Leo Frank TV

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 1st, 1913 By AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. Developments came thick and fast during the past week, and one is able to approach consideration of the Phagan case to-day with more assurance and ease of mind than heretofore. Distinctly have the clouds lifted, so I think, from about Leo Frank, and if not yet are they "in the deep bosom of the ocean buried," they have, nevertheless I take it, served to let a measure of the sunshine in. Leo Frank, snatching eagerly at that faltering ray of blessed and thrice-welcome light, may thank the negro Conley

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 1st, 1913 Negro Will Be Used as Material Evidence Against Frank, Says Solicitor Dorsey LEE LIKELY TO BE FREED Sweeper Sticks to Story Accusing Head of Pencil Factory of Phagan Slaying. The startling confessions by Jim Conley of the part he played in the Phagan murder mystery have not changed the State's case in any of its essential features, according to an announcement from Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey, at the close of a long examination of the negro yesterday. Stormed at for several hours by the Solicitor and the city detectives, Conley's story was unchanged

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 31st, 1913 Will Reconvene Next Tuesday for Routine Business Only, Declares Foreman Beck. Lewis H. Beck, foreman of the Fulton County Grand Jury, which has been called to meet in special session at 10 o'clock next Thursday morning, said Saturday afternoon that the Grand Jury positively would not take up either the Phagan case or the Felder-Beavers row. The purpose of the special session, Mr. Beck said, was to appoint certain committee. Mr. Beck went a step furthere and said the Grand Jury had been called for no other purpose except to appoint these committees and

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 31st, 1913 That The Georgian played a conspicuous part in obtaining the latest and most important confession from Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, in which he admitted his complicity in the crime, was the declaration of Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford late Friday afternoon. Chief Lanford, in telling of the cross-examination of Conley on Thursday afternoon which resulted in his confession, said that Conley for a long time persisted in maintaining that he knew no more of the crime than what which he had related previously. After several hours of futile questioning the chief showed him

    Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 31st, 1913 Police Hope Meeting Will Prove Whether Negro Will Stick to Latest Story Under Eyes of the Man He Accuses—Ready to Pay Penalty. A determined effort is being made by the police department to bring Leo M. Frank face to face with his accuser, Jim Conley, the negro sweeper. The detectives wish to learn how Conley will go through the ordeal of confronting the man he accuses of directing the disposal of the body of Mary Phagan, and dictating the notes that were found her body. They desire also to give Frank an

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 31st, 1913 In all the grim annals of Atlanta's criminal history an illiterate negro, Jim Conley, stands out to-day the principal figure in one of the most remarkable and dramatically impressive "third degrees" ever administered by the city police. A chief of police, ordinarily stolid and unmoved, and chief of detectives and members of his force, a Pinkerton operative—all men in daily touch with every sort of crime and evil—hung with tensest interest on each word as it came from the lips of the negro, and watched, as wide-eyed as any tyro in man-hunting, the negro's

    Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 30th, 1913 Chief of Detectives Lanford admitted Friday morning that Jim Conley, under the rack of the third degree, had made the astounding confession that he had assisted Leo M. Frank in disposing of the body of the murdered Mary Phagan. His new statement is believed to contain even more startling admissions than have not yet been made public. If the negro sweeper is to be believed after his long series of deceits and lies, this forms the most damaging evidence that has been brought against Frank since suspicion was first pointed in his

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, April 29th, 1913 Among all the hearts that are bowed down in sorrow over the murder of Mary Phagan, the 14-year-old factory child found dead in the National Pencil factory Saturday, there is none who feels the suffering and the anguish of the separation so keenly as her sister, Ollie, 18 years old, her companion since childhood. For with her it is the suffering of youth, when the rose-veil of life has been lifted to show its tragic and terrible side in all its fullness for the first time. And it is all the more pitiful for

    Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Arthur Mullinax was arrested by detectives late in the afternoon in Bellwood Avenue, near the viaduct, as he was on his way to his boarding house. His positive identification by E. L. Sentell, of 82 Davis Street, a clerk for the Kemper Grocery Company, as the man he saw with the little Phagan girl in Forsyth Street about 12:20 o'clock yesterday morning, and alleged discrepancies in the statement of the prisoner led Chief Beavers and Chief of Detectives Lanford to order him locked in a cell and held on suspicion. Sentell, who

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Investigate Story of Wife of Employee That She Saw Strange Negro Around Factory. The Pinkerton Detective Agency was brought into the Phagan murder mystery this afternoon when Leo Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil Company's factory, called upon the local representatives and engaged their services. The operatives went to work at once, following out clews already obtained and developing new ones. Their attention was called to the story of Mrs. Arthur White, wife of one of the employees of the factory, who went to the factory to see her husband Saturday. She noticed

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Slaying of Mary Phagan Arouses Friends of Family to Threats of Violence. "I wouldn't have liked to be held responsible for the fate of the murderer of little Mary Phagan if the men in this neighborhood had got hold of him last night," was the statement to-day of George W. Epps, 246 Fox Street, whose home adjoins that of Mrs. Coleman, mother of the slain girl. By to-day the first hot wave of indignation that cried for the blood of the criminal had had time to subside, but the feeling still ran high

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Superintendent Leo M. Frank Is Convinced Newt Morris Was Not Implicated. Owing to a delay in receipt of metal shipment part of the plant of the National Pencil Company had been shut down for most of the week and Mary Phagan worked but part of the time. A few minutes after 12 o'clock Saturday she went to the office and drew her pay, which amounted to $1.60. A holiday had been given the employees on Memorial Day and there were but very few about the place. The day watchman left shortly before 11

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Newt Lee, the negro-night-watchman arrested in connection with the Phagan murder, practically admitted to Detective John Black this afternoon that he knows something of the circumstances surrounding the death of the little girl. The police are confident that Lee will tell all he knows before 6 o'clock. Lee's admission came after he had been "sweated" for two hours by a corps of officers under the direction of Detective John Black, and was wrung from him by a trap which Black set and into which the negro walked. Black said: "Now, Lee, I know

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Edgar L. Sentell, twenty-one years old, a clerk employed in C. J. Kamper's store, and whose home is at 82 Davis Street, was one of the first to give the detectives a hopeful clue to the solution of the hideous mystery. Sentell, a well-known young man, had known Mary Phagan almost all her life. When she was just beginning to think of dolls with never a thought of dreary factories and the tragedies of life, he used to see her playing in the streets of East Point when her folks lived there. She

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Two mysterious notes—incoherent, misspelled and unintelligible—were found in the cellar of death; Were they written by the girl as she lay in delirium just before the end came, or Were they written by her slayer to throw the police off the track and turn suspicion towards a negro? Here they are: "He said he wood love me laid down like the night witch did it but that long tall black negro did by his sleb." "mama that negro hired down here did this I went to get water and he pushed me down

  This youth, formerly a street car conductor, is held in connection with the investigation of the slaying of Mary Phagan in the basement of the National Pencil Factory in South Forsyth Street. He stoutly denies any connection with the crime, and declares his arrest as a "horrible mistake." He has accounted for himself, and likely will be released.   Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Arthur Mullinax, identified as the man who was with Mary Phagan at midnight Saturday, a few short hours before her dead body was found, and now a prisoner in solitary confinement at police headquarters,

    Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Standing with bared head in the doorway of his Marietta home, with tears falling unheeded down his furrowed cheeks, W. J. Phagan cried to heaven for vengeance for the murder of his granddaughter, fourteen-year-old Mary Phagan, and vowed that he would not rest until the murderer had been brought to justice. In a silence unbroken save by the sound of his own sobs and the noise of the gently falling rain, the old man lifted his quavering voice in a passionate plea for the life of the wretch who had lured the

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Stepfather and Sister to Accompany Body, But Mother May Not Be Able to Go. The body of murdered Mary Phagan, which has been at the Bloomfield morgue since she was found strangled to death Sunday morning, will be taken to Marietta to-morrow morning at 8:35 o'clock, over the W. & A. Railroad. At noon the funeral services will be held and the body of the child will be laid to rest in the family lot in the Marietta Cemetary. W. J. Coleman, the girl's stepfather, and her sister, Miss Ollie Phagan, will accompany

    Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Declaring her belief in the absolute innocence of her sweetheart, Arthur Mullinax, in the murder of Mary Phagan, pretty 16-year-old Pearl Robinson made a pathetic figure as she appeared before Chief of Detectives Lanford this afternoon and accounted for the whereabouts of Mullinax Saturday night up until about 10:30 o'clock. With Miss Robinson were Mrs. Emma Rutherford, the landlady of Mullinax, and her two sons, Thomas and James, who took up the moves of Mullinax from the time he left Miss Robinson until the next morning, establishing what appears to be a

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Pieces of wood, the stains on which are believed to be those of the blood of murdered Mary Phagan, are undergoing a chemical examination this afternoon by the city chemist. The discovery of white powder on the factory floor strengthened the belief that a frantic effort had been made to erase the evidences of the crime. The powder resembled very much cleaning preparations that are used. * * * Atlanta Georgian, April 28th 1913, "City Chemist Test Stains for Blood," Leo Frank case newspaper article series  

    Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 In the room where Mary Phagan was attacked and paid out her young life to the brutality of her assailant, across the floor where her limp form was dragged, down the stairs and down through the square trap-door into the dirty basement where her body was found, Chief of Police Beavers and two detectives trailed, step by step, every move of the girl's murderer to-day. Determined that not a clew should be overlooked in the efforts to fix guilt upon the man or men that took the young girl's life, the Chief

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Stretched full length, face downward on the floor of the basement at the rear of the plant, the body was found. A length of heavy cord or wrapping twine, which had been used by the slayer to strangle the child after he had beaten her to insensibility, was looped around the neck, and a clumsy bandage of cloth, torn from her petticoat, as if to conceal the horrible method of murder swathed the face. The stray end of the cord lay along the child's back between her two heavy braids of dark red

  Photograph of Mary Phagan showing her in street dress. JOHN M. GANTT ACCUSED OF THE CRIME; FORMER BOOKKEEPER TAKEN BY POLICE Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 J. M. Gantt, arrested in Marietta for the murder of Mary Phagan, gave to a reporter for The Georgian his story of his actions that led to his arrest. He protested his innocence, and declared he was home in bed at the time the crime is supposed to have been committed. In striking contradiction to this statement is the assertion of Mrs. F. C. Terrell, of 284 East Linden Street, where Gantt

  Edgar L. Sentell, lifelong friend of Mary Phagan, says he saw a man answering this description, walking with the girl after midnight Sunday, a few hours before the body was found. He has identified the man as Arthur Mullinax, who, however, was to-day apparently cleared by an alibi established by his sweetheart.   Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 E. S. Skipper Tells Police He Saw Lads Urging Her Down Street Night of Crime. The story of three men leading a weeping, unwilling girl on Forsyth Street Saturday night is being sounded to its depths to-day by Atlanta policemen

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 "I'd help lynch the man that killed poor Mary. If they'd let me, I'd like to hold the rope that choked him to death. That's all he deserves. I was playing with Mary only a few days ago. She was my playmate nearly every day. But when I saw her dead body I wouldn't have known her, her face was so bruised and out and swollen. It was horrible. I hope they catch the man that did it."—VERA EPPS, twelve-year-old chum of Mary Phagan. Vera Epps clenched her little hands and anger blazed

  The Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Coroner's Jury inspects remains and scene of tragedy, then waits until Wednesday Lying on a slab in the chapel of the Bloomfield undertaking establishment, with the white throat bearing the red marks of the rope that strangled her, the body of Mary Phagan was viewed by thousands this morning. No such gathering of the morbidly curious has ever before been seen in Atlanta. More people were attracted than by any crime in the history of the city. The crowds came in droves, and a steady procession passed before the slab on which

  Mary Phagan, 14-year-old daughter of Mrs. J. W. Coleman, 146 Lindsay Street, whose slain body was found in the basement of the National Pencil Factory, 37-39 South Forsyth Street. The girl left her home Saturday morning to go to the factory, where she had been employed, to draw wages due her. She was seen on the streets at midnight Saturday with a strange man. She was not seen alive thereafter. MRS. COLEMAN PROSTRATED BY CHILD'S DEATH Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 "No Working Girl Is Safe," She Sobs, Overcome by Her Sudden Sorrow. Lying on the bed in

  At the right is Miss Ruth Phagan, aunt of Mary Phagan, and in her arms is Miss Ollie Phagan, sister of the victim, whom she is trying to comfort.   Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Gantt was arrested on a warrant sworn out, in Judge Powers' court, charging him with murder. Gantt was last seen before his arrest at 8:45 this morning by Herbert Schiff, assistant superintendent of the factory. A few minutes later he was on a car bound for Marietta. The officers in Marietta were notified by telephone and were on the watch for a man

The Atlanta Georgian,Sunday, 5th October 1913,PAGE 5.Hearing of Motion for New Trial IsPostponed on Motion of SolicitorDorsey. Henslee Indignantly DeniesAllegation That He Was Biased.Confronted by 173 pages of alleged errors made by the trial judge, nine volumes of evidence and a mass of affidavits charging prejudice on the part of the jury. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey and his assistant, A. H. Stephens, Monday morning will begin in earnest their work of combating the legal issues raised by the defense in its motion for a new trial for Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the National pencil factory, convicted of the

The Atlanta Georgian,Tuesday, 30th September 1913,PAGE 1, COLUMN 1.SOLICITOR EXPECTED TO SEEK DELAYDefense to File Plea for New TrialWednesday State FacesDifficult Task.Fight for the life of Leo M. Frank, sentenced to be hanged Oct 10, 1913, for the murder of Mary Phagan, will assume activity Wednesday, when the papers in the motion for a new trial will be filed by attorneys for the defense.Solicitor Hugh Dorsey will begin an examination of the papers immediately in an effort to complete his answer by Saturday, the date set for the hearing of the motion for a new trial.Regardless of the success or

The Atlanta Georgian,Monday, 29th September 1913,PAGE 11, COLUMN 4.Dorsey Can Not Tell if He WillBe Ready by Saturday, andRosser Says Nothing.Postponement of the hearing of the motion next Saturday for a new trial for Leo M. Frank, convicted of the murder of Mary Phagan, appeared certain Monday, according to information from various authoritative sources.The probabilities of the motion being heard before Judge Roan, the trial judge, were as much in doubt as ever, despite the fact that Judge Roan has expressed a desire to see the case disposed of before he retries from the bench, as well as the desire

The Atlanta Georgian,Sunday, 28th September 1913,PAGE 7, COLUMN 5.Notice of Judge Roan CompelsSolicitor Dorsey to PrepareAnswer By October 11.Who will sit as judge on the appeal of Leo Frank's lawyers for a new trial?Judge L. S. Roan, eager to dispose of all his Superior Court cases before he takes the seat on the Court of Appeals bench to which he was appointed. Saturday requested Solicitor General Dorsey to have all pending motions set for October 4 and October 11. He expressed at the same time the hope that the Frank motion be decided, so far as the Superior Court is

The atlanta Georgian,Monday, 22nd September 1913,PAGE 7, COLUMN 6.JUDGE ROAN NOTTO HEAR FRANKTRIAL MOTIONFour Superior Judges Will ElectOne of Their Number toPass on Plea.The puzzle in regard to the judge who will hear the motion for a new trial for Leo M. Frank as well as the date of the convening of the new branch of the Atlanta Superior Court, was cleared up somewhat Monday when it became known on good authority that Judge Ben Hill, appointed to the new judgeship, would tender his resignation as judge of the Court of Appeals on October 11.Should the motion for a new

The Atlanta Georgian, Wednesday, 17th September 1913. PAGE 20, COLUMN 3 Witnesses Tell Grand Jury Jack- Son Killing Was Justified No Bill' Asked for Newt Lee. That W. D. Partee, a locomotive engineer, who on July 28 shot and killed Samuel Jackson, another engineer, in the yards of the Georgia Railroad, acted in self-defense was the testimony given before the Fulton County Grand Jury when it met Tuesday morning. J. W. Hix, of Etowah, Tenn., an eyewitness to the shooting, testified that Jackson cursed Partee and then attacked him before the latter drew his weapon and fired the fatal bullet.

  The Atlanta Georgian, Wednesday, 17th September 1913. PAGE 6, COLUMN 5 Attorney Will Permit Him to Plead Guilty Only to Misdemeanor, Judge Sought. Jim Conley's trial on a felony charge as accessory after the fact in the murder of Mary Phagan will be strongly combated by his attorney, William M. Smith, according to an announcement made Tuesday. It is the contention that Conley, on the State's own theory of the crime, is guilty of nothing more than a misdemeanor, and that he can not be tried for a crime of which he is not accused. Two indictments were drawn

The Atlanta Georgian,Tuesday, 16th September 1913.Frank Case and New Bench Appointments Cause Congestionin Court 100 Await Trial.Solicitor General Dorsey is on a still hunt for a judge to conduct the large grist of cases which have piled up since the June term of court. The Frank trial caused all other court busine accumulate, and the recent bench appointments still further have delayed the disposal of several scores of cases.More than one hundred prisoners are in the county jail awaiting trial. Some of them have been there much longer than is usual to hold them before trial. The Solicitor wishes to

Atlanta Georgian Saturday , May 24th, 1913 Here follows, in part, the alleged dictograph record of the conversation that took place in a room in the Williams House Wednesday afternoon between Colonel Thomas B. Felder, G. C. Febuary and A. S. Colyar. Febuary: Let me understand you. You want this Coleman afdavit and all other Phagan afdavits that I can get hold of. Felder: Yes. Colyar told me that he was to have the evidence that would get those two chiefs out of commission, the Phagan papers and the Coleman afdavit. Now what have you got? Febuary: I haven't got these

The Atlanta Georgian,Monday, 25th August 1913.This photo wassnapped asFrank left theTower.Frank alwaysis nattilyattired, and walks briskly from the autowhich bringshim from the tower to courtroom.The accused never ishandcuffedto the Sheriff,as are menconsidereddesperateprisoners.PACKED COURTROOMAPPLAUDS AS DORSEYBEGINS CLOSING PLEARefreshed by the weekend recess, Solicitor General Dorsey returned Monday to the State's closing argument. By the force of logic and denunciation of his final words to the jury the Solicitor hopes to obtain a verdict of guilty against Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan.The day and a half intermission furnished a breathing spell for the State's prosecutor. He came

  The Atlanta Georgian, Friday, 22nd August 1913. LEADING COUNSEL FO FRANK IN FULL SWING Rosser's work on the Frank case has taxed even his remarkable physique. He has lost 25 pounds in weight. Luther Z. Rosser Closes Arguments For defense. CLOSING ARGUMENTS MAY TAKE ENTIRE DAY; DORSEY TO END CASE Quietly but impressively, Luther Z. Rosser began the final pick in the defense of Leo M. Frank, accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, Friday morning. He spoke without heat in the introduction of his speech. He said that but for his profound PAGE 2 FRANK TRIAL NEARING END;

The Atlanta Georgian,Thursday, 28th August 1913.Solicitor Cites Prisoner's State-ment on Stand, "Now is the Time, This is the Place."Solicitor Dorsey was as busily engaged on the Frank case Thursday as he was any day before Leo Frank was convicted of the murder of Mary Phagan. If the factory superintendent finally succeeds in avoiding the penalty fixed it will not be because the Solicitor has not fought to the uttermost of his strength to put the rope around Frank's neck.Briefly but pointedly Solicitor Dorsey Thursday morning summed up his opinion of Leo Frank's latest alleged statement concerning the trial and the

The Atlanta Georgian,Tuesday, 19th August 1913.PAGE 1DORSEY ADMITS HE MADE ERASURE ON FACTORY TIME SLIPWith the State determined to make a desperate fight to broad down the impressive story told by Leo M. Frank in his own behalf the trial of the man accused of Mary Phagan's murder was resumed Tuesday morning.The defense added a few finishing touches to its case calling Mrs. Emil Selig, the prisoner's mother-in-law to identify a suit of brown clothes worn by Frank on Memorial day.Wiley Roberts, assistant jailer at the Tower was called but did not answer to his name and proceedings were held