She had told me that if she was unable to come, for me not to worry. I waited for her for a few minutes. Since I didn't care that much about seeing the parade I went back to work.       I can't be sure as to exactly how long I was gone, but it could not have been more than half hour before I got back to the pencil factory.       I had no idea that I was about to witness an important moment in a famous murder case--a moment that

Page 5. the shaft would have been open. Conley could have dumped her down the empty elevator shaft. I believe for some reason, Jim Conley turned around toward me. He either heard by footsteps coming or he sensed I was behind him. He wheeled on me and in a voice that was low but threatening and frightening to me he said:       "If you ever mention this I'll kill you."        I turned and took a step or two--possibly three or four steps--up toward the second floor, but I must have worried about whether the office

Page 6. the building and saw Conley with the body.       When Frank went to trial and I was called as a witness, my mother tole me I would have to go and testify. She repeated to me what she already had told me the day of Mary Phagan's murder. She told me to keep to myself what I had seen. She said if it were not asked a specific question I did not have to give a specific answer.       Jim Conley was the chief witness against Leo Frank.       He testified that

Page 7. girl's money and grabbed her. I do not think sex was his motive. I believe it was money. Her pay was never found in the building after she died.        Many times I have thought since all of this occurred almost 70 years ago that if I had hollered or yelled for help when I ran into Conley with the girl in his arms that day that I might have saved her life. I might have. On the other hand, I might have lost my own life. If I had told what I saw that day

Page 8. until it was too late to save Leo Frank's life. They will say that being young is no excuse. They will blame my mother. The only thing I can say is that she did what she thought was best for me and the family. Other people may hate me for telling it. I hope not, but I am prepared for that, too. I know that I haven't a long time to live. All that I have said is the truth. When my time comes I hope that God understands me better for having told it. That is what

In the 1982 to 1983 timeframe, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles reviewed the "new evidence" presented by Jewish activist groups, including Anti-Defamation League, Atlanta Jewish Federation and American Jewish Committe. The new evidence was nothing more than the statements transcribed from a video recording of a dubious Alonzo Mann affidavit, and the Board determined after much deliberation that Mann's statements 70 years later did not change anything about the evidence, other than the method by which Jim Conley moved the body of Mary Phagan (using the stairs, instead of the elevator). Mann's 1982 statements wildly contradicted statements he