Leo Frank TV

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, June 7th, 1913 Getting New Evidence to Show Negro Was Located in Factory—Theory Explains Mystery of Staple Pulled From Back Door of Basement. The defense of Leo Frank against the charge of murdering Mary Phagan will be more than a mere attempt to clear Frank's skirts of the crime. It will seek directly to fix upon James Conley, negro, full and complete responsibility for the crime. Despite the secretiveness and the silence of Frank's attorneys, it has been ascertained with a reasonable degree of authority that the foregoing is the program of the defense, and that the

Atlanta Georgian Friday, June 6th, 1913 St. Louis, June 6.—That a negro, who is alleged to have said he witnessed the murder of Mary Phagan in Atlanta, is under arrest in Cairo, Ill., and is about to be returned to Atlanta by a Pinkerton detective, was the information brought into St. Louis today by a passenger who declared he overheard a conversation betwene the detective and an attorney in the case who were on the train en route to Cairo. According to the passenger, the negro has admitted that he was in Atlanta with a show at the time of

L. H. Beck, foreman of Fulton County Grand Jury that is investigating vice conditions in Atlanta, the Felder bribery charges and the famous dictograph row. Mr. Beck is the one who launched the probe of reports that vice exists here. Atlanta Georgian Friday, June 6th, 1913 Resort in Spring Street Flourishes While Injunction Prevents Police Interference It became known Friday that Chief of Police James L. Beavers made the startling charge before the vice investigating Grand Jury that the courts of the State of Georgia made it impossible for him to close the most notorious resort that had ever operated

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 Utter repudiation of the affidavits which she was alleged to have sworn to incriminating conversations in the home of Leo M. Frank, indicted for the slaying of Mary Phagan, was made Thursday by Minola McKnight, negro cook for the accused factory superintendent and his wife's parents. The woman denies absolutely every statement attributed to her by the police, and denies that she even signed the paper made public by the police. The Georgian presented the McKnight affidavit to its readers with the distinct admonition that it must not be accepted as credible evidence until

George Gentry, operator of the dictograph, alleged to have trapped Colonel T. B. Felder and Mayor Woodward. Gentry now is missing. Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 Probers Question Colyar and Febuary About Alleged Admissions by Negro. Chief Lanford, in discussing the near-fight between himself and Attorney Felder in Solicitor Dorsey's office Thursday morning, characterized his opponent as all bluff. "Felder is a coward and void of all truth," declared Chief Lanford. "If I had been left with him alone for one minute I would have showed the rascal up. I wouldn't have cared if he had a dozen pistols.

Portrait of Lucille Selig Frank Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 Following the complete denial by Minola McKnight, cook in the household of Leo M. Frank, of the statements she is alleged to have made in the sensational police affidavit given out Wednesday, Mrs. Leo M. Frank Thursday made her first public statement on the Mary Phagan mystery. Mrs. Frank makes an eloquently pathetic defense of her husband and attacks Solicitor General Dorsey's methods in the securing of evidence, charging torture and a deliberate determination to distort facts. Mrs. Frank denies absolutely that her husband in any way demeaned himself

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 With the time when Leo M. Frank will go on trial for the murder of Mary Phagan rapidly approaching, perhaps no greater reinforcement to the accused pencil factory superintendent in facing his ordeal has been made than that in the person of his mother, who is now in Atlanta at the Selig home. Mrs. Frank came on from Brooklyn, where she makes her home, and where Frank himself formerly resided. She will remain until after the trial. A woman of considerable age, Mrs. Frank has shown wonderful bravery in coming to share her son's

  Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 Attorney Reiterates Graft Accusations Following Lanford's Defiance—Offers More Proof. Newport A. Lanford, Chief of Detectives, issued a statement Thursday morning defying Colonel Thomas B. Felder, or anyone, to substantiate the charge of graft made against him and his department in the Grand Jury's probe of vice conditions and alleged corruption in the detective and police departments. "I defy Felder, or anyone, to prove to the Grand Jury that a penny of graft has ever gone into the detective department, and I defy him to substantiate one of his blackmailing utterances against me. He

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, June 4th, 1913 While police activities have been turned to this line of investigation, the negro sweeper, Jim Conley, has been given a rest. Chief of Detectives Lanford stated that the negro would be quizzed no more. Cook Counted on by Defense. "If he has not told the whole truth," said the Chief, "he will send for me within the next few days, I believe." The cook is one of the five witnesses upon whom the defense has relied to prove that Frank returned home for luncheon at 1:20 o'clock the Saturday afternoon of the murder and

Mayor James G. Woodward (left), leaving Grand Jury room after testifying in vice probe; Thomas B. Felder (middle), who exonerates Beavers of graft charges but declares war on Lanford; Carl Hutcheson (right), who gave Grand Jury list of "houses in our midst." Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, June 4th, 1913 Police Commissioner Accused Before Grand Jury of Brawl in Disorderly House. As a climax of revelations made before the Grand Jury in its probe of vice conditions in Atlanta, Police Commissioner William F. Fain was named as the central figure in a carousal said to have been held in a house on

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, June 4th, 1913 Says She Heard Frank's Wife Tell Mother Frank Had Threatened Suicide Incoherent Statement by Employee of Frank Household That Must Not Be Taken as Legal Evidence Until Heard and Corroborated in Court. Another sensational but strangely incoherent affidavit in the Mary Phagan mystery was made public this afternoon when the police gave out what purports to be a startling statement sworn to by Minola McKnight, negro cook in the Frank household, who was grilled for two hours at police headquarters Tuesday. The statement quotes the McKnight woman as declaring that she overheard Mrs. Leo

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, June 3rd, 1913 Defense Prepares to Show Glaring Discrepancies in Affidavit of James Conley. "Developments of a startling nature may be expected from day to day in the Phagan case," said Chief of Detectives Lanford Tuesday morning. "They may be expected right up to the date that the trial of Leo Frank begins. "That we feel we practically have a conclusive case against the factory superintendent does not mean that we are resting in our labors to the slightest extent. We are a little more at rest in our minds, that is all. "The detectives are working

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, June 3rd, 1913 Attorney Ready to Go Before Grand Jury, but Has Not Been Called; Hutcheson Summoned in the Airing of the Dictograph Controversy. Colonel Thomas B. Felder appeared before the Grand Jury Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock, prepared, he said, to substantiate every charge he had made against the police department and its heads, and promising to open the eyes of the city to a condition of affairs that was startling in the extreme. "I have not been served with a subpena to go before the Grand Jury," Colonel Felder said, "but Mr. Hutcheson has been,

Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 2nd, 1913 Woman Questioned by Dorsey, Becomes Hysterical; Solicitor Refuses to Tell Whether She Gave Important Information; Alibi for Defense. Minola Mcknight, the negro cook in the household of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Selig, 68 Georgia Avenue, with whom Leo M. Frank lived, was put through the severest sort of grilling in the office of Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey Monday in an effort to break down Frank's alibi which tends to show that he was at home about the time James Conley swore the notes found by Mary Phagan's body were written. The negro woman grew

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 2nd, 1913 Dictograph conversations and alleged bribery charges will be discussed by Chief of Police Beavers and Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey at a conference to be held to-day. Chief Beavers is ready to have every one who had anything to do with the graft charges called before the Grand Jury, and if conspiracy can be proven it is very probable there will be indictments. However, it is all up to Solicitor General Dorsey just what will be done. It is thought that, owing to the present state of the Phagan case, the dictographers will not

Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 2nd, 1913 Defense to Cite Discrepancies in Time to Disprove Conley's Affidavit—Sheriff Denies Friends of Superintendent Approached Sweeper in Cell. After a two-hour grilling by Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey Minola McKnight, a negro woman about 21 years old, was taken to police headquarters and is held under suspicion in connection with the murder of Mary Phagan. She is believed to have made sensational disclosures to the solicitor. At the police station she was in hysteria, shouting: "I am going to hang, but I didn't do it." * * * Five persons will be prepared to testify

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 Sunday, June 1st, 1913 Parents Intended to Give Child Happy Surprise—Now They Will Strew Flowers on Her Grave in Marietta Churchyard. By MIGNON HALL. This will be the saddest Sunday with Mary Phagan's family since that fatal Sunday just five weeks ago when the little girl's body was found hidden away in the basement of the National Pencil factory. For to-day is Mary's birthday, and it had been planned by her mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Coleman, that they would give her a party. If she had lived it would have been celebrated last night

  Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 1st, 1913 ‘He Has Told the Whole Truth—There's Not a Lawyer Who Can Shake Him,' Asserts Chief. Jim Conley has told the whole truth—there's not a shadow of a doubt about it. We feel perfectly satisfied now with the case against Frank. If we had the least suspicion that his story were false, we could not feel satisfied—we would be puzzled and worried just as much as when the crime was first committed. Conley's evidence cinches the case against Frank. He will go on the witness stand in the trial of Frank and tell his

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June, 1st, 1913 Does Not Deviate In Least From Detailed Story Despite Traps to Snare Him FRANK APPEARS PLEASED Prisoner Tells His Friends That Sweeper's Affidavit Is Good News to Him A gruelling cross-examination of Jim Conley, confessed accessory in the murder of Mary Phagan, in an effort to break down his charges against Leo M. Frank as the actual slayer of the little girl, was made by Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey late Saturday afternoon. Before the rapid-fire questioning, in which every imaginable snare was set to entrap him, the negro did not deviate one iota

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 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 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 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 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 Thursday, May 29th, 1913 Dorsey Ready to Act if Negro Sticks to Latest Story Accusing Frank. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey announced that if Conley persisted in his story he would take steps to have him indicted as an accessory after the fact and bring him to trial on this charge. Conley was Friday afternoon removed to the Tower, on an order signed by Judge Roan. Conley's startling tale came late Thursday afternoon after he had been under a merciless sweating for nearly three hours. Noting the signs of weakening, Detective Harry Scott and Chief Lanford shot question

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 29th, 1913 Swears Frank Told Him Girl Had Hit Her Head Against Something. The Georgian in it second Extra published exclusively the first REAL confession of James Conley, the negro sweeper at the National Pencil Factory, regarding the part he played in the Mary Phagan mystery. The Georgian has dealt in no haphazard guesses as to the negro Conley's testimony to the police and in giving prominence to his statements desires to say that it must not be taken as final until it is examined at the trial of Frank. Atlanta, Georgia, April 29, 1913. On

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 29th, 1913 Believed Beavers Will Try to Have Grand Jury Consider Accusations Against Attorney. That bribery charges against Colonel Thomas B. Felder and others will be placed before the Fulton County Grand Jury by police officials, was the indication when G. C. February, secretary of Chief of Detectives Lanford, and the person alleged to have been offered $1,000 in bribe money, secured a subpena Thursday afternoon for A. S. Colyar, Jr., to appear before Solicitor General Dorsey and give testimony Friday morning. The subpena formally summoned Colyar, who was the author of the dictographing of Felder

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 29th, 1913 All Evidence Gathered by His Operatives Sent to the Noted Detective. James Conley, the negro sweeper at the National Pencil Factory who has turned suspicion on himself with a maze of contradictory statements, was put through a gruelling third degree examination at police headquarters this afternoon. Pinkerton Detective Harry Scott said as the grilling began before Chief Beavers and Chief Lanford that he expected to glean important information. Scott had interviewed factory employees and was convinced that there were many things to be cleared up before the negro's second affidavit, on which the police

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 28th, 1913 Declares That He Will "Clean Out" Disorderly Places When Hutcheson Furnishes List. Renewed crusades to clean out vice in Atlanta have been precipitated by the publication Tuesday of an open letter to Chief of Police Beavers by Carl Hutcheson, an Atlanta attorney. Chief Beavers called up Hutcheson with a demand for his information, asking names, addresses and character of occupants, and declared Wednesday that he would proceed to clean up if the requested information was furnished. Hutcheson is now preparing a list of the places which he declared are immoral and told the chief

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 28th, 1913 Mrs. Rebecca Brannon Declares Her Belief in Innocence of Factory Superintendent. Mrs. Rebecca C. Brannon, 356 Forest Avenue, a well known Atlanta woman, has written a letter to The Georgian in defense of Leo M. Frank. Mrs. Brannon, in her communication, avows a strong belief in the pencil factory superintendent's innocence, and denounces the hardships which the law has thrust upon him. In line with its policy to present all sides of the Phagan case, The Georgian herewith prints Mrs. Brannon's letter: In the name of God, humanity, and justice, I beg the public

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 28th, 1913 Police Secure Admission From Negro Sweeper During Examination for Phagan Clews. Admission that he was in the National Pencil factory on the day of the murder of Mary Phagan was gained from James Conley, the negro sweeper on whom suspicion has turned, after cross-examination by detectives at police headquarters. The negro, who became the center of attention with his amazing story that Leo Frank had told him to write the death notes, changed his narrative again to-day. Confronted by E. F. Holloway, a foreman in the plant, he admitted having been in the factory

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 28th, 1913 Negro Sweeper in New Affidavit Denies His Former Testimony and Makes Startling Assertions; Now Declares He Wrote Notes Saturday. James Conley, negro sweeper, in an affidavit made Wednesday, said that he was lying when he said he went to the National Pencil Factory on Friday. He said that he made the statement that it was Friday when Frank (as he says) told him to write the death notes, because he was afraid he would be accused of the murder of Mary Phagan if he told the truth. He said he felt that if he

Luther Z. Rosser, who is leading attorney of counsel for the defense of Leo M. Frank, indicted for the murder of Mary Phagan at the National Pencil factory. Mr. Rosser, as usual, is playing a game of silence. He has not indicated his line of defense. Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 27th, 1913 What will be the defense of Leo M. Frank when he is called upon next month to answer to the charge of strangling little Mary Phagan? With the confident announcement of the police Monday that they had completed a case against the factory superintendent that was as conclusive

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 27th, 1913 Attorney Carl Hutcheson Accuse Beavers of Permitting Unlawful Houses to Operate. GAMBLER'S PLOT, SAYS LANFORD IN HOT REPLY Detective Head Declares "Ring" Is Trying to Fix Charge of Bribery Against Him. Ignoring the fresh volley of charges made by Carl Hutcheson, an attorney, who offers to cite resorts which are allowed to operate by the city police. Chief Beavers Tuesday morning reiterated his declaration that the entire matter would be laid bare before the Grand Jury for decision. Detective Chief Lanford revealed another angle of the warfare when he declared that the fight being

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 27th, 1913 C. W. Tobie, chief criminal investigator for the Burns Detective Agency, formally withdrew from the Phagan investigation Tuesday morning. The calling off of the Burns forces was announced by Dan P. Lehon, superintendent of the Southern branch, after Tobie had stated explicitly that he would not withdraw from the case. Colonel Thomas B. Felder, who brought the Burns detectives into the Phagan case, would make no statement relative to their withdrawal but announced that it did not mean the end of his investigation or connection with the case. Tobie made up his mind last

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 27th, 1913 Negro, Whose Story That He Wrote Notes at Frank's Dictation Is Generally Disbelieved, Was Often Drunk. Mrs. White Can Not Identify Him. Suspicion in the Phagan case was Tuesday morning turned full-flare upon James Conley, the negro whose unexpected assertion last week that he had written the notes found beside the body of Mary Phagan, at the dictation of Leo M. Frank, was followed by a speedy indictment of the pencil factory superintendent. In the opinion of E. F. Holloway, timekeeper and foreman in the factory, Conley is the guilty man. Careful study of

Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 26th, 1913 Police Board Minority as Anxious to Overthrow Chairman as Beavers and Lanford. Well informed politicians declared Monday that any efforts to remove Chief of Police Beavers and Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford were doomed to failure because of the support of the two officers by Carlos Mason, chairman of the Police Board, and his supporters. Despite rumors of changes of line-up on account of developments of the last few days, all indications are that, if the issue of removing Beavers and Lanford is made, the relative strength of the two old factions will remain

Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 26th, 1913 Pencil Factory Owners Told Him Not to Shield Superintendent, Scott Declares. Harry Scott, assistant superintendent of the Pinkertons, announced Monday his belief that Leo M. Frank was responsible for the slaying of 14-year-old Mary Phagan April 26. He added that his agency had been working on this theory from the time its services were engaged by officials of the National Pencil Company, two days after the crime. Scott previously had said the Pinkertons were on the case to find the guilty man, even though it might be Frank. His latest statement is believed to

Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 26th, 1913 Topeka, Kans., Chief Wires Beavers That Burns Detective Was Not Convicted. That the local police authorities are tracing the past record of C. W. Tobie, the Burns operative investigating the Phagan case, came definitely into light Monday morning when Police Chief Beavers received a telegram from the Chief of Police of Topeka, Kans., regarding the detective. The telegram was in answer to one sent by Beavers some days ago to Topeka asking for Tobie's police record there. The answer stated that while Tobie had been involved in a kidnaping case in Topeka, that he

Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 26th, 1913 Mayor James G. Woodward Monday gave out a sizzling interview in reply to Police Chief Beavers' accusations, which he concluded with this statement: "If Beavers and Lanford authorized February . ‘a trusted man,' to go out and tell lies about corruption in the department in an effort to trap somebody, they are unworthy to hold the places they occupy, and the sooner they are put out the better it will be for the police department and the city. "February has proved that he is not fit to serve in the police department in any

Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 26th, 1913 Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford Monday announced that the mystery of the Mary Phagan tragedy is solved, as nearly as is possible without the absolute, direct testimony of eyewitnesses, and expressed himself as perfectly satisfied with the evidence now in hand. Accompanying this statement comes the authoritative announcement that the great strangling crime will be placed on Leo M. Frank, now under indictment on the charge of murder, and that Newt Lee, the suspected negro night watchman of the National Pencil Factory, will not be indicted. Lee will be held in jail until the

Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 26th, 1913 Chief of Police James L. Beavers issued a statement Monday forenoon defying his accusers to prove that he had been guilty of any act of moral turpitude as Chief of Police or as a citizen. He characterized the attack by Colonel Thomas B. Felder merely as an effort to detract attention from his own (Felder's) actions. Referring to A. S. Colyar, in his sweeping denial of the charges that have been made against the police department, he made the pertinent observation, "that it many times required a crook to turn up another crook." "I

Mrs. Nina Fomby, woman who made affidavit that Leo M. Frank had telephoned to her on the day of Mary Phagan's death trying to get a room for himself and a girl. Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 26th, 1913 Chief of Detectives Lanford was given two papers Monday accusing friends of Leo M. Frank of attempting to bribe a man and a woman to swear that they saw Mary Phagan at 10:30 Saturday night, April 26, at a soda fountain at Marietta and Forsyth Streets. These papers were given Lanford by A. S. Colyar, whose entrance into the Phagan case has

Thomas B. Felder, and his expansive smile. This photograph was taken before Chief Beavers started out to make him prove his charges. What sort of a smile will Felder wear when Beavers gets through with him? Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 26th, 1913 Chief of Police Beavers and Chief of Detectives Lanford both stated emphatically Monday that they intended to go to the full limit of the law in making Thomas B. Felder prove his charges of graft in the police department. Both Beavers and Lanford will take the matter before the Grand Jury, and they will take other action in

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 25th, 1913 Hugh M. Dorsey, Solicitor General, made it plain last night that if investigation develops the fact that there is anything in the charges of graft and corruption in the police department, or that Colonel Felder attempted to bribe public officials to secure evidence in the Phagan case, he most assuredly would present the matter to the Grand Jury. He said, however, that he does not think the charges and counter charges would amount to anything when sifted to the final analysis, other than a controversy between the city detectives and the man who brought

Mayor James G. Woodward, of Atlanta, accused by dictograph in conversation in A. S. Colyar's room at the Williams House, denies that he offered money to secure evidence of corruption against police and detective departments. Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 25th, 1913 Woodward Brands Dictograph Trap Scheme to Make Him "Goat" Against Beavers. Mayor Woodward declared Saturday night that the sensational dictograph records were merely the "froth of a plot of a ‘dirty gang,'" and too unworthy and ridiculous to require any official action from him. "I think the matter reached its proper culmination when the dirty old crook Colyar, seemingly

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 25th, 1913 A deluge of statements and affidavits tending to connect him with criminal operations all over the United States and Mexico, and showing that he has served time in half a dozen penitentiaries and been an inmate of a number of insane asylums, poured in Saturday upon the head of A. S. Colyar, the man who has stirred the city with his dictograph plots and his graft and bribery accusations involving Colonel Thomas B. Felder, Mayor James G. Woodward and others. Twenty-four hours after Colyar fired his first shot he was in jail. He was

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 25th, 1913 Athens Judge Tells Colonel Felder That Dictograph ‘Trapper' Is Under Suspended Sentence in Georgia. Knoxville Complaint To Be Pressed. A. S. Colyar, soldier of fortune, who plotted the destruction, by means of the dictograph, of Colonel T. B. Felder and Mayor Woodward, last night was released under bond from the city prison. The charge of forgery on which he was arrested, he declared, was trumped up in order to take him from Atlanta, and was brought, he says, by Felder or his friends. Colyar was arrested at Marietta and Forsyth Streets Saturday afternoon by

Colonel Thomas B. Felder in an earnest attitude, as he denies charges of attempted bribery and sourges Atlanta's police officials. Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 25th, 1913 Colonel Thomas B. Felder Saturday night issued an exhaustive statement denying once more that he had offered a bribe of $1,000 to Chief Lanford's clerk, G. C. February , for evidence involving his superiors; charging that the dictograph records of his conversations with February and A. S. Colyar were padded; denouncing Colyar as a proved crook and ex-convict, and charging wholesale corruption in the police department, particularly against Beavers and Lanford. He said he

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 25th, 1913 Declares He Will Die Fighting ‘Foes of Reform' Felder Denies Bribe Charges and Scores Police Chief Sees Conspiracy to Overthrow His Rule and Calls Felder Leader in the Plot Chief of Police James L. Beavers Saturday night gave to The Sunday American a sensational statement in reply to Colonel T. B. Felder's accusations against him and the police department, and declared that he would go before the Grand Jury, and seek to indict Felder and all others implicated in the "conspiracy" against him. He made it very plain that if there were men "higher

Burns showing how a dictograph can be concealed in a wall. The arrow points to the dictograph. The great detective holding a dictograph ready to place it to collect evidence. Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 Chief of Detectives Newport A. Lanford said Saturday that the whole sinister significance of the charges brought against Colonel Thomas B. Felder lay in the fact that the forces of evil in the city had been steadily laboring for the downfall of himself and Chief Beavers ever since the city was cleaned up and the disreputable resorts put out of business. He declared that

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 "Gang of Vice Promoters Have Been After Me," Declares Police Chief. Chief of Police J. L. Beavers, in answering the turmoil of accusations of graft and frame-ups which have been cast at himself and Detective Chief Lanford, declared the whole to be the result of a plot of gangsters which has been working against him ever since he closed up the Tenderloin section of Atlanta. "This whole proposition is a fight against me by a gang of vice promoters," declared Chief Beavers. "Tom Felder is the leader of it and C. C. Jones is

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 COLUMBIA, S. C., May 24.—When asked for a comment upon the Felder dictograph story, Governor Blease dictated the following: I do not see that it is necessary for me to give out any interview or to have anything to say. It is not inside of my State and I do not suppose anybody that knows Tom Felder would be surprised if he is guilty, or if this is a scheme worked up by him to get a little cheap notoriety and advertisement. However, I presume that the members of the Atlanta Bar will immediately

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 Denouncing A. S. Colyar as an "eagle-beaked crook," W. C. Tobie, the Burns detective who is here making an investigation of the Phagan case, declared on Saturday that the charges of bribery and double-dealing brought against Felder were a frame-up concocted by the Pinkerton Detective Agency and the Atlanta Police Department, with these three ends in view: To discredit the Burns Agency. To drive the Burns Agency from the State of Georgia. To discredit Colonel Felder because he employed Burns men. Tobie charges also that Colyar was used as the "capper" in the frame-up.

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 True Bills Already Drawn by Solicitor Against Frank and Lee. The Grand Jury resumed Saturday morning the Phagan murder case with indictments against Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee charging strangulation. While nothing definite could be learned, it was confidently expected at the office of the Solicitor Saturday morning the case of Frank might be completed during the day. Only a few more witnesses were to be called. It was learned, and these could tell what they knew in a few hours. The indictments are the first of the kind to have been drawn

A. S. Colyar, who figures in the dictograph sensation. Records show he has been confined in two insane asylums and numerous prisons. His operations are alleged to extend from New York to Mexico. He is a member of a prominent Tennessee family. His exploits with the dictograph have created a big sensation in the Phagan case. Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 Records Show He Has Been Confined in Numerous Prisons and Twice in Asylum. Who is A. S. Colyar? The records show that Colyar was once confined in the Middle Tennessee Insane Asylum, and that more recently he was

G. C. Febuary Lanford's clerk, who alleges bribery offer; Febuary alleges that Felder offered $1,000 for police records. He is a modest, unassuming young man, in whom Lanford and Beavers have complete confidence. Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 Colonel Thomas B. Felder entered into an explicit and detailed denial to The Georgian of all the charges of attempted bribery contained in the affidavits signed by G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief of Detectives Lanford, and A. S. Colyar, a private detective with spectacular career. Colonel Felder declared the alleged dictograph record of conversation he is alleged to have had

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 Wanted Woodward to See Just What Sort of a Crook Colyar Was, He Declares. Edward O. Miles, a private detective, assumes the responsibility for the presence of Mayor Woodward at the Williams House, resulting in the dictographing of the Chief Executive of Atlanta. He also says it was at his suggestion Colonel Thomas B. Felder discontinued even his acquaintance with A. S. Colyar, the wild-eyed investigator from Tennessee. Miles' statement to a Georgian reporter follows: "Colonel Felder had already been to see Colyar and he asked me to go and see what he had;

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 But He Fails to Produce Man to Prove Charge, as He Promised. A. S. Colyar, Jr. failed entirely to produce the "mysterious man" whom he declared had been hired to "shoot to death" Chief of Police J. L. Beavers. When Colyar gave the sensational information of the conspiracy to kill the police official he declared that he would bring to police headquarters the man who had been secured to commit the deed; that this person would make affidavit to bear out the plot charges, and would swear also that he had been promised immunity

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 Denies, However, That He Ever Offered Money During Course of Conversation Recorded. Mayor Woodward Saturday admitted that the dictograph record of his conversation in the room of the mysterious Colyar was correct. After reading the report in The Georgian, he said: "This is not as strong as the conversation I told you I had before I knew they had a dictograph on me. "I did not offer them any money, but I will say now that I will subscribe to a fund that might unearth any graft in any city department. But I haven't

A. S. Colyar, who figures in the dictograph sensation. Records show he has been confined in two insane asylums and numerous prisons. His operations are alleged to extend from New York to Mexico. He is a member of a prominent Tennessee family. Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 The following conversation occurred in room No. 31, at Williams House No. 2, 34-36 N. Forsyth Street, Atlanta, Georgia, Wednesday evening, between 8 and 9 o'clock, between C. C. Jones, E. O. Miles and A. S. Colyar: Colyar—It has been very warm to-day, hasn't it? Miles—Yes, it has. I asked Mr. Felder

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 A. S. Colyar, Jr., author of the alleged dictographing of Mayor Woodward and Colonel Thomas B. Felder, was placed under arrest Saturday afternoon at the request of Chief of Police Edward Connors of Knoxville, Tenn., on the charge of forgery. The arrest came on a capias from the Criminal Court of Knoxville. Upon receipt of the request from Connors, Police Chief Beavers ordered Colyar's arrest. Colyar was located at the corner of Forsyth and Marietta Streets by Detectives Chewning and Norris and taken to the police station. He was taken to Beavers' office and

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 24th, 1913 Sensational dictograph conversations, in which Mayor James G. Woodward, Charles C. Jones, former Tenderloin proprietor and present owner of the Rex saloon; E. O. Miles, a private detective; A. S. Colyar, accuser of Colonel T. B. Felder, and Chief Lanford's clerk, February , all figure, are made public by The Atlanta Georgian to-day. The conversations, all reported by a dictograph installed at the Williams House, in the same room and by the same man who figured to the "trapping" of Felder, tend to throw new and startling light on the alleged plot to "get"

Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 23rd, 1913 The Georgian on Wednesday published an exclusive story that Colonel Thomas B. Felder was involved in the Phagan murder case in a manner that would at least require a very explicit explanation. Developments Friday would seem to indicate that the police officials intend to bring the whole matter before the Grand Jury for a thorough investigation of Felder's attitude for attempted bribery. He is accused by A. S. Colyar, Jr., of offering G. C. February , Chief Clerk to Newport Lanford, $1,000 for an affidavit made by J. W. Coleman and wife denying that

Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 23rd, 1913 Here is an affidavit in possession of the police sworn today Lanford's secretary, G. C. Febuary and A. S. Colyar detailing the conversation alleged to have taken place Monday night in Colonel Felder's office: State of Georgia, County of Fulton—Personally appeared before me, a notary public in and for the above State and County, A. S. Colyar and G. C. Febuary, who being duly sworn, deposes and says, "We met Mr. Felder in his office Monday night at 8 o'clock p. m., and Mr. Felder said, ‘I know who killed Mary Phagan. I have

Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 23rd, 1913 Colonel Felder late this afternoon issued this statement: "The first development in this case was a visit from Colyar, at which he told me that the police were framing up on me, Dorsey and The Constitution. He said the police had affidavits to show that we were working in the interest of Leo Frank, and that large sums of money had been paid us and that I had been paid by an uncle of the accused man in New York." "Colyar also told me that he had proof of the corruption of Lanford and

Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 23rd, 1913 Leo Frank was seen this morning by a reporter for the first time since he was put in jail. He absolutely refused to talk on the Mary Phagan murder mystery, saying he had been advised not to say a word. "What do you know about the affidavit, charging that on the night of the murder of Mary Phagan you called Mrs. Nina Famby on the telephone and tried to engage a room for yourself and a young girl?" "I will not talk," said Frank. "I have been cautioned not to say one word." "Do

Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 23rd, 1913 Affidavits and an alleged dictograph record made public Friday afternoon, accuse Colonel Thomas B. Felder of offering to G. C. February , a bribe of $1,000 for possession of police records of the Phagan case. These affidavits and the dictograph record are sworn to by A. S. Colyar, Jr., of Nashville, and February, who is stenographer to Newport Lanford, Chief of the Atlanta Detective Department. The Georgian on Wednesday published the fact that there were rumors on the streets that connected the name of Colonel Felder with the Phagan case in a sinister way.

Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 23rd, 1913 Great Mass of Evidence Carefully Prepared by Solicitor Submitted to Grand Jury. CRIME STUDIED 3 HOURS, ADJOURNS TILL SATURDAY Utmost Care Taken to Insure Secrecy at the Investigation, Diagram Studied. The Phagan case is now in the process of investigation by the Fulton County Grand Jury. Two bills for indictment of Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee, for the murder of Mary Phagan, were presented before that tribunal at its session Friday morning by Solicitor Dorsey. A host of witnesses gave their testimony. The torn and blood-stained clothing of the slain girl also was

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 21st, 1913 Stories That He Was Retained by Prisoner's Friends Silly, He Declares. Mystery piles up upon mystery in the Phagan case. Colonel Thomas B. Felder was asked Wednesday afternoon by The Georgian to reply to rumors circulating on the street, all making the general charge that he had been retained by friends of Leo Frank, prisoner in the Phagan case, and that his object in bringing the great detective, William J. Burns, here, was not to aid the prosecution. Colonel Felder said: "Any stories to that effect are silly and ridiculous—if nothing worse. Anybody who

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 20th, 1913 Solicitor General Dorsey Declares All Evidence Will Go to the Grand Jury Friday. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey announced Tuesday morning that the State's case against Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee in connection with the Phagan murder, would go to the Grand Jury Friday of this week. He said that he could anticipate no new arrest or development that would make it necessary to change this plan. Mrs. Jane F. Carr, 251 Ponce De-Leon Avenue, in an open letter, asked every woman in Atlanta to contribute to the fund to employ the Burns

Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 19th, 1913 Famous Detective's Aid, C. W. Tobie, Issues First Statement on Work in Slaying Case. C. W. Tobie, manager of the criminal department of the W. J. Burns Detective Agency, Monday made public his theory of the murder of Mary Phagan. For the first time the man who is representing Burns in Atlanta's greatest mystery until the noted detective arrived consented to see reporters. Tobie's theory is that Mary Phagan was murdered inside the National Pencil plant, by some one familiar with the premises, and that her body was dragged to the basement for purposes

Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 19th, 1913 Famous Detective Expected to Arrive From Europe and Start Work Before June 1. STARTLING NEW EVIDENCE IS REPORTED DISCOVERED Important Revelation Looked For To-day—Search Being Pushed With Renewed Vigor. Colonel Thomas B. Felder announced Monday morning that he had received word from William J. Burns that he would arrive in America before June 1 and would probably be on the scene of the Phagan slaying before that date. Colonel Felder said the great detective had taken an unusual interest in the Phagan mystery and he would not be surprised to hear from him in

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 18th, 1913 No people in Atlanta have been more anxious than the Greeks to see the murderer of little Mary Phagan brought to justice. A letter received by Colonel Thomas B. Felder yesterday enclosed a check for $25 from the Greek community to be added to the Burns fund, and carried with it a fervent wish that the mystery be cleared. The letter follows: I beg to enclose check for twenty-five dollars, which represents the proceeds of a spontaneous contribution of the members of the Greek Community, to the "Burns Fund." The Greeks of Atlanta wish

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 18th, 1913 Progress of Investigation Into Girl's Slaying Very Rapid, Declares Felder. After 24 hours on the scene of the Phagan muder, the head of the department of criminal investigation of the Burns Detective Agency made his first report to his client, Thomas B. Felder, last night. The report was so satisfactory that Colonel Felder announced more had been accomplished in the 24 hours than in any week of the investigation before the arrival of the Burns detective. The fund to secure the services of William J. Burns and defray the expenses of the investigation of

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 18th, 1913 World's Most Famous Detective Must Disregard All Theories Advanced Thus Far and Must Evolve His Own Solution of the Mysterious Slaying. By AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. Can William J. Burns solve the Phagan mystery? I certainly hope so, as does everybody else who would like to see the guilty person in this extraordinary case brought to justice. Unless Burns and his assistants are successful, I fear we shall never know who actually committed the crime. In my article in The Sunday American on May 4, I said: "At present, on the evidence now before

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 17th, 1913 Solicitor General Dorsey Declares Work of His Greatest Detective Has Been Completed. WELCOMES AID OF BURNS IN CLEARING UP MYSTERY Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey said Saturday that his "greatest detective in America" would not figure again in the Phagan investigation, and that it was extremely doubtful whether he would be recalled to testify at the trial. "He has finished his investigation," said the Solicitor, "and we have no further need for him. A detective is one thing and a witness is another. His investigation led us to witnesses. It is not necessary for him,

Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 16th, 1913 Subscriptions From Persons Who Withhold Names Increases the Fund—Other Rewards. The fund inaugurated to bring W. J. Burns, the renowned detective, to Atlanta to clear the Phagan mystery was augmented Friday by contributions which bring the total close to the thousand mark. More than six substantial subscriptions from persons who asked that their names be withheld have been received. The fund thus far made public is: The Georgian, $100. The Constitution, $100. Homer George, $10. The Georgian will be glad to receive contributions to the Burns' fund, and repeats its offer of $500 reward,

Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 16th, 1913 Investigator for Great Detective Believed To Be in City Hunting Phagan Slayer—Will Be on Same Plane as Pinkertons—State Won't Aid. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey said Friday that William J. Burns and his assistants would work on the Phagan case under the same conditions as the Pinkertons, namely, that while he would welcome any information from them, they would receive none from his office. Mr. Dorsey issued the following statement: "Mr. Burns is welcome. We are delighted to have aid in arriving at the truth no matter from what source it comes. However, Mr.

Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 16th, 1913 Skilled Aide of Famous Detective Arrives in Atlanta—Keeps Identity Secret. Contributions for a fund to bring W. J. Burns, the great detective, to Atlanta in the Phagan case follow: The Georgian ……………$100 The Constitution ………..  100 Homer George …………..   10 More than six substantial subscriptions from persons who asked that their names be kept secret have been added to the above. The Burns investigation into the Phagan murder mystery began Friday. William J. Burns, who personally will conduct the case some time shortly after his arrival from Europe on June 1, cabled his orders

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 15th, 1913 Noted Detective, Himself, to Take Up Case June 1—One of His Experts Coming Soon. Colonel Thomas B. Felder, noted Atlanta lawyer, Thursday issued the positive statement that William J. Burns would take charge of the Phagan investigation immediately upon his return from Europe, June 1. In the meantime a criminal investigator will be sent from the Burns Agency's New York office to prosecute the investigation. Colonel Felder gave out the following dispatch received from Raymond J. Burns, son of William J. Burns, in New York, which tells of the father's determination to take up

A young Leo Frank (top center) and friends enjoy a day at the beach in New York. Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 14th, 1913 If Leo M. Frank is guilty of any connection with the murder of Mary Phagan, his actions in the Tower belie the time-honored theories of the greatest criminologists the world has ever produced, visitors to the prisoner declare. Famous psychologists, working on the supposition that the great weight of guilt upon the mind of a murderer will, if given time, finally overbalance the calm exterior with which he faces his accusers, have made excellent use of what

William J. Burns Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 14th, 1913 Probably Will Not Reveal Presence in City as He Investigates Phagan Case. Colonel Thomas B. Felder said Wednesday that Detective William J. Burns had not arrived, as yet, in New York from his European trip, but that as soon as he did he undoubtedly would start at once for Atlanta to work upon the Mary Phagan strangling mystery. Colonel Felder is acquainted with the day and the hour on which the famous sleuth will reach this city, but for the purposes of the investigation he is withholding the information. "There was

  Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, April 30th, 1913 Gantt's Mother, for Whom Mary Phagan Was Named, Weeps for Son. In an easy chair in front of an open fireplace in a little Cobb County farm house, sat an aged mother, with lines of suffering marking her face and her white head bowed in sorrow, praying that her son may be found innocent of the terrible crime for which he is held by the Atlanta police. For two days she sat in the same chair, staring constantly with dry eyes into the embers of the dying fire, seeing in the clouds of

  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

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

  The Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 (Page 5, Column 1) 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

  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 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 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

  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

  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

  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

  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

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 through

  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

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 her