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

The Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, July 13, 1913

Solicitor Dorsey Does Not Believe the Negro Guilty of Any Part in Crime.

That Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey does not believe that Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the National Pencil factory, who was bound over by the grand jury with Superintendent Leo M. Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan, is guilty, was the only matter of importance brought out yesterday at the hearing of the habeas corpus before Judge W.D. Ellis by which Lee’s attorneys, Graham & Chappell, sought to free him.

Judge Ellis denied the motion for habeas corpus and remanded Lee back to the custody of the sheriff to await the outcome of Frank’s trial. Attorneys L.Z. Rosser and Reuben Arnold were also successful in their fight to prevent Frank being brought into court to testify.

Solicitor Dorsey declared that he had not brought a bill against Lee before the grand jury because he believed he had no evidence which would indict Lee.

The negro’s attorneys secured from the sheriff a statement that Lee would be given more eexrcise [sic], as the darkey declared that this was all that was troubling him. He said he was getting stiff from staying in his cell.

“Frank has the entire freedom of the jail whenever he wants it,” declared Attorney Chappell, “and Lee ought to be allowed some chance to take exercise.”

The character of the darkey and his love for the juicy fruit of a Georgia watermelon came out when Lee was being taken back to jail in charge of Deputy Plennie Miner.

“Why don’t you get Mr. Miner to buy you a nigh beer, Newt?” said a bystander.

“Ah don’t want no beer; all Ah wants is er watermelon,” replied the negro, and his large eyes rolled hopefully in his head.

“Ah ain’t had er melon this summer, and it’s the fust time that July ever come ’round without me having er melon.”

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The Atlanta Constitution, July 13th 1913, “Lee Must Remain Behind the Bars,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

The Atlanta Journal

Saturday, July 12, 1913

Frank’s Attorneys Said to Have Corroborating Evidence, Newt Lee Denied Freedom

Joseph H. Leavitt, an attorney, with offices at 422 Grant building, the man who secured the affidavit of W.H. Mincey, who alleges that James Conley confessed to the killing of a girl on April 26, the day Mary Phagan was murdered, declares that a number of affidavits fully corroborating every word that Mincey has said, are in the hands of counsel for the defense of Leo M. Frank.

Mr. Leavitt states that the Mincey affidavit is really much stronger than the published reports, which have purported to give its substance.

The reports are correct as far as they go, Mr. Leavitt admitted to a Journal reporter, but the affidavit dictated and signed by Mincey contains still more testimony, damaging to Conley.

“Mincey is a good citizen,” Mr. Leavitt told a Journal reporter, “a man of education and of character. However, every assertion which he made in the affidavit has been corroborated.”

“Then you must mean that some one else heard the confession Mincey claims that Conley made?” the reporter asked.

“Yes, others head [sic] it,” was the answer of Attorney Leavitt.

While he states that he doesn’t know his address, Mr. Leavitt says that he is confidence [sic] that Mincey will be here when Leo M. Frank faces a jury on the charge of murdering Mary Phagan.

Mincey in his affidavit claims that he went to see Conley on the afternoon of April 26, the day Mary Phagan was murdered to solicit insurance from him, and that Conley became angered and told him that he had killed a little girl that day and did not want to have to kill another person.

The police make light of the Mincey affidavit, and say that Mincey once came to headquarters to identify a man he had seen drunk in the negro quarter. He saw Conley, they say, and then admitted that he had never seen the engro [sic] before.

Attorney Leavitt says that the affidavit will give a good reason for Mincey’s failure to make known at once the information, which he claims to have on the sensational murder case.

Solicitor General Dorsey and Attorney Frank A. Hooper, who will assist him in the prosecution of Frank, grilled James Conley at headquarters for more than an hour Friday afternoon. While Mr. Dorsey would not discuss the matter, it is understood that he questioned Conley closely about the statements alleged to have been to Mincey, and the negro claims that he never saw [the] insurance agent except at police headquarters.

LEE DENIED FREEDOM.

The only result of the hearing of the habeas corpus writ for the release of Newt Lee Saturday morning was the announcement of the sheriff that the negro would be given increased opportunities for taking exercise.

The negro himself stated to the court that he was perfectly willing to remain in jail until the Mary Phagan murder case has been disposed of. He said that he was well treated and well fed, and that his only complaint was that he was stiff from a want of exercise. Sheriff Mangum then told the court this was the first he had heard of  the negro’s want of exercise, and that he would see that he had plenty in future.

Attorneys Graham and Chappell, counsel for Lee, made two points in their petition for a habeas corpus. First, that the negro night watchman had been bound over by the coroner’s jury, and that the two grand juries had failed to act on his case; and, second, that Lee was not a material witness.

The attorney admitted, however, in his petition that the negro did find Mary Phagan’s body.

Solicitor Dorsey declared that Lee was one of the most material witnesses of the state, and that he could testify[…]

(Continued on Page 5, Col. 2.)

MORE AFFIDAVITS TO SUPPORT MINCEY CLAIMED

(Continued From Page 1.)

[…]to several points that no one else could.

The hearing then developed into whether or not Lee should be placed under bond as a material witness or whether he should be held in jail as a witness.

COULDN’T MAKE BOND.

The negro said that he couldn’t make bond, and an order remanding him back to the custody of Sheriff Mangum was issued by Judge W.D. Ellis, who was presiding.

Attorney Chappell, who wanted to go into the issues of the case, presented a petition to have Leo M. Frank, who is charged with the Phagan murder, and James Conley, self-confessed accomplice, brought into court.

The solicitor general stated that he would admit the seevral [sic] things which Attorney hCappell [sic] set out in his petition, and that phase of the case was disposed of.

Attorneys Reuben R. Arnold and Luther Z. Rosser, counsel for Frank, were in court to fight any effort to bring Frank to the court, if a fight had been necessary. Mr. Arnold stated that a complete and exhaustive examination of Frank had been made at the inquest and he was ready to produce the record of Frank’s statement if it was needed.

Solicitor General Dorsey told the court that he would submit the warrant binding over Lee to the grand jury to that body, but could not conscientiously ask that Lee be indicted for murder, as there is no evidence against him.

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The Atlanta Journal, July 12th 1913, “More Affidavits to Support Mincey Claimed,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, July 12, 1913

After Gruelling Third Degree, Officials Refuse to Deny or Affirm Negro Confessed.

Habeas corpus proceedings to release Newt Lee collapsed in the court of Judge Ellis Saturday morning.

By agreement, Bernard L. Chappell, representing Lee, withdrew his application for a habeas corpus; Solicitor Dorsey promised to present a bill against Lee as a suspect in the Phagan murder case, with the expectation that a “no bill” would be returned. This appeared satisfactory to the attorneys for Lee, as well as to the State.

Luther Z. Rosser, Reuben R. Arnold and Herbert J. Haas, of counsel for Frank, were in court to fight against the appearance of Frank as a witness. William M. Smith represented Conley, one of the witnesses subpenaed.

Jim Conley underwent a racking third degree late Friday afternoon at the hands of Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey and Attorney Frank A. Hooper in an effort to verify or discredit the W.H. Mincey affidavit, in which the negro was charged with confessing to the murder of a girl on the afternoon that Mary Phagan met her death.

The grilling of nearly four hours followed The Georgian’s publication of the details of Mincey’s accusations and was undertaken with the utmost secrecy, an attempt being made to avoid knowledge of the “sweating” becoming public by taking Conley to the Commissioners’ room on the second floor of the police station by a circuitous route.

Negro’s Most Severe Ordeal.

It was the most severe ordeal through which the negro has passed. Its result was kept a profound secret both by the Solicitor and Attorney Hooper. Neither would deny the rumor that Conley had made a complete confession admitting that it was he that killed the little factory girl, nor would they confirm the report, which arose when it was learned that Solicitor Dorsey apparently was making ready to take an entirely new statement from the negro.

Dorsey, Hooper and Chief Lanford were present in the Commissioners’ room when the inquisition began. After a few minutes Chief Lanford departed and did not return while the questioning was in progress. He was inclined to deny at first that Conley even was behind the closed doors. But ocular proof had been afforded and the newspaper men hovered about the hallway in the hope that some scrap of information might come to them.

Policeman Guards Door.

Their hovering tactics received a bad setback when Chief Lanford detailed a policeman to guard the door and keep all inquisitive persons away.

For an hour Dorsey and Hooper alternated in shooting questions at the negro, apparently without getting anything from him that he had not already told. Then they removed their coats and renewed the grilling. At one point it seemed Conley must have wavered in some of his statements or changed some of the testimony he previously had given. Dorsey emerged from the room and got a blotter from Chief Beavers’ office. It was taken to mean that a new statement was being obtained from the negro.

The questioning was resumed and the Solicitor from a distant vantage point could be seen turning sheet after sheet of the testimony already given by Conley and comparing it with the statements then being made.

Attorneys Keep Silence.

Dorsey, coatless and perspiring, leaned far over the table and asked the negro question after question, his finger following the answers which had been given when the negro was interrogated before.

Not until after dark did the sweating process cease. Conley was taken back to his cell and Dorsey and Hooper went to their homes. Not a word could be obtained from either.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 12th 1913, “Conley Kept on Grill 4 Hours,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

The Atlanta Georgian

Friday, July 11, 1913

Speedy Indictment of Negro Is Likely Following Publication of Mincey Affidavit.

The speedy indictment of Jim Conley on the charge of murdering Mary Phagan was the strong possibility discussed in court circles Friday following the sensational turn given the strangling mystery by The Georgian’s publication Thursday of the accusation of William H. Mincey, an insurance solicitor, that he had heard the negro boast on the afternoon of the crime of killing a girl.

For nearly two months a self-confessed accessory after the fact of the murder of the little factory girl, Conley has been allowed to go without an attempt at bringing an indictment against him. The startling new evidence which indicates most strongly, if the credibility of the defense’s witness can be established, that Conley was not the accessory after the fact, but the actual principal in the crime, is expected to result in a thorough investigation by the Grand Jury of all the rumors and stories which have been in circulation of the negro’s connection with the pencil factory tragedy.

Counsel Relies on Mincey.

Attorneys for the defense have expressed themselves as satisfied that Mincey’s word is to be relied upon, and that his remarkable affidavit published in The Georgian is true in every particular.

Solicitor Dorsey Friday morning would make no comment on the new evidence.

The detectives openly declared their disbelief in the statements of Mincey. They said that he told a different story when he was at police headquarters and that he asserted after confronting the negro that Conley was not the man with whom he talked the afternoon that Mary Phagan was murdered.

Chief Lanford, of the city detectives, and Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, said that if Mincey had related to them the story told in his sensational affidavit they would have made an immediate investigation in an attempt to verify it and would have sworn out a warrant charging Conley with the murder if a basis for the story could have been found.

Denies Police Assertions.

Mincey’s statement, in so far as it provides an answer to the detectives, was that he did tell the same story to them; that he did identify Conley as the man he talked with on Saturday afternoon, and that the detectives told him they didn’t care to take his evidence.

“Conley told me Saturday afternoon that he had killed a girl, and didn’t want to kill anybody else,” Mincey swears he told the detectives.

“This man Mincey never made mention of having heard Conley say that he had killed a girl, and Mincey never even identified Conley,” is the reply of Detective Scott to this assertion.

Detective headquarters were thrown into excitement by the publication of the startling developments. Within a few minutes Scott was in conference with Chief Lanford and it was said that it had been decided to make a search for Mincey with a view of bringing him before Solicitor Dorsey for a grilling in regard to his story accusing the negro.

News Disturbs Dorsey.

Solicitor Dorsey was evidently disturbed by the new turn in the mystery, but would make no announcement of his intentions in respect to quizzing Mincey, providing Mincey can be found. The witness is said to be in Chattanooga at present teaching school. Leo Frank’s lawyers, if they know Mincey’s whereabouts, are keeping it a profound secret. They had not intended even that the contents of his affidavit should be made public. They declared, however, that he would be on hand for the trial prepared to repeat everything he said in the affidavit.

The latest rumor in connection with the Phagan mystery is that the girl’s mesh bag pocketbook which she carried to the factory on the day she met her death has been found and has been examined for finger prints. This rumor could not be confirmed at police headquarters.

Lee Hearing Saturday.

The habeas corpus proceedings in behalf of Newt Lee, night watchman at the pencil factory, will be fought out Saturday forenoon at 10 o’clock before Judge Ellis. Bernard L. Chappell, representing the negro, said that he would issue subpenas for at least 50 witnesses whose testimony he would rely upon to obtain the freedom of his client.

Among them will be Leo M. Frank and Jim Conley. The appearance of both of these men, the first accused of murder, the second held as a material witness, will be bitterly contested. Reuben R. Arnold, of counsel for Frank, has declared that no law on earth can force Frank to appear as a witness at the hearing.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 11th 1913, “Slaying Charge for Conley Is Expected,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

The Atlanta Journal

Wednesday, July 9, 1913

MYSTERY’S LOST LINK IS FOUND NEAR WHERE CONLEY SAYS HE SAT

Finding of Portion of Salary Envelope Bearing Victim’s Name Expected to Strengthen Defense’s Contention

CONTENTS OF ENVELOPE HAVE NEVER BEEN FOUND

Find Was Made by Pinkertons Just Three Weeks After the Murder, but Was Kept a Secret Until Wednesday.

The pay envelope, which was the quest of Mary Phagan’s visit to the National Pencil factory on April 26, when she met her death, has been found.

At least enough of the envelope to definitely identify it is in the hands of the authorities.

The upper corner of the pay envelope, bearing the name of the victim of the sensational murder mystery, was found on the first floor of the factory by Pinkerton detectives three weeks after the commission of the crime.

While attorneys for the defense and the prosecution have known of the find for weeks, the fact only became public Wednesday.

The corner of the pay envelope was found on the first floor of the factory, behind a radiator, about 15 feet from the stairway and about 8 feet from the place, where James Conley, the negro sweeper, says he sat for more than an hour on the day of the tragedy.

Apparently the portion of the envelope containing the girl’s pitiful wage was carried away. The upper portion could naturally have been torn off and thrown away by the girl or anyone else, who wanted to reach the money.

But at the same time it is possible that the murderer, not wishing to have the incriminating evidence on his person, threw away the only part of the envelope, which could be identified and kept the blank paper.

It is said that the finding of the envelope will prove an assistance to the defense of Leo M. Frank, rather than to the state, for the simple reason that it was found so near the spot where Conley was sitting.

In the several portions of the negro’s various confessions of complicity, which have been made public he has never made any mention of the envelope or of the purse of the dead girl, which it is said, never has been found.

The discovery of the envelope in the particular spot where it is said to have been found, is practically certain to be used by Frank’s attorneys, Reuben R. Arnold and Luther Z. Rosser, in the defense of the trial of Frank. Their view of the matter is said to be that it tends strongly to incriminate the negro and exculpate Frank as the real slayer of Mary Phagan.

HABEAS CORPUS.

Indefinite postponement of the habeas corpus proceedings to secure the release of Newt Lee, negro witness held in the Phagan murder case, was agreed by the negro’s attorneys, Graham and Chappell, and the solicitor general, Hugh M. Dorsey, at the calling of the petition for hearing before Judge W. D. Ellis Wednesday morning.

It was stated then, upon authority, that the defense representing Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil factory, accused of the murder, was not interested in the proceedings in behalf of Newt Lee, either for or against the negro, and that the lawyers retained by Frank would take no hand in that matter one way or the other.

Postponement of the case to a definite time had been expected before the habeas corpus matter was taken up, and, upon previous instructions, the sheriff did not have the negro in court.

This action seemed to dispose of the probability that Jim Conley, the negro sweeper at the factory, and Leo M. Frank, whom he accuses, would be brought face to face in the court in this matter for the first time since Conley made his allegations against the superintendent.

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The Atlanta Journal, July 9th 1913, “Mary Phagan Pay Envelope Found,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Wednesday, July 9, 1913

iGrl [sic] Called to Tell of Negro She Saw in Pencil Factory—Lee Stays in Jail.

A sensation in the Phagan murder mystery developed Wednesday afternoon when Solicitor Dorsey summoned Miss Mattie Smith under a special subpena to question her in regard to a negro she saw in the National Pencil Factory the morning of the Saturday that Mary Phagan was murdered.

Miss Smith told a Georgian reporter that she saw a negro there that morning and believed it was between 9 and 10 o’clock. She thought she might be asked to identify Conley. If she identifies the negro, it will disprove Conley’s statement that he did not go to the factory until after he had met Frank Saturday.

Judge W. D. Ellis Wednesday morning postponed indefinitely the hearing on the application for a writ of habeas corpus to liberate Newt Lee, material witness in the Phagan murder mystery.

The action came as a result of an agreement reached between Graham & Chappell, attorneys for Lee, and Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey. It is believed to mark the end of all efforts to gain the negro’s freedom before the trial of Leo M. Frank July 28.

The most unconcerned person in the courtroom was Newt Lee. He was brought before Judge Ellis by Deputy Sheriff Miner.

Lee is Unconcerned.

“It don’t make no difference to me whether I am inside or outside the jail,” he said to a reporter. “It’s just as the white folks say. I don’t know what all this is that’s going on. I know that my church offered to get me a lawyer. I guess this Mr. Chappell must be the one.”

Chappell did not appear in the courtroom. Lee was represented by C. J. Graham, Chappell’s law partner. Graham and Arnold had a conference half an hour before the hearing, and after it was announced that the judge would be asked for a postponement. Solicitor Dorsey arrived shortly before the hearing began and shortly afterward William M. Smith, attorney for Jim Conley, and Herbert Haas, associated with the defense, entered the courtroom.

Attorney Chappell was opposed in his move to obtain the liberty of Lee not only be the lawyers for the defense, but by those of the prosecution.

“I have advised against this action,” said Solicitor Dorsey, “and I have no idea that it will be successful. The State will be able to prevent the liberation of the negro, as we regard him as a most important witness in our case against Leo Frank. By permitting him to go free would be taking serious chances of losing him as a witness when the case comes to trial.”

Attorney Chappell desired to have Frank present at the hearing in order to repeat his former statements that so far as he knew there was no possibility that Lee could in any way have been connected with the crime.

Conley, who admitted to having assisted in the disposal of the body, was expected to deny that Lee had any connection with the crime to his knowledge.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 9th 1913, “New Evidence in Phagan Case Found,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Wednesday, July 9, 1913

PART OF PAY ENVELOPE FOUND

Discovered Shortly After Tragedy by Detectives, but Find Was Kept Secret.

*Editor’s Note: The following headlines also appeared:

(Night Edition):

NEW PHAGAN EVIDENCE FOUND

PART OF PAY ENVELOPE HELD BY POLICE

(Extra Final Edition):

PHAGAN PAY ENVELOPE FOUND

Two sensational developments marked the Phagan case Wednesday. One was the testimony of Miss Mattie Smith, an employee of the National Pencil factory, that she had seen a negro sitting on the first floor of the factory betwen [sic] 9 and 10 o’clock, at a time when Conley had denied being there. The second was the announcement of the finding of a part of a pay envelope declared to be the envelope of Mary Phagan.

A piece of an envelope bearing Mary Phagan’s number was found on the first floor of the National Pencil factory behind a radiator, only a few feet from where Jim Conley, negro sweeper at the plant, was sitting on the day the little factory girl was murdered, according to information made public Wednesday afternoon.

Robbery Again Suspected.

This startling development in the strangling mystery is believed more strongly than ever to point to robbery as the original motive for the attack upon the girl and to turn suspicion more directly upon Conley.

One corner of the envelope was found behind a radiator where the person who attacked Mary Phagan presumably threw it to do away with any evidence against him. Her number was found upon it, according to the men working on the case.

Miss Smith told a Georgian reporter that she saw a negro there that morning and believed it was between 9 and 10 o’clock. She thought she might be asked to identify Conley. If she identifies the negro, it will disprove Conley’s statement that he did not go to the factory until after he had met Frank Saturday.

Judge W. D. Ellis Wednesday morning postponed indefinitely the hearing on the application for a writ of habeas corpus to liberate Newt Lee, material witness in the Phagan murder mystery.

The action came as a result of an agreement reached between Graham & Chappell, attorneys for Lee, and Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey. It is believed to mark the end of all efforts to gain the negro’s freedom before the trial of Leo M. Frank July 28.

The most unconcerned person in the courtroom was Newt Lee. He was brought before Judge Ellis by Deputy Sheriff Miner.

Lee is Unconcerned.

“It don’t make no difference to me whether I am inside or outside the jail,” he said to a reporter. “It’s just as the white folks say. I don’t know what all this is that’s going on. I know that my church offered to get me a lawyer. I guess this Mr. Chappell must be the one.”

Chappell did not appear in the courtroom. Lee was represented by C. J. Graham, Chappell’s law partner. Graham and Arnold had a conference half an hour before the hearing, and after it was announced that the judge would be asked for a postponement. Solicitor Dorsey arrived shortly before the hearing began and shortly afterward William M. Smith, attorney for Jim Conley, and Herbert Haas, associated with the defense, entered the courtroom.

Attorney Chappell was opposed in his move to obtain the liberty of Lee not only by the lawyers for the defense, but by those of the prosecution.

“I have advised against this action,” said Solicitor Dorsey, “and I have no idea that it will be successful. The State will be able to prevent the liberation of the negro, as we regard him as a most important witness in our case against Leo Frank. By permitting him to go free would be taking serious chances of losing him as a witness when the case comes to trial.”

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 9th 1913, “Girl Springs Sensation 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.

The Atlanta Georgian

Tuesday, July 8, 1913

Negro’s Counsel Secures Chance to Argue for Habeas Corpus Writ Wednesday.

Reuben R. Arnold, of counsel for Leo M. Frank, communicated with Sheriff Mangum Tuesday afternoon directing him under no circumstances to permit the removal of Frank to appear Wednesday as a witness in the habeas corpus hearing to free Newt Lee.

“There is no law on earth to bring Frank to court under an order as a witness,” said Arnold. Attorney Rosser, chief of counsel, was absent from the city Tuesday.

Attorney C. J. Graham, of the firm of Graham & Campbell, went to the home of Judge W. D. Ellis Tuesday afternoon to obtain the court’s signature to an application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of Newt Lee, negro night watchman in the National Pencil Factory prior to the killing of Mary Phagan.

Judge Ellis said he would sign the application and set Wednesday morning at 9:30 o’clock for a hearing on the writ. The hearing will be held in Judge Ellis’ court. Mr. Graham announced that he would ask subpenas for Jim Conley and Leo M. Frank.

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey said Tuesday he was confident the State would be able to defeat any attempt to get Newt Lee out of the Tower, where he has been confined since April 27, first as a suspect in the Mary Phagan murder case and later as a material witness. He said he had advised Lee’s attorney not to take the action, as the negro was regarded as an important witness in making a complete chain of evidence against Leo M. Frank.

Defense’s Attitude Secret.

The plan of bringing Conley and Frank together may meet an insurmountable obstacle when it comes to getting the permission of Frank’s attorneys. The law allows an indicted man to testify or to refuse to testify. Frank has been willing to appear as a witness at any time, but he has placed himself under the instructions of his lawyers and the matter is entirely in their hands.

Attorney Rosser is out of town, but Reuben Arnold, associated with Mr. Rosser in the defense, said Tuesday that no thought had been taken of the possibility that Frank would be asked to appear in the habeas corpus hearing, and that, therefore, he could not say what the attitude of the defense would be.

The sentiment of the new Grand Jury, which is said to favor an investigation into the Phagan mystery with a view of indicting Conley, also opens a most interesting possibility in that the defense will be called upon to make known for the first time the evidence which it has against Conley.

Rosser Guards His Evidence.

Luther Z. Rosser, chief of counsel for the accused man, has stated publicly that he believes the negro, and not Frank, guilty of the terrible crime. He has narrated a number of suspicious circumstances that point to the guilt of Conley, but he has carefully guarded the contents of the scores of affidavits in his possession which are said to weave the strongest sort of a net about the negro.

If an effort is made by the Grand Jury to indict Conley, Attorney Rosser, as well as members of the detective department, probably will be asked to lay their evidence before the jurors for an impartial determination of whether it is sufficient to warrant the action.

This will be the first time the defense will have been led into any show of its real strength. Every attorney working in the interests of Frank has closed his lips tightly when questioned as to the really vital pieces of evidence in the hands of the defense.

It is regarded as likely, however, that they will welcome this opportunity to assist in the indictment of the negro, particularly as their evidence will be given behind closed doors and in the presence of men sworn to secrecy.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 8th 1913, “Grants Right to Demand Lee’s Freedom,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Wednesday, July 2, 1913

No Indication Given of Results of Investigation of Reports of Disorderly Houses.

The result of the Grand Jury’s sensational vice probe of a few weeks ago will be made known Wednesday when the presentments are returned to Superior Judge W. D. Ellis, who two months ago charged that an extensive investigation be made.

Save when an indictment was returned against Police Commissioner W. P. Fain, which charged him with keeping a disorderly house and beating one of the women inmates, no inkling of the general trend of the probe got beyond the closed doors of the jury room.

When the probe first started the jury expected it to be completed in a day. It took a sensational turn when Colonel Thomas B. Felder charged Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford and his detectives with openly protecting vice, and the attorney stated he could submit to the jury a “vice list” that would “stand Atlanta on its head.”

List Given to Jury.

Colonel Felder and Attorney Carl Hutcheson, a young man in his office, prepared a list for the jury which was said to have contained more than 50 names.

Chief of Police J. L. Beavers, denied the existence of the places named in Colonel Felder’s list, and told the Grand Jury vice conditions were better in Atlanta than in any city in the United States, and better than they had ever been in this city.

It was understood that the jury had declined to probe the charges of police corruption and had given the department a clean bill of record.

Whether the recent scandal at police headquarters made it necessary for the jury to change its presentments Tuesday could not be learned, but that a material revision was made was admitted by E. V. Kriegshaber, chairman of the presentment committee. He would not state, however, whether it had to deal with the recent police expose.

Several times since the vice probe began Foreman L. H. Beck has been swamped with signed and anonymous communications furnishing the names of alleged disorderly houses, and some of the writers agreed to testify before the jury under oath.

Dismiss Body Wednesday.

Practically none of the witnesses whose names were furnished the jury were called, and it was generally understood the body declined to deal with specific places, or names, but would only deal with the question in a general way, and recommended to the court any specific action that might be deemed necessary.

The body will meet at 10 o’clock Wednesday morning for a short session to consider any bills the Solicitor might have pending, after which it will be discharged by Judge Ellis.

If the reported action against Jim Conley, the negro who figures in the Phagan case, is to be taken by this Grand Jury it will have to be taken to-day before the jury is discharged. In the event of the body not taking up an indictment against the negro, it can recommend that the succeeding Grand Jury, which meets next Monday, take it up, or the next jury may take it up of its own accord.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 2nd 1913, “Findings in Probe are Guarded,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Constitution

Tuesday, May 6^th, 1913

Crime Calls for Your Immediate Attention, Declares Judge Ellis, in His Charge.

“The Mary Phagan case calls for your immediate and vigorous attention. The power of the state is behind you. What appears to be an awful crime has been committed, and the welfare of the community, the good name of Atlanta, public justice and the majesty of the law demand at the hands of this grand jury and of all officers of the law the most searching investigation and the prompt bringing to trial of the guilty party.”

Such was the charge made by Judge W. D. Ellis, of the superior court, to the grand jury for the May session empannelled [sic] Monday morning. Judge Ellis declared that a thousand crimes would not equal in horror the murder of little Mary Phagan.

Solicitor-General Drosey expressed the opinion that the grand jury would not take the matter up immediately. To do this, he declared, would interfere with the coroner’s jury, which is still making its inquest.

The body of Mary Phagan was exhumed Monday morning by Coroner Donehoo. An examination of the contents of the stomach will be made in an endeavor to get some new clew that may throw light on the mystery.

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Atlanta Constitution, May 6th 1913, “Probe Phagan Case Grand Jury Urged,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)