Tag Archives: Murder

Pastor Prays for Justice at Girl’s Funeral

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Pastor Prays for Justice at Girl's FuneralAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

Mother and Aunt of Mary Phagan Swoon at Burial in Marietta This Morning.

A thousand persons saw a minister of God raise his hands to heaven to-day and heard him call for divine justice.

Before his closed eyes was a little casket, its pure whiteness hid by the banks and banks of beautiful flowers.

Within the casket lay the bruised and mutilated body of Mary Phagan, the innocent young victim of one of Atlanta’s blackest and most bestial crimes.

The spirit of the terrible tragedy filled the air. An aunt of the strangled girl suddenly screamed, fell over in her seat and was carried from the church in a swoon from which she did not fully recover for hours.

The stricken mother collapsed and it was feared that her condition might become critical.

The scene was in the Second Baptist Church at Marietta, where Mary Phagan had lived when she was a child of only three or four years. An immense crowd was at the station when the funeral train arrived at 10 o’clock. Many of them were young people who had played about with the strangled victim when she had lived there years before. Continue Reading →

Is the Guilty Man Among Those Held?

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Is the Guilty Man Among Those Held

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

Atlanta Georgian

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

Is the murderer of Mary Phagan among the four men who are being held at police headquarters, or is he still at large, either among those still unsuspected or among those who have been severely quizzed by the officers?

The men still in custody are:

1—Newt Lee, negro night watchman, who is thought to know much more about the crime than he has told, but who has not been regarded as the perpetrator;

2—Arthur Mullinax, former street car conductor, for whom a strong alibi has been established, and from whom suspicion is shifting; Continue Reading →

Negro Watchman is Accused by Slain Girl’s Stepfather

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Negro Watchman is Accused by Slain Girl's StepfatherAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

That Mary Phagan never left the factory after she entered it at 12:15 o’clock Saturday, the day of her murder, and that she was killed and her body dragged into the basement by the negro night watchman, Newt Lee, now in jail, is the firm belief of the child’s stepfather, W. J. Coleman, and other members of her family.

As for Arthur Mullinax, former street car conductor, held on suspicion, Mr. Coleman told a Georgian reporter he thought him innocent of the crime. He was also very doubtful if J. M. Gant [sic], ex-bookkeeper for the pencil factory, where the girl worked, had anything to do with her murder or knew anything about it.

“If the negro watchman did not kill the child, how would it have been impossible for him to hear her screams going on in the building?” he asked.  “A livery stable man next door heard them, and it would have been much easier for the watchman to. If the black did not do it himself, then he must have known something about it, and who the person was who did it.” Continue Reading →

Who Saw Pretty Mary Phagan After 12 O’Clock on Saturday?

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Who Saw Pretty Mary Phagan on Saturday

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

Atlanta Constitution

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

A remarkable fact in connection with the murder of Mary Phagan is that no one has thus far come forward stating they saw her after she drew her pay at the National Pencil factory shortly after 12 o’clock.

Several persons have stated that they “believed” they saw her or that they “saw a girl answering her description,” but positive statements are lacking.

The Atlanta detective department is particularly anxious to trace every movement of the girl from the time she left the factory, and is particularly desirous of obtaining the names of all who saw Mary Phagan after 12 o’clock Saturday.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, April 29th 1913, “Who Saw Pretty Mary Phagan After 12 O’Clock on Saturday?” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

‘I Feel as Though I Could Die,’ Sobs Mary Phagan’s Grief-Stricken Sister

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'I Feel as Though I Could Die,' Sobs Mary Phagan's

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

Atlanta Georgian

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

Among all the hearts that are bowed down in sorrow over the murder of Mary Phagan, the 14-year-old factory child found dead in the National Pencil factory Saturday, there is none who feels the suffering and the anguish of the separation so keenly as her sister, Ollie, 18 years old, her companion since childhood.

For with her it is the suffering of youth, when the rose-veil of life has been lifted to show its tragic and terrible side in all its fullness for the first time. And it is all the more pitiful for her because it is the kind of suffering that brings to one that sense of despair and a later sadness that makes the whole world seem never quite the same again, no matter what happens. Something of its sweetness and joy has gone out to stay.

“Oh, I am so lonely without her,” the young girl told a Georgian reporter as the tears fell down her face unheeded. She was at her little home on Lindsay Street. “Mary and I were always together and we always told each other everything. We slept in the same bed at night; we had ever since we were little bit o’ kids; and we always talked after the lights went out. There wasn’t a thing that Mary wouldn’t tell me, and I would always advise her and tell her what I thought was right if little questions would come up between us. She was always such a good little thing, nobody could help loving her!” Continue Reading →

$1,000 Reward

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Thousand Dollar Reward

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

Atlanta Constitution

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

The assault and murder of 14-year-old Mary Phagan comprise the most revolting crime in the history of Atlanta Homicide is bad enough. Criminal assault upon woman is worse. When a mere child, a little girl in knee dresses is the victim of both there are added elements of horror and degeneracy that defy the written word.

This outrage with all its gruesome and pitiful settings occurred in the very heart of Atlanta. It was committed by some human beast with more than jungle cruelty and less than jungle mercy.

The detective force and the entire police authority of Atlanta are on probation in the detection and arrest of this criminal with proof. To justify the confidence that is placed in them and the relation they are assumed to hold toward law and order they must locate this arch-murderer. Continue Reading →

Was Victim of Murder Lured Off on Joy Ride Before She Met Death?

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Was Victim of Murder Lured Off on Joy Ride Before She

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

Atlanta Constitution

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

Evidence obtained by Detectives Black and Rosser Monday afternoon has led the detective department to suspect that little Mary Phagan was lured away by her murderer Saturday afternoon by the pleasures of a joy ride during which she was drugged or made drunk with whisky.

This new aspect of the case came from R. B. Pyron, telegraph operator at the signal tower on the Central of Georgia railroad at the Whitehall street crossing.

Pyron told the detectives Monday afternoon that about 10 o’clock Saturday night he was standing at the entrance to the signal tower when an automobile came from the direction of West End and stopped on Whitehall street just after it had crossed the railroad. Continue Reading →

“Every Woman and Girl Should See Body of Victim and Learn Perils”

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Every Woman and Girl Should See Body of Victim and Learn Perils

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

Atlanta Constitution

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

A middle-aged woman, with signs of care and sorrow stamped on her features, pushed through the mob of people which crowded around the entrance to the Bloomfield undertaking establishment in which lay the body of Mary Phagan.

She made her way determinedly, shoving and pushing. Reaching the doorway she was stopped from entering by Policeman Tribble who stood on guard.

“You can’t go in, ma’am. Nobody’s allowed to see the body.”

“What?” she exclaimed. “Not letting anybody see her?”

She stepped back as if aghast. For a moment she hesitated, apparently undecided whether to say something further in her attempt to gain entrance or to leave the place. The huge crowd pushed closer, breathless, expectant. Continue Reading →

Girl to Be Buried in Marietta To-morrow

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Girl to Be Buried To-morrowAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Monday, April 28th, 1913

Stepfather and Sister to Accompany Body, But Mother May Not Be Able to Go.

The body of murdered Mary Phagan, which has been at the Bloomfield morgue since she was found strangled to death Sunday morning, will be taken to Marietta to-morrow morning at 8:35 o’clock, over the W. & A. Railroad. At noon the funeral services will be held and the body of the child will be laid to rest in the family lot in the Marietta Cemetary.

W. J. Coleman, the girl’s stepfather, and her sister, Miss Ollie Phagan, will accompany the body. The mother of slain child will go also if her health is such that she can make the trip in safety. She has been prostrated since her daughter’s terrible death, and it is hardly probable that physicians will allow her to attend the funeral.

Dr. J. W. Hurt performed an autopsy on the body late this afternoon but refused to make public the result of the examination until the Coroner’s jury meets Wednesday morning.

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, April 28th 1913, “Girl to Be Buried in Marietta To-morrow,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Look for Negro to Break Down

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Look For Negro to Break DownAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Monday, April 28th, 1913

Newt Lee, the negro-night-watchman arrested in connection with the Phagan murder, practically admitted to Detective John Black this afternoon that he knows something of the circumstances surrounding the death of the little girl. The police are confident that Lee will tell all he knows before 6 o’clock.

Lee’s admission came after he had been “sweated” for two hours by a corps of officers under the direction of Detective John Black, and was wrung from him by a trap which Black set and into which the negro walked. Black said:

“Now, Lee, I know that you are innocent and didn’t murder the girl, but you know all about it and you know who committed the crime.”

Maintained He Told Truth.

Black’s statement was in the form of a question and was shot at the negro after he had sat quiet under the scrutiny of a dozen pairs of eyes. As Black leaned forward after asking the question Lee started nervously and said:

“Yes, that’s the God’s truth, boss!” Continue Reading →

City Chemist Tests Stains For Blood

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City Chemist Tests Stains for BloodAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Monday, April 28th, 1913

Pieces of wood, the stains on which are believed to be those of the blood of murdered Mary Phagan, are undergoing a chemical examination this afternoon by the city chemist.

The discovery of white powder on the factory floor strengthened the belief that a frantic effort had been made to erase the evidences of the crime. The powder resembled very much cleaning preparations that are used.

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, April 28th 1913, “City Chemist Test Stains for Blood,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Mullinax Held in Phagan Case

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Mullinax Held in Phagan Case

National Pencil Co. Building at 37-39 S. Forsyth St. in which the Phagan girl was slain [The young girl was discovered by the night watchman, who at first thought the body was there as a practical joke, until he realized it was a dead girl. She was so covered with soot and dirt, the policemen couldn’t determine whether she was White or not at first glance — Ed.]

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

Atlanta Constitution

Monday, April 28th, 1913

Former Street Car Conductor Arrested as He Leaves the Home of His Sweetheart on Bellwood Avenue.

As he was leaving the home of his sweetheart, Miss Pearl Robertson [sic], on Bellwood avenue, early last night, Arthur Mullinax, a strikingly handsome youth, was arrested by Detective Rosser and carried to police headquarters. He is being detained under suspicion of having been implicated in the slaying of Mary Phagan.

E. R. Sentell, a resident of 82 Davis street, came to the office of Detective Chief Lanford Sunday afternoon and was closeted with that official for considerable while. When he left the office it was learned that he had told the chief he had seen Mullinax and the dead girl together shortly after midnight Sunday.

Sentells story, according to the detectives, was that as he was walking along Forsyth street about 12:30 o’clock Sunday morning, he encountered Mullinax and Miss Phagan walking slowly across Hunter street in the direction of the pencil factory in which she was killed. He recognized both, he said, as they crossed under the street lamps.

Mullinax Given Third Degree.

Chief Lanford also declares that he has other information to the effect that Mullinax was seen with Miss Phagan in the vicinity of the National factory near midnight. Mullinax was brought immediately to headquarters, and at 9 o’clock was subjected to a rigid third degree in the office of Chief Lanford. Continue Reading →

Incoherent Notes Add to Mystery in Strangling Case

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Incoherent Notes Add to Mystery in Strangling CaseAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Monday, April 28th, 1913

Two mysterious notes—incoherent, misspelled and unintelligible—were found in the cellar of death;

Were they written by the girl as she lay in delirium just before the end came, or

Were they written by her slayer to throw the police off the track and turn suspicion towards a negro?

Here they are:

“He said he wood love me laid down like the night witch did it but that long tall black negro did by his sleb.”

“mama that negro hired down here did this I went to get water and he pushed me down this hole a long tall negro black that has it woke long lean tall negro I write while play with me.”

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, April 28th 1913, “Incoherent Notes Add to Mystery in Strangling Case,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Body Dragged by Deadly Cord After Terrific Fight

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Body Dragged by Deadly Cord After Terrific FightAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Monday, April 28th, 1913

Stretched full length, face downward on the floor of the basement at the rear of the plant, the body was found. A length of heavy cord or wrapping twine, which had been used by the slayer to strangle the child after he had beaten her to insensibility, was looped around the neck, and a clumsy bandage of cloth, torn from her petticoat, as if to conceal the horrible method of murder swathed the face.

The stray end of the cord lay along the child’s back between her two heavy braids of dark red hair as if it had been arranged that way deliberately.

No marks appeared to indicate that death came by any other means than strangulation, save a four-inch clean cut on the back of the head on the left side—a serious scalp wound—and a few bruises on the forehead and cheeks, on the left arm at the elbow and on the left leg just below the knee.

Body Dragged.

The neck was cut and bruised horribly by the contraction of the heavy strangling cord and the marks on the face indicated that the slayer had dragged the body back and forth across the basement floor to complete his work of garroling. Continue Reading →

Girl’s Grandfather Vows Vengeance

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Girl's Grandfather Vows Vengeance

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

Atlanta Georgian

Monday, April 28th, 1913

Standing with bared head in the doorway of his Marietta home, with tears falling unheeded down his furrowed cheeks, W. J. Phagan cried to heaven for vengeance for the murder of his granddaughter, fourteen-year-old Mary Phagan, and vowed that he would not rest until the murderer had been brought to justice.

In a silence unbroken save by the sound of his own sobs and the noise of the gently falling rain, the old man lifted his quavering voice in a passionate plea for the life of the wretch who had lured the little girl into the darkness of a deserted building and strangled her to death. It was an infinite grief—the grief of an old and broken man—that Mr. Phagan expressed when, with hands outspread imploringly, he invoked divine aid in bringing the murderer of the child to justice.

“By the power of the living God,” prayed the old man, his voice rising high and clear above the patter of the rain and the roar of a passing train, “I hope the murderer will be dealt with as he dealt with that innocent child. I hope his heart is torn with remorse in the measure that his victim suffered pain and shame; that he suffers as we who loved the child are suffering. No punishment is too great for the brute who foully murdered the sweetest and purest thing on earth—a young girl. Hanging cannot atone for the crime he has committed and the suffering he has caused.”

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, April 28th 1913, “Girl’s Grandfather Vows Vengeance,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Pinkertons Take Up Hunt for Slayer

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Pinkertons Take Up Hunt for SlayerAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Monday, April 28th, 1913

Investigate Story of Wife of Employee That She Saw Strange Negro Around Factory.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency was brought into the Phagan murder mystery this afternoon when Leo Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil Company’s factory, called upon the local representatives and engaged their services.

The operatives went to work at once, following out clews already obtained and developing new ones. Their attention was called to the story of Mrs. Arthur White, wife of one of the employees of the factory, who went to the factory to see her husband Saturday. She noticed a strange negro hanging about the elevator and remarked about the circumstance to her husband later.

When she heard of the murder of the Phagan girl she recalled seeing the negro loafing about the building. The man she saw was tall and thin, answering the description given in the incoherent notes that were found by the body of the dead girl.

Mrs. White will be taken to the station to look at Geron Bailey, the negro elevator man and fireman, who is being held in connection with the case.

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, April 28th 1913, “Pinkertons Take Up Hunt for Slayer,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

12-Year-Old Girl Sobs Her Love for Slain Child

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12-Year-Old Girl SobsAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Monday, April 28th, 1913

“I’d help lynch the man that killed poor Mary. If they’d let me, I’d like to hold the rope that choked him to death. That’s all he deserves. I was playing with Mary only a few days ago. She was my playmate nearly every day. But when I saw her dead body I wouldn’t have known her, her face was so bruised and out and swollen. It was horrible. I hope they catch the man that did it.”—VERA EPPS, twelve-year-old chum of Mary Phagan.

Vera Epps clenched her little hands and anger blazed through the tears in her eyes when she told to-day in her childish fury of the vengeance she would like to wreak upon the human beast that slew her playmate and chum, the murdered Mary Phagan.

She was at her home, 246 Fox Street, which is only a short distance from the Phagan home, the backyards of the two houses adjoining. Her eyes were still wet with weeping over the fate of her little chum and she was a-tremble with the horror of it. Her youthful knowledge could hardly comprehend it all. She only knew that a fearful crime had been committed; that her innocent playmate had been beaten and killed and that some man had been guilty of the deed. And her young heart cried for retribution.

“Oh, I just wish I might help lynch him,” she exclaimed. “I would be glad if I might only hold the rope. It’s all that he deserves.”

Then her youthful philosophy was evident when she said:

“It’s a heap worse for a white man to be guilty of such a terrible deed.” Continue Reading →

Neighbors of Slain Girl Cry for Vengeance

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Neighbors of Slain Girl Cry For VengeanceAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Monday, April 28th, 1913

Slaying of Mary Phagan Arouses Friends of Family to Threats of Violence.

“I wouldn’t have liked to be held responsible for the fate of the murderer of little Mary Phagan if the men in this neighborhood had got hold of him last night,” was the statement to-day of George W. Epps, 246 Fox Street, whose home adjoins that of Mrs. Coleman, mother of the slain girl.

By to-day the first hot wave of indignation that cried for the blood of the criminal had had time to subside, but the feeling still ran high in the neighborhood of the Coleman home.

The murder was the sole topic of conversation. Men who knew the family and others who had seen Mary go to her work in the morning congregated in excited groups on the street corners. At first they were not willing that the law should take its course. They feared that the murderer, if he were caught, might in some way escape the consequences of his crime. Continue Reading →

Announcement: Original 1913 Newspaper Transcriptions of Mary Phagan Murder Exclusive to LeoFrank.org! (now LeoFrank.info)

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EXCLUSIVE to LeoFrank.org [url now changed to Leofrank.info], original and careful transcriptions of articles from the three major Atlanta newspapers in 1913, concerning the murder case of Mary Phagan, will be appearing periodically on this website. Thanks to complete transcription and hand re-typing, readers can now peruse and search the newspapers of the day (Atlanta Georgian, Atlanta Journal and Atlanta Constitution) in improved clarity and from home, as well as in a more consolidated format. In the past, low quality PDF scans had to be read in their entirety to locate a single fact or word of interest. Before the PDFs, researchers would have to travel to a distant research library to examine the fragile originals. In addition to the text, every relevant photograph is included.

From the front page headlines two days after the murder, the suspicion and arrest of Leo Frank, the coroner’s inquest questions-and-answers sessions to the trial jury’s verdict, now, for the first time, the newspaper coverage of the entire case is readily available for researchers and the public to access at their convenience!

New Audio Book: The Murder of Little Mary Phagan

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A NEW authorized audio book version of The Murder of Little Mary Phagan by Mary Phagan Kean has just been recorded for The American Mercury. The Leo Frank Case Research Library is proud to offer it to our readers on this, the 103rd anniversary of the tragic death of Mary Phagan.

You can download the audio book, free of charge, below.

The Murder of Little Mary Phagan is an exceptionally insightful semi-autobiographical book, detailing a fascinating exploration of one of the most sensational criminal cases of all time. What makes this book so intriguing is it provides an intimate view of the Frank-Phagan case from the adult grandniece of the teenage victim — little Mary Anne Phagan, the tragic child laborer who was murdered on April 26, 1913, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Continue Reading →