Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.
Atlanta Constitution
Saturday, May 17th, 1913
Noose Found Knotted Around Neck of Mary Phagan Being Carefully Examined by Officers.
BURNS RIGHT-HAND MAN NOW PROBING MYSTERY
Fund Started by The Constitution for Purpose of Bringing Noted Detective to Atlanta Has Reached $1,500.
In the noose found knotted around the throat of Mary Phagan’s lifeless body, Solicitor Dorsey and headquarters detectives aver they possess a valuable clue to the girl’s murderer.
It is being inspected by experts, who also are examining specimens of cord picked up here and there in the factory building in which the child was slain. Expecting to find a knot which compares with that which was used to strangle the victim, detectives are scouring every portion of the plant’s premises.
The knot in the wrapping cord is looped, sailor-fashion, in an inextricable knot. No novice, the sleuths say, could form it so well. When the body was discovered, the noose fitted so tightly around the throat that it had formed a purple trench-like scar in the flesh.
Knot Tied by Professional.
The solicitor and detectives hope to follow up the clue by comparing the death loop with specimens found in the pencil factory. But few amateurs, it is said, outside of professionals in stage craft and aboard ship, are expert enough to tie such an intricate knot as the one with which Mary Phagan was strangled. Continue Reading →