Tag Archives: Clues

Boiled Cabbage Brings Hypothetical Question Stage in Frank’s Trial

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian
August 4th, 1913

By JAMS B. NEVIN.

When a prospective juryman is on his voir dire in a given criminal case, he is asked if his mind is perfectly impartial between the State and the accused.

If he answers yes, he is competent to try the case, so far as that is concerned. If he answers no, he is rejected.

How many people in Atlanta and Georgia, having heard part of the testimony in the Frank case, still feel themselves to be perfectly impartial between the State and the accused?

How many people, having heard part of the evidence, still have refrained from expressing an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of Frank?

Not many, I take it—and yet, that jury is supposed to be perfectly poised and as yet impartial between the State and the accused, notwithstanding the State’s evidence thus far delivered, and the presumption of innocence legally established in behalf of the defendant.

I venture the opinion that nothing developing in the Frank trial last week so profoundly weighed upon the minds of the people over Sunday as the question of the digestibility of boiled cabbage—nice, greasy, palatable, if often shunned, boiled cabbage!

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Finding of Dead Girl’s Parasol is Told by Policeman Lasseter

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution
August 3rd, 1913

Following Chief Beavers the name of Detective Bass Rosser was then called, but he was not present and Policeman R. F. Lasseter was put on the stand.

“Did you go to the National Pencil factory on Sunday morning, April 27?”
“Yes.”

“Did you ever see this parasol before?” asked the solicitor, holding up the which was found in the elevator shaft and identified as Mary Phagan’s.

“Yes, I found it that morning at the bottom of the shaft.”

“What else did you find? Any other wearing apparel?”

“No.”

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Phagan Mystery Club Examined by Experts

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution
July 24th, 1913

Report Says That It Has Been Sent to Northern City to Be Put Under Microscope.

That the bloody club found in the National Pencil factory after the murder of Mary Phagan is in some northern city undergoing microscopic examination after having been inspected by local experts, is a rumor that prevailed at police headquarters yesterday.

Upon being examined by an Atlanta expert, who, it is said, declared that it would be impossible to determine whether or not the blood spots were from animal or human, the weapon was sent north for more minute examination. Frank’s lawyers will not discuss the rumor.

There are a number of blood spots on one end of the stick. It is several inches in length and more than an inch in diameter. It is round and the same size of the regulation rolling pin used to move heavy boxes and objects. The spots are dim and barely discernible.

Chief Lanford, in discussing the discover, said that the Pinkertons, in finding the club and turning it over to attorneys for the defense, had violated their pact with the police department, as the find had never been made known to anyone at headquarters until word of it was published Tuesday.

The report of a bloody glove, apparently having been worn by a young girl, having been found in the pencil factory, was also in circulation Wednesday.

Bloody Club Lends New Clue to Mystery

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution
July 23rd, 1913

Defense of Leo Frank Attaches Importance to Find Made by Pinkerton Detectives.

The discovery of a bloody bludgeon on the third floor of the National Pencil factory has added greater mystery to the Phagan case. It became known yesterday that Leo Frank’s defense is in possession of the weapon and that it will be used as one of their strongest points in the coming trial.

The club is a short, thick stick with small spots of blood at the end. It was found by Pinkerton detectives on May 10 after headquarters detectives had searched every spot of the building for available clues. Luther Rosser, Frank’s counsel, refuses to discuss the find.

The club was discovered only a few feet from the spot at which the pay envelope was found. That it is a prized possession of the defense is indicated by the secrecy with which it had been guarded. Its discovery has created theories pointing strongly to the negro Conley, and it is rumored that the defense will strive to convince the jury that the girl was slain by the club in hands of the negro sweeper.

Fight Expected Over Effort to Defer Frank Case

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal
July 23, 1913

No Witnesses for Defense Have Been Called for Monday, and Indications Are They Will Not Be

CRAWFORD CASE CHECKED TO DATE OF FRANK TRIAL

Attorney R. R. Arnold May Go to Covington to Request Judge L. S. Roan to Postpone Case

While the position of the defense of Leo M. Frank has not been announced, Attorney Luther Z. Rosser and Reuben R. Arnold have indicated clearly that they desire to postpone the trial of case from next Monday, when it is set. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey, on the other hand, has announced the state’s position. He will fight any and every move to postpone the case.

The solicitor general objected, when the case was postponed from June 30, the date he first fixed, and fought to have a date earlier than July 28 when he then saw that postponement was inevitable. Now he is again preparing to fight against further delay.

Deputy Sheriff Plennie Minor was instructed by Judge L. S. Roan, to bring the jury box to Judge John T. Pendleton with the request that he draw the venire for the trial on Thursday morning before the trial judge left to hold court this week in Covington.

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Lanford Ridicules Bludgeon Evidence

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian
July 23rd, 1913

Scouts New ‘Proof’ of Defense

Detective Chief Scoffs at Claim of Evidence That Club Used by Negro Was Found.

Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford Wednesday morning ridiculed the story that the defense of Leo M. Frank has in its possession a bloody club, alleged to have been found by two Pinkerton detectives on May 10 in the National Pencil Factory, and with which, it is reported, the defense will contend Mary Phagan was slain by James Conley, the negro sweeper.

Asserting that he knows nothing whatever of the alleged bloody club, Chief Lanford declared that, if Pinkerton detectives found such a weapon on May 10, or any other date, they had failed to report the fact to him. Failure to officially report such a find would be regarded as a breach of the pact between the city detectives and the Pinkertons, as the latter officers, while employed by the pencil factory, have been working hand in hand with city detectives, with the understanding that any evidence they unearthed would be communicated to detective headquarters.

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Conley is Confronted with Lee – Dorsey Grills Negroes in Same Cell at Jail

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian
July 23rd, 1913

TRACE FOUND HERE OF NEGRO SAID TO HAVE SEEN PHAGAN SLAYING

Sister of Will Green Tells Police He Slept at Home at Hour Girl Was Slain; Jim Conley, Factory Sweeer [sic] Again Grilled.

The two negro principals in the Phagan case—Newt Lee and Jim Conley—were put on the grill together in the cell of the former in the county jail by Solicitor Dorsey and his assistant, Frank G. Hooper, late Wednesday afternoon.

Present at the cross-examination were J. M. Gantt, former pencil factory employee, and Detectives Starnes and Campbell, the officers who have had charge of Conley for the past several weeks. After half an hour’s questioning Gantt left the jail. Solicitor Dorsey and the others remained and the questioning of the two negroes continued until a late hour. Conley was then taken back to police headquarters.

Here are Wednesday’s important developments in the Phagan murder mystery:

Bloodstained glove of Mary Phagan is said to have been found on the first floor near the place the discovery of her pay envelope was made.

New evidence is found tending to establish the identity of the negro, Will Green, said to have seen the attack upon Mary Phagan.

Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the pencil factory, undergoes a grilling examination at the hands of Solicitor General Dorsey and his associate counsel, Frank A. Hooper.

J. M. Gantt, expected to give sensational evidence for the prosecution at the trial, is in conference with the solicitor and present at the grilling of Lee.

Leo M. Frank tells Sheriff Mangum that he is eager for the trial to begin, and will be ready when it is called Monday morning.

Solicitor Dorsey announces that he will insist that there be no further delay.

It became known Wednesday that the defense in the Frank case had been informed that the negro, Will Green, who is said to have been shooting craps with Jim Conley the day that Mary Phagan was murdered and to have seen her attacked, and the Will Green living at 105 Thurmond street, Atlanta, are the same person.

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Was Mary Phagan Killed With Bludgeon?

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal
July 22nd, 1913

BLOODY STICK NOW IN POSSESSION OF FRANK’S ATTORNEYS

Was Found on May 10 by Two Pinkerton Detectives on the First Floor of the Pencil Factory

DEFENSE TO CLAIM NEGRO WIELDED THE INSTRUMENT

It Was Sent to Chemist Outside of State for Examination—Subpenas Issued for State’s Witness

In the possession of the defense of Leo M. Frank is a bloody bludgeon with which it will be claimed at the trial, in all probability, that James Conley, the negro sweeper, struck Mary Phagan over the head while she battled on the first floor of the National Pencil factory for her life.

While it has been known for weeks that the defense of Frank will try to pit the crime on the negro, the claim that any weapon other than the negro’s hands and the cords placed about her neck, were used, is an absolutely new development to the public, although the bloody stick, about an inch in diameter, has been in the possession of the defense since May 10.

It is said that it was found in the factory on that date by two Pinkerton operatives, L. P. Whitfield and W. D. McWorth, who at that time were conducting a systematic search of the factory.

According to the story, which has come to The Journal on excellent authority, on May 9, after city detectives, factory employees, various private sleuths and quite a few curiosity seekers had searched for nearly two weeks without finding any new clues to throw light on the tragedy. Whitefield and McWorth, two of the Pinkerton operatives, who are on the “silent force” never appearing before the public, went to the factory for a new examination of the big building, which was the scene of Atlanta’s most sensational tragedy.

They started on the second floor, where the state maintains that Mary Phagan met her death, and spent the entire day going over that floor.

By the next ddy [sic], May 10, the detectives had reached the third floor of the building. They went back by the boxes upon which Conley says he sat while waiting for instructions from the factory superintendent. Some ten or fifteen feet past the boxes and considerably past the elevator shaft, by a door, and on top of some trash, the Pinkerton men found the bloody bludgeon, right by the spot where the part of a pay envelope with the name Mary Phagan written upon it lay.

EXAMINED BY CHEMIST.

Evidently the defense of Frank considers the find of the two sleuths as important, for the story of the stick has been zealously guarded from the public. In addition, presumably to make certain that the fact of the existence of the stick would not reach the public, it was sent out of the state to a famous chemist, who made an anlysis [sic] to determine whether or not the blood on the primitive weapon was that of a human or an animal. The examination is said to have shown it to be the former.

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Conley’s Statement Analyzed From Two Different Angles

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conleys-statement-analyzed

At the top is a photograph of the note written by James Conley, the negro sweeper, at the factory Friday afternoon after he had pantomimed his part in the murder of Mary Phagan. He wrote from memory and without prompting. At the bottom is a portion of one of the notes found by the dead girl’s body and which Conley admits he wrote.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Sunday, June 1st, 1913

The Weak Points in the Negro’s Story Are Shown in One Analysis and the Points That Would Seem to Add to Its Reasonableness Are Weighed in the Other.

Below are given analyses of the negro, James Conley’s latest statement or confession from two viewpoints. In one analysis the negro’s statement is weighed with the idea that Conley has not told the whole truth, that he is endeavoring to hide his own responsibility in an accusation of Mr. Frank, who is innocent of the crime, is the victim of a chain of circumstances which link his name with suspicion. In the other analysis Conley’s confession is discussed from the standpoint of the man who regards it as being truthful and its points are argued from that partisan angle. The Journal presents these discussions without any wish to influence any reader to either view but simply for whatever news value they may have in throwing light on the case.

Conley’s Story Is Unreasonable from This Viewpoint

Those who have all along argued that Superintendent Leo M. Frank could not have had any hand in the murder of Mary Phagan, the pencil factory girl, whose body was found in the factory basement on Sunday morning, April 27, are, since the confessions of James Conley, the negro sweeper, more than ever convinced that Frank is innocent.

They now hold to the theory that the negro not only took the girl’s body to the factory basement and wrote the notes found beside it, as he says in his confession, but that he, and he alone, committed the murder.

Calling attention to the fact that Frank is an educated, gentle and refined man, and one whose past record and reputation are such as to win the respect and loyalty of his friends and acquaintances, all of whom still believe in him, despite certain unfortunate circumstances which militate against him, they make the flat assertion that Frank, being the man he is, could not have committed the brutal crime charged to him by the grand jury.

After asserting this proposition, those who believe in Frank’s innocence and the negro’s guilt undertake to analyze the evidence adduced at the coroner’s inquest and the negro Conley’s affidavit of confession. In doing this they seek to substantiate the statement made by Frank at the inquest and to point out the improbabilities and weakness of the negro’s story. Continue Reading →

Experts Are Here on Finger Prints

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Experts Here

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Thursday, May 22nd, 1913

Two Investigators Are Added to Wm. J. Burns’ Forces Already in Atlanta—P. A. Flak in City.

The William J. Burns forces in the investigation of the Mary Phagan mystery have been reinforced by two expert investigators who recently arrived in the city and are assisting Chief C. W. Tobie in his work.

Their identity is being withheld. Both began work Wednesday. One is a noted handwriting and finger print expert, and his first object was to examine the notes found beside the girl’s body and to obtain finger prints at and around the scene of discovery.

Chief Tobie visited the negro night watchman, Newt Lee, in the Tower Wednesday morning for an hours’ interview. Although he will not state positively his views, the impression is gained that he believes the negro innocent, in both the actual murder and as an accessory either before or after the crime.

Finger Print Expert Engaged.

P. A. Flak, one of New York’s most successful finger print experts, has been retained by Solicitor General Dorsey to examine prints found upon the victim’s clothing and on the notes written by her slayer. Flak was brought to Atlanta by the Georgia State Banker’ association, the convention of which recently was held in Macon.

He and the solicitor visited the pencil factory Wednesday afternoon. Later they visited the jail, where, it is said, they secured finger prints from both suspects, Frank, the plant superintendent, and the negro watchman. They spent practically the entire day together. Continue Reading →

New Theory Fails to Change Course of Murder Probe

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New Theory

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Wednesday, May 14th, 1913

“A Local Celebrity” Is Working Out the New Theory and He Had Not Reported to the Solicitor on Wednesday

GIRL’S HANDWRITING GIVES IMPORTANT CLUE

Grand Jury to Take Up Case May 22 or 23, Says Solicitor, Criminal Court Postpones Session at Dorsey’s Request

At 2:10 Wednesday afternoon Solicitor Dorsey announced that the grand jury would take up the Phagan case on Thursday, the 22d, or Friday, the 23d, unless something intervened to make it inadvisable. At that time bills will be presented against Leo M. Frank and the negro, Newt Lee, for the grand jury’s consideration.

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey had received no report Wednesday from the person who is working on the new theory in the Phagan murder mystery. He is continuing his examination of many witnesses, some of whom testified at the inquest, and it is now apparent that the new theory, however plausible, has not turned the investigation from its old course.

One man, whom the solicitor terms “a local celebrity,” is working on the new theory alone, and the solicitor made no intimation as to the time this man is expected to make his report.

The investigation is dragging and Wednesday Mr. Dorsey said again that he was not ready to state when he would present the names of Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee, the two men held by the coroner’s jury, to the grand jury.

WILL POSTPONE COURT.

The solicitor, his assistant and attaches of his office are so busy with the Phagan investigation that an effort was made to postpone the regular session of the criminal division of the superior court, which is slated to begin on next Monday.

At 2 o’clock it was definitely decided to postpone the session of the criminal court until the week beginning May 26 to permit the solicitor more time to work on the Phagan case. Continue Reading →

Clue is Sought in Handwriting of Mary Phagan

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Clue is Sought

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Wednesday, May 14th, 1913

Reporter of The Constitution Is Summoned by Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey for Conference.

OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE THEORY OF MYSTERY

Much Interest Is Created by the Report That a New Arrest May Be Made in the Near Future.

The handwriting of Mary Phagan is likely to play a prominent part in the investigation of her murder. Rumors came Tuesday from the solicitor general’s office that new clues had been discovered in the form of notes or letters, and that much energy was being concentrated in investigation along that line.

Handwriting experts have been summoned before Mr. Dorsey this morning. A reporter for The Constitution who has several specimens of the murdered girl’s handwriting has also been ordered to appear at the solicitor’s office this morning at 10 o’clock.

It is reported that mysterious notes have been found by a number of the solicitor’s staff, and that Mr. Dorsey’s object is to identify, by the specimens in the reporter’s possession, the Phagan girl’s script. It also has been advanced that the strange notes caused the new theory on which the solicitor is working.

Mr. Dorsey and his entire office staff is unusually reticent about the rumored clues. He will neither deny or affirm the report that notes or letters of any character pertaining to the mystery have been discovered.

“To talk at present,” he said, “would be disastrous. We must have time to verify our theory.”

Dorsey Interviews Mrs. Barrett.

Mrs. Mary Barrett, a woman who is said to have been in the pencil factory the Saturday afternoon that Mary Phagan disappeared, was summoned before Mr. Dorsey Tuesday afternoon. She came with her daughter, a pretty little girl, who was present during her mother’s examination. Continue Reading →

City Detectives’ Theory of Phagan Murder Outlined

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City Detectives

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Sunday, May 11th, 1913

The Journal Presents First Complete Statement of Case Solicitor and His Investigators Seek to Build

HOW DETECTIVES THINK CRIME WAS COMMITTED

They Maintain That Mary Phagan Was Left Unconscious in Factory Near Midday and Killed Later in Afternoon

For the first time since the lifeless body of pretty fourteen-year-old Mary Phagan was found in the basement of the National Pencil factory, this morning two weeks ago, The Journal is enabled to make public the theory of the city detectives and others investigating the murder mystery as to how the crime was committed.

HERE IS THE THEORY.

The theory in detail is:

That Mary Phagan arrived at the pencil factory between 12 and 12:10 o’clock on Saturday, April 26; that within a short time after she arrived there she was lured to the metal room on the second floor, where she worked; that the big doors of this room were closed, making it almost impossible for the two men working on the fourth floor to hear any outcries; that she was overpowered and assaulted. Continue Reading →

Girl Will Swear Office of Frank Deserted Between 12:05 and 12:10

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Girl Will Swear Office of Frank Deserted

Monteen Stover. Little girl, former employee of National Pencil company, who swears Frank was not in office between 12:05 and 12:10 o’clock.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, May 10th, 1913

Testimony Considered Important by Officers Because Frank at the Inquest Stated on Stand That He Did Not Leave Between Noon on Saturday and 12:25. When Quinn Came to See Him.

SHE WENT TO FACTORY TO GET PAY ENVELOPE – POSITIVE OF THE TIME

New Evidence, Just Submitted to Detective Department, Leads Chief Lanford to Believe That Mary Phagan Was Murdered in the Basement — Woman Says She Heard Screams on Saturday Afternoon.

A new and important witness has been found in the Mary Phagan murder mystery.

She is Monteen Stover, a girl of 14 years, a former employee of the pencil factory.

After already having attested to an affidavit now in possession of the solicitor general, she will testify before the grand jury that on the day of Mary Phagan’s disappearance, she entered the pencil plant at 12:05 o’clock in the afternoon and found the office deserted.

Also, that she remained five minutes, during which time no one appeared. The building seemed empty of human occupants, she declares, and no sounds came from any part. Expecting to have found the superintendent, she says she went through both the outer and inner offices in search of Frank.

Testimony Important Declare Police.

The police say that this is valuable evidence because of the testimony of Frank at the inquest to the effect that he remained in his office throughout the time between 12 noon and the time at which Quinn arrived, 35 minutes after 12. Also, they recount his statement that Mary Phagan entered the building at 12:05, the time the Stover girl says she arrived. Continue Reading →

Woman’s Handkerchief Brought to Officers

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Woman's Handkerchief Brought to OfficersAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Friday, May 9th, 1913

The detectives are investigating today a clew in the Phagan case brought to Atlanta Thursday by W. A. Smith, of Jonesboro, an employee of the Central of Georgia railroad, which was to the effect that he had just completed a thirty-hour chase, covering a trip of more than 100 miles, after two men who talked and acted suspiciously in his presence at the Jonesboro station Tuesday afternoon. The men, he said, escaped and the only tangible evidence which Smith showed the detectives was a lady’s blood-stained handkerchief with a hole—apparently chewed—in the middle of it. Mary Phagan’s mother was unable to identify it as the property of her daughter.

Smith, who came to Atlanta with Constable J. M. Archer, of Jonesboro, stated that on last Tuesday night he was standing in the Jonesboro station and overheard a part of a conversation between two strange men about the Phagan case, and his suspicion was aroused. He looked for an officer, but he could not find one, and as the men were boarding a southbound Central train he made up his mind to shadow them.

When the train pulled into Barnesville the men got off and Smith followed them. While in their wake here, Smith found the bloody handkerchief. The men hired a buggy and drove to Coggins, about 5 miles away, and Smith followed in another buggy.

From Coggins the men drove to Constitution, a station on the Southern about 10 miles south of Atlanta, but when Smith arrived they had disappeared. At Constitution Smith found the buggy the men had used, but all trace of the men had vanished.

Smith returned his buggy to Barnesville and proceeded to Jonesboro, where he related his experience to Constable Archer.

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Atlanta Constitution, May 9th 1913, “Woman’s Handkerchief Brought to Officers,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

“Boots” Rogers Tells How Body Was Found

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"Boots" Rogers, former county policeman who drove the police to the Pencil Factory when the first news of the Phagan slaying reached headquarters.

“Boots” Rogers, former county policeman who drove the police to the Pencil Factory when the first news of the Phagan slaying reached headquarters.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Thursday, May 8th, 1913

W. W. Rogers was the first witness. He lives at 104 McDonough Road, and operates an automobile for himself. He said he took a party of officers to the National Pencil plant at five minutes past 3 o’clock Sunday morning, April 27.

He corroborated statements of officers regarding the finding of Mary Phagan’s body and the notes beside it, and of the body being face downward.

Q. Who telephoned Frank of the murder?—A. Starnes called him and asked him to come to the factory.

Q. How long were you in front of the plant before you were let in?—A. Two or three minutes.

Q. Did you hear him coming?—A. We saw him coming down the steps with a lantern.

Q. What did he say?—A. She’s in the basement, white folks.

Q. Was he excited?—A. No, he answered questions coolly.

Q. What did he say when you went downstairs?—A. He thought at first it was something the boys had placed there to frighten him.

Q. How did he say he found the body?—A. On her face.

Q. How did you find it?—A. On her face.

Q. Do you remember any other questions asked him?—A. Yes, but he talked in a straight way.

Q. Who went back upstairs with Lee and Anderson after Lee had been placed under arrest?—A. No one else. Continue Reading →

Stains of Blood on Shirt Fresh, Says Dr. Smith

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Stains of Blood on Shirt Fresh

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Thursday, May 8th, 1913

City Bacteriologist Makes His Report After Examination of Garment of Negro Which Was Found in Trash Barrel.

LEE’S CELLMATE MAY TESTIFY AT INQUEST

Witness Spent 24 Hours in Same Cell With Phagan Prisoner — Body of Girl Exhumed for Second Time.

DAY’S DEVELOPMENTS IN PHAGAN MYSTERY

Dr. Claude Smith, city bacteriologist, completes examination of negro’s blood-stained shirt, and finds that the blood stains are new.

Body of Mary Phagan was exhumed shortly after noon on Wednesday for the purpose of making a second examination.

Mrs. Mattie Smith, wife of one of the mechanics who were last men to leave pencil factory, tells detectives that shortly before 1 o’clock, when she left the building, she saw strange negro near elevator.

Bill Bailey, negro convict who was placed in cell with Newt Lee for twenty-four hours, now at liberty, and will probably be called upon at inquest today to testify.

Leo Frank will be placed upon the stand again today at 9:30 o’clock, when the coroner’s inquest is resumed.

Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey holds a long conference in cell with Newt Lee, but declines to tell what passed.

Detectives announce they are searching for a Greek, who is now believed to be in Alabama.

Chief Lanford declares that somebody is blocking Phagan investigation, silencing witnesses, and “planting” evidence.

The report of Dr. Claude A. Smith’s analysis of the bloodstains on the shirt found in the home of Newt Lee, who is held in connection with the Mary Phagan murder, has been submitted to the detective department. It reveals that the stains were caused by human blood, not more than a month old. Continue Reading →

Stains on Shirt Were Not Made While Shirt Was Being Worn

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Stains on Shirt Were Not Made While Shirt Was Being Worn

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Thursday, May 8th, 1913

A number of new witnesses had been summoned for the inquest, and the indications were said to be that the session (promised as final in the coroner’s investigation) might last all day.

It became known, before the inquest convened, that several witnesses whom the detectives have discovered would not be introduced there at all. The evidence that they can furnish, whatever it may be, will not become public until some later time, it was said.

It was stated further Thursday morning that the report by Dr. Claude A. Smith, city bacteriologist, upon the analysis by him of stains upon the shirt supposed to have been found at the house of Newt Lee, the negro, had been mailed to Chief of Police Beavers late Wednesday afternoon. The report set forth, it was said, that the stains are not old, and that probably they are stains of human blood. Continue Reading →

Grand Jury to Sift the Evidence in the Phagan Case Within the Next Few Days

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Grand Jury to Sift the Evidence in the Phagan

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Thursday, May 8th, 1913

Late this afternoon the police and detectives engaged on the Phagan case said they were satisfied with the progress being made before the Coroner’s Jury.

Apparently all other clews have been abandoned, and the present line of police activity would seem to center around Lee and Frank.

Whatever evidence the police have they refuse to disclose.

The entire mystery will be taken up by the Grand Jury within the next few days.

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Atlanta Georgian, May 8th 1913, “Grand Jury to Sift the Evidence in the Phagan Case Within the Next Few Days,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Phagan Girl’s Body Again Exhumed for Finger-Print Clews

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Phagan Girl's Body Again Exhumed

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Wednesday, May 7th, 1913

Third Time Unfortunate Victim’s Remains Have Been Exhumed—Dorsey Says Officials Are Not Looking for Finger Prints, but Other Clews.

The body of Mary Phagan was exhumed early Wednesday for the second time in two days.

The unofficial explanation is that the exhumation is made for the purpose of making a microscopic and minute examination of every wound on the body for finger prints and other clews as well.

Solicitor Dorsey let it be known that the police are not working on the idea that the finger prints would be helpful in solving the mystery, if indeed there are any finger prints to be found, as the body has been embalmed and has been handled by many persons since it was first discovered in the basement of the pencil factory.

Nevertheless, it may be safely said that a microscopital [sic] examination will be made of every mark on the body.

It was reported before the departure was made for Marietta that a Bertillon expert had been engaged and that if any finger prints were found, photographs would be taken and the most careful measurements made for the purpose of comparison. Continue Reading →