Jim Conley, who gave history-making testimony in the Leo Frank case
by Philip St. Raymond
for The American Mercury
JIM Conley’s testimony in the Leo Frank case riveted the attention of not only all those present in the courtroom, but the entire state of Georgia and beyond hung on his words as they were reported. Despite being a member of a disparaged minority, Conley’s word was given respectful attention — and ultimately was even believed over the word of Leo Frank, an elite Jewish man considered white by the standards of the American South. This was unprecedented, but it was also inevitable given the detail, plausibility, and unshakable nature of Conley’s evidence. Even the best legal minds in the state, led by Luther Rosser, widely acknowledged to be the toughest cross-examiner in the business, could not discredit the “ignorant” Black man, no matter how hard they tried. (ILLUSTRATION: Jim Conley, who gave history-making testimony in the Leo Frank case)
In this, the fifth audio segment of this truly indispensable work originally published by the Nation of Islam — part of their series called The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews — we hear the words of James Conley as he actually spoke them on the stand as that all-White 1913 jury leaned forward and strained to hear.
And that Black man — a man who admitted helping Leo Frank move Mary Phagan’s body, but who ultimately failed to return and destroy it as Leo Frank wished — set in motion a chain of events that would lead to the solution of the mystery and a verdict of guilty in the case. The detectives, the police, the prosecution, the jury, and the vast majority of the people believed that the well-connected businessman — Leo Frank — was a liar and a murderer; and they believed that the lowly factory sweeper, Jim Conley, was telling the truth.
This new audio book, based on the Nation of Islam’s The Leo Frank Case: The Lynching of a Guilty Man, the best investigative effort made on the Leo Frank case in the last 100 years, will take you on a trip into the past — to the greatest American murder mystery of all time; a mystery that will reveal to you the hidden forces that shape our world even today.
To read all the chapters we’ve published so far, simply click on this link.
We at The American Mercury are now proud to present part 5 of our audio version of this very important book, read by Vanessa Neubauer.
Simply press “play” on the player embedded above — or at the end of this article — to hear part 5 of the book.
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For further information on the Nation of Islam Historical Research Group, readers are encouraged to visit their Web site, noirg.org.