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

The Atlanta Journal

Friday, July 4, 1913

State Certain to Fight Chappell’s Effort to Secure Release of Watchman

Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, who found the body of Mary Phagan in the National Pencil factory basement, declares that Saturday he will bring habeas corpus proceedings to secure the release of his client.

According to the attorney, the negro is being held on the recommendation of the coroner’s jury, which concluded its inquest before James Conley figured in the case. The grand jury has failed to act on Lee’s case, and Attorney Chappell says that he is going to make efforts to secure the negro’s release.

When the habeas corpus proceedings are commenced the state is certain to make a fight to prevent the negro’s release from the Tower on the ground that he is a material witness.

Attorney Chappell states that he has decided to bring the habeas corpus proceedings because he does not believe that the case of Leo M. Frank will actually come to trial on July 28, when it has been set by Judge L. S. Roan, of the superior court.

There are many ways in which such a case may be postponed indefinitely, Lee’s attorney says, and he is not going to allow his client to stay in jail for an indefinite period if he can help it.

As a result, he says he is fully determined to take the legal steps Saturday to secure the negro’s release.

* * *

The Atlanta Journal, July 4th 1913, “Lee’s Lawyer Expects Delay in Frank Case,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Journal

Friday, May 9^th, 1913

An unexpected turn was given to the coroner’s inquest into the mysterious murder of Mary Phagan, Thursday afternoon, when Harry Scott, the Pinkerton detective who has been representing that agency in its work on the case, was called to the stand by the coroner. Mr. Scott was in the room at the moment.

One new detail that he revealed was in a reply to a direct question from the coroner, when he stated that Herbert Haas, attorney for Leo M. Frank and attorney for the National Pencil factory, requested him and superintendent of the Pinkerton agency in Atlanta to withheld [sic] from the police all evidence they gathered until he, Mr. Haas, would consider it.

Their reply, said Mr. Scott, was that they would withdraw from the case before they would do that.

He proceeded to say that he and his firm still are retained by the pencil company.

Mr. Scott was called to the stand when Assistant Superintendent Schiff, of the pencil factory, left it.

He is assistant superintendent of the Atlanta agency of the Pinkerton detective service, he said. He lives at 52 Cherry street. The agency was retained in the case by the National Pencil company “to locate the party responsible for the murder of Mary Phagan.” The engagement was made Monday afternoon, April 28,  when, about 4 o’clock he received a phone call from Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the factory, and in response to it he (Scott) went to the factory to see Mr. Frank. There, said he, he found a group of men whom he afterward identified as Frank, Mr. Darley and others, standing around the time clock, talking. He introduced himself and said he wanted to see privately whoever was particularly interested in the case. He and Mr. Frank and one or two others went into a private office, and Mr. Frank called Sig Montag, treasurer of the company, over the telephone to get authority to employ the detectives.

Asked how Mr. Frank broached the subject to him, Mr. Scott said the factory superintendent remarked: “I guess you’ve read of the horrible murder committed? We feel that the company ought to make some investigation to show the public we are interested in clearing up the crime. We want the Pinkertons to locate the murderer.”

Mr. Frank then told him all he (Mr. Frank) seemed to know about the matter, said the detective. Mr. Frank said that he had been down at police barracks a short while before, and that Detective Black seemed to suspect him of the crime.

QUOTED FRANK IN DETAIL.

Mr. Frank detailed his movements on that particular Saturday, said the detectives. The witness quoted as he remembered the relation, giving the same story that since has been elaborated by Mr. Frank himself and others on the stand. Mr. Scott said that the superintendent said he left the factory about 6:15 on the afternoon of Saturday, April 26. As he went out of the front door, he said, he saw Lee sitting on a packing box outside talking with Gantt, formerly a bookkeeper in the factory. Then he went on to relate the matter as it is already generally accepted, about leaving Gantt there and telephoning to the night watchman later after failing to get him once over the telephone.

After getting the watchman over the telephone and learning that everything was all right, Mr. Scott said, Mr. Frank told him he (Mr. Frank) “prepared to go to bed about 9 o’clock.”

He asked Mr. Frank very few questions, said the detective. He took notes of what was told to him. He went over the building with Mr. Frank then, looking at the elevator, the time clock, the machine room, where Frank pointed out to him a machine on which human hair was said to have been found that morning, and pointed out also what were believed to be blood stains on the floor. Mr. Darley accompanied them. He went into the basement with his escort, said the detective, and saw the trash pile where the hat and shoe had been found, also the spot where the body had been found, and the staple that had been pulled with the lock from the back door.

OFFERS NO THEORY.

Mr. Frank advanced no theory about the crime, said the detective, and offered no suggestions. He talked to him the night afterward at police headquarters, in the presence of Detective Black, but he didn’t ask the pencil superintendent for a statement because he understood the police had one already. He denied that Mr. Frank had reprimanded him for too much zeal or had remonstrated with him for trailing him (Mr. Frank).

REFUSED ATTORNEY’S REQUEST.

The detective answered a direct question, however, by saying that Herbert Haas, representing himself to be an attorney for Mr. Frank, did call at the Pinkerton office and there, to Superintendent Pierce and Mr. Scott, made the request that the detectives withhold from the police all information which they gathered until he, Mr. Haas, had considered it. They told him they would withdraw from the case first, said Mr. Scott.

“Who gets copies of your reports?” he was asked by the coroner.

“I think Mr. Sig Montag gets copies of all reports we make,” said the witness. He added, replying to questions, that his agency still is employed by the pencil company—“to fix the responsibility for this murder.”

“Do you know anything about the conversation Mr. Frank and the negro Newt Lee had along together at headquarters?”

The detective replied that City Detective Black and he suggested to Mr. Frank that he employ this method for drawing from the negro all the information he could, and Frank agreed and went into the room with Lee. He did not know what passed between them, said the detective, except what he learned from the negro’s relation of what was said.

DIDN’T TRY TO GET TRUTH.

Mr. Scott said that Newt Lee told him Mr. Frank did not try to get the truth out of him (Lee) during their talk at the police station.

That Lee said he accused Mr. Frank of knowing something and that Mr. Frank only hung his head and later told him if he (Lee) didn’t stick to his story they would both go to hell.

That Lee said he told Mr. Frank the crime must have been committed in the day time, and Mr. Frank again only hung his head.

Mr. Scott said that Lee then said he had started to describe to Mr. Frank how he had found the body and that Mr. Frank said, “Let’s don’t talk about that any more” before he had finished.

Mr. Scott said that Mr. Frank had told him after the conversation with Lee that he couldn’t get anything out of the negro. The witness said that Mr. Frank reported that he had asked Lee why there was a break in the time slip and that Lee said he had punched it.

Mr. Scott said that he did not find the bloody shirt at Newt Lee’s home—that it was found by Detective Black and Detective Bullard. The witness said that he looked at the shirt and that it seemed to him it had not been worn and that the blood was fresh. He said that Lee, when shown the shirt, said, “That’s my shirt,” and later qualified his statement by saying that it might be his shirt; that he hadn’t worn it in two years.

“Have you any definite information which makes you suspect any party of this crime?” the coroner asked Detective Scott.

WOULDN’T COMMIT HIMSELF.

“I wouldn’t commit myself,” replied the detective, who continued that his investigation was not complete and that he was working on a chain of circumstances.

“Is this chain of circumstances known to yourself alone?” he was asked.

“No,” replied Mr. Scott, “Detective Black has been with me all the time on the case.”

Mr. Scott was then excused.

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 9th 1913, “Detective Harry Scott’s Testimony as Given Before Coroner’s Jury,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Miss Nellie Pettis, at top, who testified against Frank at the inquest. At the bottom, Mrs. Lillie Pettis, her sister-in-law, former employee at the pencil factory.

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

Atlanta Georgian

Friday, May 9^th, 1913

Solicitor Dorsey Says He Has Secured Powerful Aid in Search for Slayer of Girl—Woman Says She Heard Screams in Pencil Factory.

Shelby Smith, chairman of the Fulton commission, declared Friday afternoon that the board would back Solicitor Dorsey in any and all expense he might incur in the state’s exhaustive investigation into the Phagan murder mystery. Smith said;

“We have instructed Dorsey to obtain the best possible detective skill for his probe and he would be backed by the county commission to the last ditch in the money the spent.

“The fact that he hired a good detective Friday is news to me, but he has the sanction and backing of the board in the matter.”

HIRE’S BEST DETECTIVE, HE SAYS.

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey said Friday afternoon that he had the best detective in America working on the mystery of the Mary Phagan strangling.

Important developments had ensued already, he declared, and he was confident that an early solution of the case would be reached by the new expert of national reputation who had been placed at work on the clews.

The solicitor is understood  to have the affidavit of a woman who swears that she heard a girl’s screams as she was passing the factory at 4:30 o’clock the afternoon of the tragedy. The cries were shrill and piercing, she says, and died away as she stopped an instant to listen.

The woman was sure they came from inside the factory, but she gave little attention to her startling experience until she read of the strangling of Mary Phagan. Then it occurred to her that she very likely had heard the dying cries of the little girl and she reported the matter to the authorities.

Solicitor Dorsey, as his first action after the holding of Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee to the Grand Jury for the murder of Mary Phagan, put out the dragnet for witnesses.

A batch of subpoenas were issued for the witnesses to appear in his office to give testimony in the case of “The State vs. John Doe.”

After a long conference with Detective Starnes and Campbell, Solicitor Dorsey asserted that action on the part of the Grand Jury might be expected any time after Friday. He plainly intimated that a special session of the jury might be convened Saturday to consider the Phagan murder.

The Solicitor declared as he left the court house with a private detective whose name he refused to divulge that he anticipated the development of startling evidence before night, which, he said, would clear matters materially.

Dorsey Questions Newt Lee.

With the private detective the Solicitor went to the Tower and was closeted with Newt Lee, the night watchman, for more than an hour.

The form of the subpoena is taken to mean that many of the witnesses will submit their sworn testimony before the Solicitor General, who will thus have it in documentary form, instead of going before the Grand Jury to give oral testimony. However, it will be necessary for the material or indicting witnesses to go before the Grand Jurors in person.

“The investigation has just begun,” said Chief of Detectives Lanford Friday, in discussing the action of the Coroner’s jury. “We were confident we had presented sufficient evidence to warrant the holding of the two suspects in the case, but we will have much more when the case gets into the courts.

Have Strong Theory Already.

“We are going to continue right on with the investigation and try to dig down to the full truth of the mystery. We have a strongly supported theory as to who committed the crime, but we are ready at any time to change our opinions as soon as the evidence points in another direction.

“It will be possible, with the rush and hurry of the Coroner’s jury

PHAGAN CASE TO BE RUSHED TO GRAND JURY BY DORSEY

passed, for my men to work with more deliberation and care and to sift with a greater thoroughness every bit of evidence that comes into their possession. Even if nothing new should develop, we have enough leads to keep half a dozen detectives busy for a week.”

Detectives Rosser, Campbell, Black, Starnes and Bullard are still working with the chief on the case and probably will continue until the mystery is cleared.

Lemmie Quinn, foreman in the tipping department at the National Pencil factory, was the first of the witnesses to be examined by the Solicitor. He was in Mr. Dorsey’s office a considerable part of the forenoon and underwent a rigorous examination.

New Witnesses Sought.

Detectives Starnes and Campbell also were with the Solicitor, and two of the Solicitor’s assistants. Newton Garner and Dan Goodlin were dispatched the first thing in the morning to hunt up new witnesses of whom Mr. Dorsey had information.

Foreman Quinn was called, it is understood, to clear up the discrepancies in his testimony and the statement he is said to have made to the detectives and to several of his acquaintances. In his testimony before the Coroner’s jury he declared that he visited the factory between 12:10 and 12:30 o’clock, the afternoon of the killing of Mary Phagan. He said he talked with Frank for two minutes in the superintendent’s office.

Detectives declared that Quinn had told them and other persons that he did not visit the factory at all Saturday and that he was not there from the time he left Friday until the following Monday.

Frank Expected To Be Held.

“That’s about what I expected at this time,” was the comment with which Leo M. Frank, with little trace of emotion, received the news of the action of the Coroner’s jury Thursday night.

Deputy Sheriff Plennie Minor was the officer who informed both Frank and Newt Lee that the jury had recommended that they be held under charges of murder for further investigation by the Fulton County Grand Jury.

The night watchman received the news indifferently and had nothing to say.

Frank and Lee are held under charges of murder, as the following verdict of the Coroner’s jury will show:

Atlanta, Ga., May 8, 1913.

We, the Coroner’s jury, impaneled and sworn by Paul Donehoo, Coroner of Fulton County, to inquire into the cause of the death of Mary Phagan, whose dead body now lies before us, after having heard the evidence of sworn witnesses, and the statement of Dr. J. W. Hurt, County Physician, find that the deceased came to her death from strangulation. We recommend that Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee be held under charges of murder for further investigation by the Fulton County Grand Jury.

(Signed)

HOMER C. ASHFORD, Foreman.

DR. J. W. HURT, County Physician.

Solicitor Dorsey said Friday he would give the Phagan case all of his attention and present his evidence to the Grand Jury as quickly as possible.

The solicitor has shown an anxiety to avoid delays of any nature in hunting down the slayer of the Phagan girl, and now that the Coroner’s jury has turned the case over to the Solicitor and the Grand Jury it may be taken for granted that the investigation will be hurried along with all possible speed.

Case in State’s Hands.

“The case now is fully in the hands of the State,” said the Solicitor Friday morning. “It will not be presented to the Grand Jury Friday, but I shall endeavor to present it at the earliest possible moment. The instant that I have a complete case I shall bring it to the attention of the Grand Jury. It is my desire to bring the slayer of Mary Phagan to justice with the greatest dispatch. A great crime has been done and I am no less eager to see the guilt determined than the general public.”

It required the Coroner’s jury about twenty minutes to frame its formal verdict Thursday night. The jurors received a brief charge from Coroner Donehoo and filed from the Commissioners’ room in the police station at 6:08 o’clock. At 6:28 they were back with their verdict.

Coroner Donehoo admonished the jurors to be as ready to hold a person who they thought might be withholding information of the crime as to hold a person they regarded as the possible culprit. A person possessing knowledge of the crime and withholding it, he said, was an accessory after the fact.

An immediate hush fell on the packed room when the jurors returned. There was a dead silence except for the voice of Homer C. Ashford, foreman of the jury, when the verdict was read.

Girls Testify Against Frank.

The most damaging testimony against Frank in regard to his treatment of employees at his factory was saved until the last hours of the hearing. Girls and women were called to the stand to testify that they had been employed at the factory or had had occasion to go there, and that Frank had attempted familiarities with them.

Nellie Pettis, of 9 Oliver Street, declared that Frank had made improper advances on her. She was asked if she ever had been employed at the pencil factory.

“No,” she answered.

Q. Do you know Leo Frank?—A. I have seen him once or twice.

Q. When and where did you see him?—A. In his office at the factory whenever I went to draw my sister-in-law’s pay.

Q. What did he say to you that might have been improper on any of these visits?—A. He didn’t exactly say—he made gestures. I went to get sister’s pay about four weeks ago and when I went into the office of Mr. Frank I asked for her. He told me I couldn’t see her unless “I saw him first.”

Says He Winked at Her.

“I told him I didn’t want to ‘see him.’ He pulled a box from his desk. It had a lot of money in it. He looked at it significantly and then looked at me. When he looked at me, he winked. As he winked he said: ‘How about it?’

“I instantly told him I was a nice girl.”

Here the witness stopped her statement. Coroner Donehoo asked her sharply:

“Didn’t you say anything else?”

“Yes, I did! I told him to go to h—l! and walked out of his office.”

Thomas Blackstock, who said that he was employed at the factory about a year ago testified as follows:

Tells of Frank’s Conduct.

Q. Do you know Leo M. Frank?—A. Yes.

Q. How long have you known him?—A. About six weeks.

Q. Did you ever observe his conduct toward female employees of the pencil factory?—A. Yes. I’ve often seen him picking on different girls.

Q. Name some.—A. I can’t exactly recollect names.

Q. What was the conduct you noticed particularly?

The witness answered to the effect that he had seen him place his hands with undue familiarity upon the person of girls.

Q. See it often?—A. A half dozen times, maybe. He generally was seen to become that familiar while he was touring the building.

Q. Can’t you name just one girl?—A. Yes. Magnolia Kennedy.

Q. Did you see him act with undue familiarity toward her?—A. No. I heard talk about it.

Q. Before or after the murder?—A. Afterward.

“Girls Tried to Avoid Him.”

Q. When did you observe this misconduct of which you have told?—A. A year ago.

Q. Did you hear complaints around the plant?—A. No. The girls tried to avoid him.

Mrs. C. D. Donegan said she was connected with the pencil plant for three weeks. Her capacity was that of forelady. She resides at 165 West Fourteenth Street with her husband.

Her testimony follows:

“State your observations of Frank’s conduct toward the girls and women of the plant.”

“I have noticed him smile and wink at the girls in the place. That was two years ago.”

“Did you make a statement to the detectives of undue familiarity you had witnessed?”

“I told them that I had seen Frank flirt with the girls and women—that was all I said.”

Charges Familiarities.

The testimony of Nellie Wood, a young girl of 8 Corput Street, came next.

In brief it was this:

Q. Do you know Leo Frank?—A. I worked for him two days.

Q. Did you observe any misconduct on his part?—A. Well, his actions didn’t suit me. He’d come around and put his hands on me when such conduct was entirely uncalled for.

Q. Is that all he did?—A. No. He asked me one day to come into his office, saying that he wanted to talk to me. He tried to close the door, but I wouldn’t let him. He got too familiar by getting so close to me. He also put his hands on me.

Q. Where did he put his hands?—A. He barely touched my breast. He was subtle with his approaches, and tried to pretend that he was joking but I was too wary for such as that.

Quit His Employ.

Q. Did he try further familiarities?—A. Yes.

Q. When did this happen?—A. Two years ago.

Q. What did you tell him when you left his employ?—A. I just quit, telling him that it didn’t suit me.

Frank’s testimony was looked forward to with keen interest, but when he was called to the stand in the afternoon, he merely answered additional questions as to his movements on the day of the crime and failed to add materially to the evidence in hand.

He appeared pale and haggard from his imprisonment, but he replied to all of the questions clearly and showed no hesitation or apparent fear. He was asked:

Testimony of Frank.

Q. What kind of elevator door is there to the shaft in the pencil factory?—A. Sliding doors.

Q. How many?—A. One on each floor.

Q. Are they latticed or solid?—A. Solid.

Q. Where was the elevator at 12 o’clock Saturday?—A. I did not notice.

Q. Were the doors open or closed?—A. I don’t remember.

Q. What protection would a person have from falling down the shaft if the doors were left open?—A. A bar which projects across the opening.

Q. After the crime was committed, where did the elevator stand?—A. I only know where it stood Sunday morning. It then was on the second floor.

Didn’t File Time Tape.

Q. When you last removed the tape from the time clock, what did you do with it?—A. Handed it to an officer in the building.

Q. Did you put it on file?—A. No.

Q. Are you sure?—A. Yes, positive.

Q. Do you remember a party at your house on the night of April 26?—A. Yes.

Q. Can you name the guests?—A. I don’t remember them all.

Q. When the police came to bring you down to the factory that Sunday morning, what was said about whisky?—A. I said I wanted something warm to drink. One of the detectives suggested whisky.

Q. What time was it?—A. Between 7:30 and 8 o’clock.

Says He Viewed Body.

Q. What did you say about dreaming?—A. I said to someone that I thought I had dreamed of hearing the telephone ring in the dead of night.

Q. When you went to the undertakers’, did you go in the water closet instead of the room in which the body lay?—A. No.

Q. Did you view the body?—A. Yes.

Q. Did you recognize the girl?—A. Yes.

Q. When did you first hear her name?—A. I don’t remember.

Q. What time did you return home that Sunday afternoon?—A. I don’t recollect.

Q. Did you telephone your wife before your return?—A. Yes.

Q. Was the murder discussed at home that afternoon?—A. Not much.

Q. What topic was discussed?—A. I don’t remember.

Often Does Not Remember.

Q. When did Quinn first mention to you his visit to the factory on the 26^th?—A. I don’t remember.

Q. What did he say?—A. He said, “Don’t you recollect that I was at the factory Saturday about noon?”

Q. What did you tell him about withholding that information until your attorney had been consulted?—A. I don’t remember. I had so many visitors that I couldn’t recollect the exact words.

Q. Who suggested the conference with your attorney relative to Quinn’s visit?—A. I don’t remember.

Q. How long have you known you had counsel?—A. Since Monday.

Q. Why was it mentioned that Quinn’s visit he kept quiet until consultation with your lawyer?—A. I don’t remember.

Explains Locks and Doors.

Q. How can you lock the door between your office and the dressing room where the blood spots were found?—A. I have never seen it locked.

Q. Is it usually open or locked?—A. Closed.

Q. Is there any way of closing the doors on the back stairway?—A. Yes. They are locked.

Q. Describe your telephone conversation with Detective Starnes at the time you were informed of the tragedy?—A. He asked me if I was superintendent of the National Pencil Factory. “I’d like to have you come down here at once,” he said when I informed him that I was Leo Frank. He said he wanted me to identify a girl, and asked me if I knew Mary Phagan.

Q. Didn’t you say that the first time you had heard her name was while you were traveling in the auto on the way to the factory Sunday morning?—A. I don’t recollect that I did.

Q. Did you have any trouble with a girl in your office Saturday morning?—A. No. There was one incident where a mistake had been made in the pay envelope of Mattie Smith, but it was corrected without any trouble.

Tells of Callers at Office.

Q. What time was Mattie Smith in your office?—A. Between 9 and 10 a. m.

Q. Did any one enter while she was there?—A. I don’t remember.

Q. Give the name of every one in the office throughout the day Saturday?—A. Mr. Darley, Mr. Holloway, the office boy, Miss Hall, the stenographer; Mr. Campbell, Mr. Fullerton, Mrs. White, Lemmie Quinn, Mr. Gantt, Emma Clark, another girl employee, Arthur White, Harry Denham, Newt Lee and Mary Phagan.

Q. Did you see May Barrett?—A. I don’t know her.

Q. What did you say to Emma Clark?—A. I don’t remember saying anything to her.

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, May 9th 1913, “Best Detective in America Now is on Case, Says Dorsey,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Journal

Friday, May 9^th, 1913

Full Story of Hearing Thursday Afternoon When Frank, Newt Lee, Detectives Black and Scott and Several Character Witnesses Were Placed on the Stand

The verdict of the coroner’s jury that Mary Phagan came to her death by strangulation and its recommendation that both Mr. Frank and Lee be held for investigation by the grand jury was rendered at 6:30 o’clock Thursday afternoon and marked by the conclusion of one of the most remarkable inquests ever held in this state.

Deputy Plennis Minor carried the news of the coroner’s jury verdict to Mr. Frank and to the negro. Mr. Frank was in the hallway of the Tower, reading an afternoon paper, when the deputy approached him and told him that the jury had ordered him and the negro held for an investigation by the grand jury.

“Well, it’s no more than I expected at this time,” Mr. Frank told the deputy. Beyond this he made no comment.

Newt Lee, says Mr. Minor, was visibly affected. He seemed very much depressed and hung his head in a dejected manner.

The jury was empaneled by Coroner Paul Donehoo on Monday, April 28, and has held four long and tedious sessions for the taking of testimony in addition to meeting to inspect the body and the scene of the crime. Twice the body of Mary Phagan was exhumed at the order of the coroner, in order that physicians might search more thoroughly for clues and evidence.

The reports of the physicians, who made these examinations, have never been made public, even the evidence of the county physician, Dr. J. W. Hurt, having been given the jury behind closed doors. It is said that even to the jury the physician did not go thoroughly into his investigation. The verdict of the jury was rendered after only twenty minutes of deliberation.

Superintendent Frank and the negro, Lee, were both searchingly examined for the second time by the coroner at Thursday afternoon’s session inquest, but neither added materially to former statements. Lee was principally questioned about the interview, which Mr. Frank had with him in a cell at police headquarters.

EVIDENCE ALL CIRCUMSTANTIAL.

Harry Scott, the Pinkerton operative on the case, gave interesting testimony of his position in the probe of Mary Phagan’s death. Mr. Scott refused to commit himself, when asked if he had definite information as to who killed Mary Phagan. “I am working on a chain of circumstance—that is all,” he said.

City Detective John Black in answering the same question said that he had no “positive” information as to the murderer.

A number of character witnesses were introduced towards the close of the inquest.

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 9th 1913, “Here is Testimony of Witnesses Given at the Final Session of Coroner’s Jury in Phagan Case,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Journal

Friday, May 9^th, 1913

Belief That the Detectives Had Positive Evidence, Which They Were Withholding, Dissipated by Admissions

SCOTT AND BLACK REFUSED TO NAME MAN SUSPECTED

Case Now Goes to the Grand Jury but No Action Is Expected for a Week—Search for Evidence Will Continue

Coroner Paul Donehoo and the six jurors who investigated the murder of little Mary Phagan in the National Pencil factory on April 26, concluded Thursday the most thorough and exhaustive probe of a violent death ever conducted in this county and probably in the state.

The jury recommended that Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the factory, college graduate and man of culture and refinement, and Newt Lee, an ignorant negro watchman, both be held for investigation by the grand jury.

But the mystery of Mary Phagan’s death has not been solved.

After all of the evidence in the long and tedious probe had been given on oath before coroner’s jury, and after two weeks of hard and conscientious work by the city detectives and numerous private detectives, Mary Phagan’s death is still an admitted mystery.

NO POSITIVE EVIDENCE.

John Black, a city detective, and Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, two men, who have been at work on the mystery almost since the minute Newt Lee telephoned police headquarters that he had found the body of a murdered woman in the basement of the factory, stated on the witness stand Thursday afternoon that they had no positive evidence that would lay the crime on any individual.

“We are working on a chain of circumstances,” Scott told the jury. “I have no positive information as to who committed the murder,” said Black.

There have been many rumors to the effect that the state is withholding from public much important evidence.

Undoubtedly the state did withhold evidence at the inquest, which would tend to strengthen the chain of circumstances, but the statements under oath of the two detectives that they had no conclusive or positive information, which would make them name the man they suspect, served to show that the element of mystery has not been dissipated.

UP TO GRAND JURY.

Action by the Fulton county grand jury on the cases of Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil factory, and Newt Lee, negro night watchman, suspects in the Mary Phagan murder case, is not expected at least for a week.

Following the commitment of the two men by the coroner’s jury Thursday afternoon, interest has been centered in the probable action of the grand jury. That body held one of its regular sessions on Friday morning, but no phase of the Phagan case went before it. The state’s case is far from complete, it is said, and, there is much work before the officials will be ready to place their evidence before the grand jurors. The grand jury, however, can take up the matter of its own initiative, and since Judge W. D. Ellis especially charged it to investigate the Phagan case, it is said that two weeks will not elapse before the jury returns “no bills” or “true bills” agains the men held by the coroner’s inquest.

WHO JURORS ARE.

The present grand jury, which will be in office for this term of court, about two months, is comprised of the following citizens:

L. H. Beck, foreman; F. P. H. Akers; R. R. Nash; Charles Heins, H. G. Rubbard, John D. Wing, R. A. Redding, V. H. Kriegshaber, R. F. Sams, A. D. Adair, Sr., S. C. Glass, J. G. Bell, Cephas M. Brown, George A. Gershon, A. L. Gothman, Walker Dunson, W. L. Percy, C. A. Cowles, Sol Benjamin, R. P. Bell, H. M. Beutell, W. A. Bosser and Albert Roylston.

Only the filing of writ of habeas corpus for one or both of the prisoners is likely to precipitate immediate action by the grand jury, and there has been no intimation from Attorney Luther Z. Rosser, counsel for Mr. Frank, that he will seek the liberation of his client through a habeas corpus writ.

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 9th 1913, “With Two Men Held in Tower, Mystery of Murder Deepens,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Leo M. Frank, factory superintendent, who, with Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, was held for the grand jury.

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

Atlanta Constitution

Friday, May 9^th, 1913

Sensational Statements Made at Inquest by Two Women, One of Whom Had Been an Employee, Who Declared That Frank Had Been Guilty of Improper Conduct Toward His Feminine Employees and Had Made Proposals to Them in the Factory.

EVIDENCE IN BAFFLING MYSTERY THUS FAR, IS CIRCUMSTANTIAL, IS ADMISSION MADE BY DETECTIVES

Frank and Lee Both Go on Stand Again and Are Closely Questioned in Regard to New Lines of Evidence and Forced to Reiterate Testimony Formerly Made to Coroner’s Jury. They Will Remain in Jail Pending Action of the Grand Jury.

Leo. M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil factory, and Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, suspects in the Mary Phagan murder, were ordered by the coroner’s jury to be held under charges of murder for further investigation by the Fulton grand jury.

With this verdict the inquest closed at 6:28 o’clock yesterday afternoon. Frank and the negro will be held in the Tower until action is taken by the grand jury and solicitor general. The decision was reached within twenty minutes after the jury had retired.

Although much important testimony was delivered at the inquest, probably the most significant was the admission made by Detective Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, and Detective John Black, of headquarters, both of whom declared in answer to questions that they so far had obtained no conclusive evidence or clues in the baffling mystery, and that their only success had been attained in the forging of a chain of circumstantial evidence.

Testimony was drawn from a number of women and young girls who told of alleged undue familiarity of the suspected factory superintendent with them and other female employees of the plant. The boldest statement of this character was made by Nellie Pettis, a young sister-in-law of Mrs. Lillie Mae Pettis, an employee of the factory.

She declared that on one occasion, four weeks ago, when she had gone to Frank’s office to obtain her sister’s pay envelope, the superintendent had made an open proposal, and had even intimated the offer of money.

Frank and Lee on Rack.

Both the superintendent and the negro suspect were placed on the rack during the afternoon session. Lee’s statement was a reiteration of his former story. He was quizzed on new lines, however, answering all questions promptly and clearly. He preceded his employer.

Frank was interrogated in regard to new evidence that has been obtained by the sleuths.

He was worn and haggard, and shows the effect of his imprisonment. From 9:30 in the morning, at which hour the inquest was resumed, until 5 o’clock in the afternoon, when he was placed on the stand, he sat in the office of Chief Beavers, the object of the gaze of immense crowd of idly curious who thronged the building.

Coroner’s Verdict.

The following is the verdict of the coroner’s jury:

Atlanta, Ga., May 8, 1913.

We, the coroner’s jury, empaneled and sworn by Paul Donehoo, coroner of Fulton county, to inquire into the cause of the death of Mary Phagan, whose dead body now lies before us, after having heard the evidence of sworn witnesses, and the statement of Dr. J. W. Hurt, county physician, find that the deceased came to her death from strangulation. We recommend that Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee be held under charges of murder for further investigation by the Fulton county grand jury.

(Signed)

HOMER C. ASHFORD.

Foreman.

DR. J. W. HURT.

County Physician.

Frank’s Testimony.

Frank was put on the rack at 5 o’clock. His examination was much shorter than the one to which he was subjected during the first session.

“What kind of elevator door is there to the shaft in the pencil factory?” was the first question.

“Sliding doors.”

“How many?”

“One on each floor.”

“Are they latticed or solid?”

“Solid.”

“Where was the elevator at 12 o’clock Saturday?”

“I did not notice.”

“Were the doors open or closed?”

“I don’t remember.”

“What protection would a person have from falling down the shaft [1 word illegible] the doors were left open?”

“A bar which projects across the opening.”

“After the crime was committed, where did the elevator stand?”

“I only know where it stood Sunday morning. It  then was on the second floor.”

“When you last removed the tape from the time clock, what did you do with it?”

“Handed it to an officer in the building.”

“Did you put it on file?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes—positive.”

“Do you remember a party at your house on the night of April 26?”

“Yes.”

“Can you name the guests?”

“I don’t remember them all.”

“When the police came to bring you down to the factory that Sunday morning, what was said about whiskey?”

“I said I wanted something warm to drink. One of the detectives suggested whisky.”

“What time was it?”

“Between 7:30 and 8 o’clock.”

“What did you say about dreaming?”

“I said to someone that I thought I had dreamed of hearing the telephone ring in the dead of night.”

“When you went to the undertakers’, did you go in the water closet instead of the room in which the body lay?”

“No.”

“Did you view the body?”

“Yes.”

“Did you recognize the girl?”

“Yes.”

“When did you first hear her name?”

“I don’t remember.”

“What time did you return home that Sunday afternoon?”

“I don’t recollect.”

“Did you telephone your wife before your return.”

“Yes.”

Did Not Discuss Murder.

“Was the murder discussed at home that afternoon?”

“Not much.”

“What topic was discussed?”

“I don’t remember.”

“When did Quinn first mention to you his visit to the factory on the 26^th?”

“I don’t remember.”

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘Don’t you recollect that I was at the factory Saturday about noon?’”

“What did you tell him about withholding that information until your attorney had been consulted?”

“I don’t remember. I had so many visitors that I couldn’t recollect the exact words.”

“Who suggested the conference with your attorney relative to Quinn’s visit?”

“I don’t remember.”

“How long have you known you had counsel?”

“Since Monday.”

“Why was it mentioned that Quinn’s visit be kept until consultation with your lawyer?”

“I don’t remember.”

“How can you lock the door between your office and the dressing room where the blood spots were found?”

“I have never seen it locked.”

“Is it usually open or closed?”

“Closed.”

“Is there any way of closing the doors on the back stairway?”

“Yes. They are locked.”

“Describe your telephone conversation with Detective Starnes at the time you were informed of the tragedy?”

Frank Was Called Up.

“He asked me if I was superintendent of the National Pencil factory. ‘I’d like to have you come down here at once,” he said when I informed him that I was Leo Frank. He said he wanted me to identity a girl, and asked me if I knew Mary Phagan.”

“Didn’t you say that the first time you had heard her name was while you were traveling in the auto on the way to the factory Sunday morning?”

“I don’t recollect that I did.”

“Did you have any trouble with a girl in your office Saturday morning?”

“No. There was one incident where a mistake had been made in the pay envelope of Mattie Smith, but it was corrected without any trouble.”

“What time was Mattie Smith in your office?”

“Between 9 and 10 a. m.?”

“Did anyone enter while she was there?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Give the name of everyone in the office throughout the day Saturday.”

“Mr. Darley, Mr. Holloway, the office boy, Miss Hall, the stenographer; Mr. Campbell, Mr. Fullerton, Mrs. White, Lemmie Quinn, Mr. Gantt, Emma Clark, another girl employee, Arthur White, Harry Denham, Newt Lee and Mary Phagan.”

“Did you see May Barrett?”

“I don’t know her.”

“What did you say to Emma Clark?”

“I don’t remember saying anything to her.”

He was released from examination of 4:55 o’clock.

Lee on Stand.

Newt Lee was put on the stand, and for the first time publicly told of the private conversation he held with Frank on the night the latter was arrested and brought to police headquarters. He was put through only a short examination.

“Detail your talk with Mr. Frank at headquarters Tuesday night a week ago.”

“I was in the room locked up by myself. Mr. Frank, he came in. I says, ‘Howdy, Mr. Frank; how’re you feeling? It’s mighty hard,’ I says, ‘for me to have to sit here handcuffed to a chair for something I didn’t do.’

“He said I knew something about the crime. I told him I didn’t know a thing on earth about it.

“Then he said: ‘Look here, Newt, if you keep up that same story we’re both going to hell.’ He said it loudly, and made a sweepinn gesture with his hands. I told him that the killing must have been done in the daytime, as all that night I had to pass once every thirty minutes by the machine where they said the little girl was killed. He wouldn’t let me talk about it.”

“When you came to work Saturday at 4 o’clock, did you say anything about wanting to go to sleep?”

“Yes, sir. When I got to the factory I went to the office door and hollered: ‘All right, Mr. Frank, I’m here!’ just like I always do. He came to the door, and said I could go out on the street and have some fun. I said I had rather sleep, because I hadn’t been sleeping much of late, than have a good time out on the street. He said go on, though, and I went.”

“Was that the first time he ever came to the door to greet you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Was the street door locked when you entered the building?”

“No, sir.”

Found Inside Door Locked.

“Was the inside door locked—the door leading to Frank’s office and the second floor?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Had it ever been locked before?”

“No, sir. Not since I’ve been working there.”

“How did you get in?”

“Unlocked the door.”

“When you arrived, was the scuttle hole near the elevator open?”

“I don’t know, sir. It generally always does stay open, though.”

“Was it light or dark on the second floor?”

“Dark.”

“Did Mr. Frank put on the tape of the time clock at 6:30 when you returned from the street?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did he ever do this before?”

“Only once, that’s all.”

“How long did it take him to fix the tape?”

“A pretty good while.”

“Whose shirt is that they found at your house?”

“It looks mighty like one I use to have.”

“What size do you wear?”

“Sixteen.”

“Whose clothes were in the barrel in which it was found?”

“Mine.”

“Was the shirt ready-made?”

“No, sir. It was made by Mrs. Bowen, a white lady who gave it to me.”

“If it is a ready-made garment, then it isn’t yours?”

“No, sir.”

Schiff Tells of Office Work.

Herbert Schiff, chief clerk of the pencil factory, took the stand.

“What is your capacity with the concern?” he was questioned.

“I formerly was a traveling salesman. I’m now chief clerk and first assistant to Mr. Frank.”

“Are you entirely familiar with his handwriting?”

(The object of the coroner was to ascertain the exact amount of work done by the suspected superintendent during the day on which the murder is believed to have been committed.)

“Yes.”

“His business, too?”

“Yes, thoroughly.”

“Wasn’t Frank behind with his office work on that particular Saturday?”

“What kind of work had accumulated?”

“Billing, orders and the financial sheet.”

“Were you at the factory Saturday?”

“No.”

“How many employees are there attached to the plant?”

“One hundred and fifty or more.”

(At this juncture of his examination, Schiff was given the same assortment of clerical work to investigate which had previously been given Miss Hall. He was asked to identify Frank’s handwriting. He recognized ten requisition sheets which the suspect had handled.)

“How long would it require to adjust these requisitions?”

“An hour and thirty minutes, I would say.”

“Were you at the factory Monday morning at 8 o’clock?”

“Yes.”

“When did you first see these papers?”

“Monday or Tuesday, I forget which.”

“How long would you judge that it took Frank to complete the work on his books and papers which you recognize as having been performed by him that day?”

“About six or seven hours.”

“Did you see him Sunday?”

“Yes, at Bloomfield’s, the undertaker.”

“Did you speak to him?”

“No; not at that time. I heard him say to Mr. Darley, whom he had accompanied to the undertaker’s, that he was going to police headquarters.”

“What clothes did he wear?”

“I did not notice closely, but it looked like a brown suit. I’m not sure.”

“Did you talk with him at all Sunday?”

“A little. He told me what he had heard of the tragedy, and of being telephoned at daybreak.”

“Do you know him well?”

“Yes, I do. I’ve been associated with him probably more than anyone connected with the plant.”

“What is his general manner toward the girl employees?”

“He says very little to them.”

“Is he naturally nervous?”

“Yes, quite so. He gets agitated over the least little happening.”

Frank’s Conduct Discussed.

The following is Tom Blackstock’s testimony:

“Do you know Leo M. Frank?”

“Yes.”

“How long have you known him?”

“About six weeks.”

“Did you ever observe his conduct toward female employees of the pencil factory?”

“Yes. I’ve often seen him picking on different girls.”

“Name some.”

“I can’t exactly recollect names.”

“What was the conduct you noticed particularly?”

The witness answered to the effect that he had seen him place his hands with undue familiarity upon the person of girls.

“See it often?”

“A half dozen times, maybe. He generally was seen to become that familiar while he was touring the building.”

“Can’t you name just one girl?”

“Yes. Magnolia Kennedy.”

“Did you see him act with undue familiarity toward her?”

“No. I heard talk about it.”

“Before or after the murder?”

“Afterwards.”

“When did you observe this misconduct of which you have told?”

“A year ago.”

“Did you hear complaints around the plant?”

“No. The girls tried to avoid him.”

At 6:28 o’clock, when the jury adjourned the inquest, executive session was declared. Behind locked doors, with even the coroner barred, the six jurors heard the statement of Dr. John W. Hurt, county physician, relative to the examination he had made upon the body.

He told them of the disclosure that death had been caused by strangulation, and minutely described the cuts and wounds about the chest, head and shoulders. No reference was made to the examination he held on the stomach by Dr. H. F. Harris, of the state board of health, nor of the analysis made at the grave when the body was disinterred Wednesday afternoon.

Dr. Hurt’s statement consumed twenty minutes or more. It required half that time for the jury to reach a verdict. When it had been delivered, Coroner Donehoo made a small speech of thanks, commending each man for his efforts during the inquest. Following which, the six men were paid their regulation fee of $1.

A pathetic feature of the adjournment was the handshake accorded the jury individually by James W. Coleman, stepfather of the slain girl. With tear-dimmed eyes and tremulous hand Mr. Coleman moved among the jurors, pressing their hands firmly and murmuring words of gratitude.

The final two hours of the inquest were occupied in examining witnesses whose testimony pertained to the suspected superintendent’s alleged misconduct with female employees of the plant. These witnesses were Mrs. C. D. Donegan, Tom Blackstock, Nellie Wood and Nellie Pettis.

It was the first time such testimony had been introduced, and came as a surprise. The statement of the Pettis girl was the most interesting. She lives at 9 Oliver street and is apparently 18 or 19 years old.

Testifies to Improper Conduct.

She first was asked if she ever had been employed at the pencil factory.

“No,” she answered.

“Do you know Leo Frank?”

“I have seen him once or twice.”

“When and where did you see him?”

“In his office at the factory whenever I went to draw my sister-in-law’s pay.”

What did he say to you that might have been improper on any of these visits?”

“He didn’t exactly say—he made gestures. I went to get sister’s pay about four weeks ago, and when I went into the office of Mr. Frank I asked for her. He told me I couldn’t see her unless ‘I saw him first.’

“I told him that I didn’t want to ‘see him.’ He pulled a box from his desk. It had a lot of money in it. He looked at it significantly and then looked at me. When he looked at me, he winked. As he winked he said: ‘How about it?’

“I instantly told him I was a nice girl.”

Here the witness stopped her statement. Coroner Donehoo asked her sharply:

“Didn’t you say anything else?”

“Yes, I did! I told him to go to h—l! and walked out of his office.”

Mrs. C. D. Donegan was next called to the stand. She was connected with the pencil plant for three weeks. Her capacity was that of forelady. She resides at 165 West Fourteenth street with her husband.

“Frank Flirted With Women.”

Her testimony follows:

“State your observations of Frank’s conduct toward the girls and women of the plant.”

“I have noticed him smile and wink at the girls in the place. That was two years ago.”

“Did you make a statement to the detectives of undue familiarity you had witnessed?”

“I told them that I had seen Frank flirt with the girls and women—that was all I said.”

The testimony of Nellie Wood, a young girl of 8 Corput street came next.

In brief it was this:

“Do you know Leo Frank?”

“I worked for him two days.”

“Did you observe any misconduct on his part?”

“Well, his actions didn’t suit me. He’d come around and put his hands on me, when such conduct was entirely uncalled for.”

“Is that all he did?”

“No. He asked me one day to come into his office, saying that he wanted to talk to me. He tried to close the door, but I wouldn’t let him. He got too familiar by getting so close to me. He also put his hands on me.”

“Where did he put his hands?”

“He barely touched my breast. He was subtle with his approaches, and tried to pretend that he was joking, but I was too wary for such as that.”

“Did he try further familiarities?”

“Yes.”

“When did this happen?”

“Two years ago.”

“What did you tell him when you left his employ?”

“I just quit, telling him that it didn’t suit me.”

Detectives On Stand.

The placing of Detectives Scott and Black on the rack created surprise. They had been assisting in the examination of witnesses. Both were quizzed during the afternoon session.

Scott was first to take the stand.

“What is your profession?”

“Assistant superintendent of the Atlanta branch of the Pinkerton Detective agency.”

“Why are you investigating the Mary Phagan case?”

“I have been retained by the National Pencil company, through Leo M. Frank, to catch the murderer of Mary Phagan.”

“When and how were you retained?”

“Monday following the discovery of the body, I was called over the telephone by Mr. Frank. I went to see him at his office and was employed.”

“State what conversation ensued between you?”

“Frank said, ‘I guess you have read of the horrible crime that has been committed in our factory building. We desire to catch the murderer or murderers, and want to employ the Pinkertons so as to show the public that we are interested in the case.’ He also said that John Black, a detective at police headquarters, seemed to suspect him of the crime. He detailed to me his movements on the day of the murder. This was his explanation:

“’I was at the office of the plant until 10 a. m., when I went to Montag’s office, returning to the factory about 10:30 o’clock. White and Denham, two mechanics, were in the building, and, about 12:10 o’clock, Mary Phagan came in to draw her pay. As she stopped from the office with her envelope, she called back to see if the tipping metal had arrived. About 12:50 o’clock, I left for dinner, returning at 3:10. At 4 o’clock, the negro watchman, Newt Lee, appeared. He was dismissed because of the rupture in my plans to attend the ball game. At 6:30, the negro returned and I went home for the night.”

Scott Questioned Frank.

“Did you ask him any questions?”

“I asked him but little, nothin, in fact.”

“Did he show you over the building?”

“Yes, we inspected the time clock, the elevator, machine room in which the girl is supposed to have been killed, and the spot in the basement where the body was found.”

“Who was with you beside Frank?”

“A Mr. Darley.”

“Did Frank make any suggestions as to how you might proceed with your investigation?”

“None, whatever.”

“Did he advance any theories?”

“None.”

“Have you talked with him since?”

“Only once, and that was while he was being examined at police headquarters.”

“Did Frank reprimand you for questioning him, or protest against the tone of your questions?”

“No.”

“Did he ask you to stop the investigation?”

“No. Herbert Haas asked us to turn over to him the reports of our progress until further notice. I told him we’d first withdraw from the case.”

Scott Reports to Manager.

“Who is getting your daily reports?”

“Sig Montag, manager of the pencil factory.”

“Are you still in the employ of the pencil factory?”

“Yes.”

“Who planned the conference between Lee and Frank?”

“Detective Black and I. We asked Frank to impress upon the negro the importance of telling the truth.”

“What was he told to say to Lee?”

“What I have just told you.”

“What did Frank say when the conference was finished?”

“That he could not get a thing out of the negro.”

“What did the negro say?”

“That Frank told him that if he stuck to his original story, both would go to h—l, and that Frank had made no effort to question him.”

“What did Frank say regarding the conference?”

“That he could get nothing from Lee, and that he had made every possible effort to get the truth.”

“Were you with Detective Black when Lee’s home was searched for the bloody shirt?”

“No.”

“Did you see the shirt in question?”

“Yes.”

“Describe it!”

“It was bloody, and looked as though it had been recently washed. It exhaled a strong odor of blood.”

“Had it ever been laundered?”

“There was no mark to indicate it.”

“Did Lee ever see it?”

“Yes, he recognized it, but said it ‘had not been worn for two years.’ He could not account for the blood stains.”

Scott Refuses to Committ Self.

“Mr. Scott, have you any direct clue or clues?”

“I won’t commit myself at present.”

“Have you anything positive?”

“Only surmises. We are only running out a chain of circumstantial evidence.”

“Is this information in only your possession?”

“No. It is also in Detective Black’s.”

Detective Black was called.

“Tell the jury about the bloody shirt which you found in Newt Lee’s home.”

“Fred Bullard, a headquarters detective, and I went to the rear of 40 Henry street last Thursday a week ago and found it in a trash barrel at the negro’s home.”

“In which part of the barrel was it found?”

“In the bottom.”

“Was the barrel odorous?”

“Yes. It was strong with the fumes of refuse.”

“Did you see the shirt Lee wore Sunday when he was arrested?”

“Yes.”

“Was it like the bloody one?”

“No. It was a woolen garment. The bloody one was linen.”

“Where is the bloody shirt now?”

[It appears there was a mistake in printing and part of the article is missing —Ed.]

“… clue in the Phagan case?”

“Have you discovered any positive clew in the Phagan case?”

“No.”

“What did Lemmie Quinn tell you of his trip to the pencil factory on the Saturday that Mary Phagan disappeared?”

“He told me last Tuesday that he was not at the factory at all on April 26.”

Six Witnesses at Morning Session.

Three hours of the most rigid questioning of witnesses at yesterday morning session of the coroner’s inquest into the death of Mary Phagan failed to bring out any new evidence of importance. Six witnesses—“Boots” Rogers, a former county policeman; Lemmie Quinn, foreman of the pencil factory; Miss Corinthia Hall, employed at the factory; Miss Hattie Hall a stenographer; J. L. Watkins and Miss Daisy Jones—were examined by Coroner Donehoo, but the testimony differed in no way from what has already been given.

Constitution Reporter Testifies.

Rogers told how Britt Craig, the Constitution reporter, was the first to enter the basement and see the dead girl’s body as it lay “face down” in the basement of the pencil factory. His story of how Lee told the officers of his discovery of the body was identified with other testimony on this point.

After Lee had been arrested Rogers said that he went in an automobile to the home of Miss Grace Hix, at 100 McDonough road, an employee at the factory, and brought her to the factory to identify the body of Mary Phagan. He then went for Frank, who had in the meantime been telephoned to, and found him nearly dressed, but nervous.

Rogers said that when the officers arrived at the Frank home, Frank asked whether there was anything wrong at the factory.

While at the factory, Rogers testified, Frank ran the elevator and examined the time clock, reporting that it was correctly punched. His only remark to the arrested night watchman was “too bad.”

Rogers told of how he then took Frank to the undertaker’s shop to see the girl’s body, and later took him to police headquarters to be questioned.

L. A. Quinn, the foreman under whom Mary Phagan worked, stated that he had not seen Mary Phagan since the Monday prior to her death when she was suspended from work on account of a shortage of material.

He stated that he did not work on the Saturday of the murder, but was in the pencil factory to see Mr. Schiff, and talked with Frank only a few minutes after the time when Frank is supposed to have paid off Mary Phagan. He said he did not see Mary Phagan that day. Quinn accounted minutely for his whereabouts and actions on the day of the murder.

Had Forgotten Visit.

He stated that he had forgotten his visit to the factory on the day of the murder until the Tuesday or Wednesday following, but when he remembered it, he asked Frank [1 word illegible] he had better tell the officers. Frank, he said, suggested that he tell his—Frank’s—lawyers about it.

Upon being asked why he had withheld his story of his visit to the factory from the detectives, Quinn said that he did not want to be questioned by the detectives and drawn into the case.

He was questioned about his visit to the Coleman home, where Mary Phagan lived, after the murder, and was also questioned as to the treatment received by girls working in the factory.

Miss Hattie Hall, stenographer for Sig Montag, stated that she was at the factory on Saturday morning working for Frank from about 11 o’clock until noon, but did not see Mary Phagan and could throw no light on the mystery. She told how much and the nature of the work she did for Frank on that day. She said she left the factory at 12:02 o’clock.

The former testimony of J. L. Watkins to the effect that he had seen Mary Phagan on the street between 5 and 6 o’clock on the afternoon of the murder was broken down when a Miss Daisy Jones told the jury how she had passed where Watkins thought he saw Miss Phagan at the time the Watkins lad designated, and that Watkins, being recalled to the stand, admitted his mistake.

Miss Corinthia Hall, who has been an employee at the pencil factory for three years, testified that Frank’s conduct toward the girls in his employ was beyond reproach. She said that she left the factory at 11:45 on the morning of the day of the murder; did not see Mary Phagan and had not seen her since the Monday before when she was laid off from work.

The theory that Mary Phagan was slain by a Greek who worked in a nearby café, has been disproven and is abandoned by the detectives.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, May 9th 1913, “Frank and Lee Ordered Held by Coroner’s Jury for Mary Phagan Murder,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Journal

Friday, May 9^th, 1913

Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, was recalled and asked to tell about any conversation he had with Mr. Frank at the jail or the police station. Lee said he has not talked to Mr. Frank at the jail, but that he had talked with him at the police station.

Mr. Frank came into the room, where he was, Lee said, and asked, “How are you feeling, Newt?”

“Not so good, Mr. Frank?” Lee said was his answer.

Lee said that he then told Mr. Frank that it was mighty hard on him “an innocent man” to be handcuffed there in the chair, and that Mr. Frank told him he knew he (Lee) was innocent, but he believed he knew something about the murder.

Lee said that he then told Mr. Frank that the officers had said the girl was killed on the second floor; that he said in his rounds of the building he had to pass through the second floor room, which had been indicated, every half hour and that he would have known it if the murder had been committed there.

Lee said that Mr. Frank then said: “Let’s don’t talk about that. Let that go.”

Lee said that the furnace had been fired on Friday, but that it had not been fired on Saturday. He went to work shortly before 4 o’clock, Saturday afternoon and called to Mr. Frank, as usual, “All right, Mr. Frank.”

He said that Mr. Frank came out of his office, rubbing his hands, and told him he was sorry he had been forced to come to work so early; that he could have slept two hours longer.

Lee said that he told Mr. Frank that he needed some sleep and that Mr. Frank told him to go out and have a good time and come back at 6 o’clock.

Lee said that he didn’t remember Mr. Frank having come out of his office to talk to him before; that he always called him into the office in case he wanted to talk to him.

Lee said that the street door was unlocked when he came to work at 4 o’clock, but that the double doors inside were locked. These double doors were usually unlocked, he said. Lee said that he got in by using his pass key.

The witness said that he didn’t remember whether the trap door to the basement was open or closed when he came to work. The fireman always went to the basement through this door, he said.

Lee said that he didn’t notice any bloodstains on the second floor. It was dark, he said, and his only light was his lantern.

Lee said that when he returned to work at 6 o’clock Mr. Frank told him to wait until he put on a new tape before he punched the clock; that he didn’t use a key to unlock the clock.

Lee explained the pencil found in the clock by saying that he always stuck a pencil there to check himself, and to remember where he had punched last. He was positive, he said, that he had punched the clock every half hour between the hours of 6 p. m. and 3 a. m. the Saturday night of the tragedy.

Lee was asked if the bloody shirt found at his residence belonged to him. He said that he didn’t know—it was found at his house, he said, so it must be his. Lee said that a “white lady” had made four shirts for him and this might be one of them. If it was a “store bought” shirt, it did not belong to him, he said.

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 9th 1913, “Newt Lee Tells of the Talk He Had in the Popice [sic] Station,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Journal

Friday, May 9^th, 1913

Detective John Black followed Detective Scott on the stand. He was questioned about the finding of the bloody shirt at Newt Lee’s home. He said that on the Tuesday afternoon after the murder he went with Detective Fred Bullard to Newt Lee’s house at 40 Henry street.

They searched the premises, he said, and found the bloody shirt in a clothes barrel in Lee’s room. The shirt was near the bottom of the barrel and was covered with scraps of old clothes, he said, the barrel apparently being used as a dumping place for old garments.

Asked whether he had seen the shirt that Lee had worn the Sunday morning the Phagan child’s body was discovered, Detective Black said it was not the same shirt that was found in the barrel. The shirt found at Lee’s house had apparently been washed but not [rest of sentence cut off—Ed.]

Juror Langford at this point asked Detective Black, “Have you discovered any positive information as to who committed this murder?”

Detective Black replied, “Do you mean positive information? No, sir, I have not.”

Detective Black contradicted the testimony given at the morning session by Lemmie Quinn by saying that Quinn had told him the Monday after the tragedy that he had not been to the pencil factory the Saturday before.

“Quinn made the statement in my presence two or three times,” said the witness. “On one occasion Detectives Starnes and Campbell questioned him in the basement of the pencil factory and he said he had not been there.”

Detective Black said that it was at his suggestion that Mr. Frank talked to the negro “to get the truth out of him.”

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 9th 1913, “Detective John Black Tell[s] the Jury His Views on the Phagan Case,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Journal

Friday, May 9^th, 1913

The coroner’s charge to the jury was in part as follows: “You have heard the statement of the county physician. You have seen what caused death. You have seen the body and have heard the evidence in the case.

“It is your duty to inquire diligently as to how Mary Phagan came to her death. That was your oath. In case of unnatural death, you were to determine at whose hands death came.

“You have heard the county physician say strangulation caused death. In determining who is guilty of the murder you turn to the evidence, and if you find that any other party is implicated or is attempting to shield the murderer, he is guilty in the same degree.

“Your position in this matter is similar to that of a commitment court, not a trial court.

“If there is a reasonable suspicion in your mind directed against any person or persons in connection with this crime, it is your duty to hold them. You can also hold witnesses who are essential in trying this case. If you think anybody not actually connected with the case has important information bearing upon it, you can hold them.

“If you believe any one is concealing information, it is your duty to commit that person as an accessory of the crime.”

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 9th 1913, “Coroner Donehoo Points Out the Law to the Jurors,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)