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

Atlanta Journal

Thursday, May 22^nd, 1913

Names of Leo M. Frank and the Negro, Newt Lee, to Be Presented by State as the Accused

DORSEY TO CONCENTRATE EFFORT AGAINST FORMER

Improbable That Evidence Favorable to Mr. Frank Will Be Attempted—Experts Ready on Various Phases

The Phagan investigation will go to the grand jury on Friday and the state will use every effort to introduce sufficient evidence against the two suspects ordered held by the coroner’s jury to secure true bills.

Solicitor General Dorsey announced late Thursday that there had been no development which would change his plan to present the case to the twenty-three grand jurors on Friday. The names of both Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil factory, and Newt Lee, negro nightwatchman, will be presented the jury, but it is said that the state will concentrate its evidence in an effort to secure a true bill against the factory superintendent.

WILL WITHHOLD EVIDENCE.

As to whether his expert testimony by physicians and by finger print, handwriting and blood specialists would be introduced before the grand jury, Mr. Dorsey would make no statement.

It is said, however, that the state will withhold all evidence possible without jeopardizing its chances of securing a true bill.

The grand jury session to take up the famous case has been called for 10 o’clock Friday morning, and a small army of deputy sheriffs and attaches of the solicitor’s office will be used Thursday in subpenaing [sic] the numerous witnesses in the case.

Considerable of the irrelevant testimony given at the coroner’s inquest will be eliminated at the grand jury hearing, as Solicitor Dorsey is very familiar with the testimony of practically every witness, and only the necessary questions will be asked.

Despite the familiarity of the officials with the case, it is very probable, however, that the hearing will consume both Friday and Saturday and possibly it will be adjourned into next week.

EVIDENCE FOR ACCUSED.

The law on the question of admitting testimony in favor of the defense or accused, should the grand jury desire it, is very hazy, but it is certain that the efforts of any of the jurors or attorneys for Mr. Frank to bring in any evidence except that of the state, will be combated.

The supreme court is quoted as holding that even if the solicitor is willing, no evidence for the defense can be introduced before the grand jury, but the decisions referred to say nothing about the admission of special testimony on the request of the jury.

However, it is considered improbable that any effort will be made to introduce testimony favorable to Mr. Frank, as a grand jury indictment is simply an accusation.

It requires the vote of twelve grand jurors to secure a true bill. A session of the jury is legal if there are as many as eighteen of the twenty-three jurors present.

While it is said that the work of finger print experts is considered of great importance to the state, Solicitor Dorsey is authority for the statement that it has not changed the aspect of the state’s case.

EXPERTS TO TESIFL [sic]

Neither Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey nor P. A. Flak, the New York finger print expert, will discuss the result of their work on Wednesday, but it is said to be certain that either Mr. Flak or L. J. Fletcher, finger print experts at the Federal prison, will be one of the witnesses if either of the two men ordered held by the coroner’s jury is brought to trial on a charge of causing Mary Phagan’s death.

Mr. Flak was formerly in the British service in India, and has made a life study of finger print identification methods.

He declares that while here he will try to induce local bankers to adopt his finger print method of identification of depositors, which is now in use in a number of cities in the east. Flak gave some remarkable demonstrations Wednesday of his ability to identify finger prints.

MANY HANDLED THEM.

Friends of the expert say that had he been called into the case at the first he undoubtedly would have been able to eliminate any innocent suspect. Now, however, the notes found by Mary Phagan’s body are so old and have been handled by so many people that it is probably that any marks of the original writer have been eliminated. By sprinkling a certain powdered preparation over a sheet of paper, Flak raises the finger prints, which he readily identifies.

Flak came here at the request of C. Irvine Walker and Austin B. Higdon, of the Southeastern Banker, and probably will remain in the city for several days.

Interesting in connection with Mr. Flak’s work on the case is the statement of C. W. Tobie, the Burns’ investigator, that one of the features of the case which he has informed had been overlooked, was an effort to get the slayer’s finger and shoe prints.

NOTES IN A BANK NOW.

Of so much value are the two notes found by Mary Phagan’s body in the basement of the National Pencil factory considered to the state, that they now are in a safety deposit vault in a local bank, instead of reposing in the solicitor’s office, where “evidence” usually is placed.

Mr. Flak made a number of experiments at the bank with the notes, and later he went to the solicitor’s office, where he “raised” prints of the fingers of Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee, which he is said to have obtained at the tower.

The Burns’ investigator declares that he has found several leads which he hopes will prove of value. But he will make no direct statement about the reported finding of a new and important witness in the case.

COLONEL FELDER PLEASED.

Colonel Thomas B. Felder, who employed the Burns agency to help ferret out the mystery, declares that he is well satisfied with the progress Investigator Tobie has made.

“Of course,” says Mr. Felder, “Mr. Tobie has developed a number of matters of importance, which cannot be made public at this time. I have every confidence in his ability ultimately to solve the mystery.

“My confidence in him has been increased as the result of his few days’ work.”

Relative to the fund which Mr. Felder is raising by public subscription to pay the detectives, he says it is growing slowly.

“We have enough,” he says, “to keep Mr. Tobie on the job for some time, but if he doesn’t secure sufficient evidence to convict by the time William J. Burns returns from Europe, I hope the fund will be sufficiently increased to bring Burns himself here. Burns has never failed in a case where he took charge in person, and if the people want to see little Mary Phagan’s murderer punished, I urge that they send in their subscriptions to the fund.”

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Atlanta Journal, May 22nd 1913, “Phagan Case Will Go to Grand Jury at 10 A. M. Friday,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Georgian

Thursday, May 22^nd, 1913

Understood That Cases Will Be Brought Separately, With One Accused as Accomplice.

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey announced Thursday afternoon that he was prepared to go before the Grand Jury Friday morning with his strongest evidence in the case of Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee, held in connection with the murder of Mary Phagan.

Although Mr. Dorsey would not discuss the form in which the cases would be presented, it was reliably stated they would be heard separately and the charge against one would be that he was an accessory to the fact.

Neither of the defendants will go before the jury. Mr. Dorsey said that in the event any move was made to introduce evidence for the defense he was prepared to block it. He said he had looked up Supreme Court decisions on this question, because when the Grand Jury was asked to indict Dr. W. H. Gillem for beating W. H. Johnson the jury in his absence had allowed Dr. Gillem to come before it, which, he said, was contrary to all law.

Twelve to Govern Action.

The opinion of 12 of the 21 jurymen will govern the action of the body. There can be no minority, said the Solicitor. If 12 of the men indict or decline to indict, the other jurors have to sign the “true” or “no bill” with the 12. Eighteen of the 21 constitute a quorum.

The Solicitor said it would be impossible to present all the evidence in one day, and that it might be necessary to carry the investigation over into the next week. He said, however, that it was not improbable the strongest evidence he had would be presented the first day, and if the jury considered it sufficiently strong, it could return an indictment without hearing the other evidence.

Gets Finger Print Evidence.

He said for the last few days his case had been complete, with the exception of preparing the testimony accumulated and some later important facts brought out by finger-print and handwriting experts. Several witnesses, whose identity has been carefully guarded, would give evidence that no one outside of his office was aware of, said the Solicitor.

C. W. Tobie, of the Burns Agency, stated Thursday afternoon that he was making the most satisfactory progress. He said it was only a question of a few more days when he would have the case in a definite, tangible shape.

The Solicitor would not discuss the findings of P. A. Flak, the finger-print expert from New York, other than to say that nothing had developed from it that would make him contemplate a change in his plan to present the cases to the Grand Jury Friday.

[It was said Thursday that C. W. Tobie, chief criminal investigator for the Burns detective agency, may leave Atlanta on the trail of a new and important witness, whose identity he is carefully guarding.

The man is said to have been with the girl before she went to the pencil factory Memorial Day and to have left the city that day. The detective intimated that the man had not revealed himself because he did not care to be a witness.

It was reported Thursday that P. A. Flak, noted finger-print expert working for Solicitor Dorsey in the Phagan investigation, had found evidence of the greatest importance that would be submitted to the Grand Jury when it takes up the case Friday.

With the Solicitor and city detectives, the expert spent several hours Wednesday night minutely examining the clothing worn by the slain girl, the pad and pencil found in the basement and other articles that have been unearthed since the Solicitor took over the case. Several finger prints that had escaped observation were clearly brought out by the use of chemicals, it was said. — An excerpt from same article printed in the “Evening Edition,” but not in the “Final” — Ed.]

Burns Forces Augmented.

The Burns forces have been augmented by a finger-print and handwriting expert and another detective. The three were closeted with the negro, Newt Lee, for more than an hour Wednesday. Neither would discuss the interview.

L. J. Fletcher, Bertillon expert at the Federal prison, was drawn into the case by Solicitor Dorsey Wednesday.

Mr. Fletcher is a handwriting expert as well. He has been connected with the Government for several years and has made an intimate study of criminology. He worked with Mr. Dorsey’s expert, Flak, when he examined articles for finger prints at the Solicitor’s office Wednesday night.

Department and Pinkerton detectives are conducting a relentless search for the missing mesh bag Mary Phagan carried to the factory with her when she received her pay. If it is found they expect it to prove one of the most important bits of evidence for the State.

City detectives have been assigned the task of locating the young woman

100 Witnesses in Phagan Case Subpoenaed

Grand Jury to Get Much Fingerprint Evidence When Slaying Is Taken Up Friday.

Continued From Page 1.

referred to in Mrs. A. A. Smith’s letter to The Georgian. Mrs. Smith said she heard a young woman on Whitehall Street say she was with Mary Phagan at 4 o’clock Memorial Day afternoon.

Many Subpenas [sic] Served.

Deputies at the Solicitor’s office began Thursday morning serving the large batch of subpenas for witnesses in the Phagan case to appear before the Grand Jury Friday morning at 10 o’clock. More than 100 were issued.

The Solicitor would not say whether he would introduce all of them, but said he would have them in readiness. Several persons whose names have not appeared in connection with the case have been asked to testify.

It became known also that expert testimony on handwriting and finger prints would play an important part in the hearing by the Grand Jury. No less than three famous finger-print and handwriting experts have been called into the case by Mr. Dorsey, and the arrival on the scene Wednesday of the best finger-print expert with the Burns agency established beyond any doubt that “finger prints” and “handwriting” would be strong cards to be played by the State.

Tobie said Wednesday his actions have been misunderstood, and that criticism of his failure to work with the Atlanta detectives was due to a misapprehension. He explained his position in the following statement to The Georgian:

“When I came here, I started to work independently, without asking any information from Atlanta detectives. I have been criticised [sic], but I think the criticism was unjust. It was not egotism, but delicacy, that kept me from going to them.

“They had been working on the case over three weeks. Then I came. Now, if I had gone to them and said, ‘Gentleman, please give me all the information you got in your three weeks’ work,’ don’t you think that would require an unusual amount of nerve?”

Denies He Made Criticism.

“If I were working on a case, and after three weeks a detective from another place should come to me and ask for all my information, I would think he had lots of nerve. It was not egotism on my part—it simply required more nerve than I had.

“I also have been criticised for criticising [sic] the other men on the case. I have been reported as criticising them for not looking into the foot prints and finger prints immediately after the murder. But I did not make that criticism. I said they had overlooked two good clews if they had passed up the finger prints and thumb prints, but I did not say they had passed them up. I still say two good clews were overlooked, providing the thumb prints and finger prints were not traced, but, mind you, I do not say they were not taken up. The fact is, I don’t know to-day whether they were or not.”

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Atlanta Georgian, May 22nd 1913, “Grand Jury Won’t Hear Leo Frank or Lee,” 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

Thursday, May 22^nd, 1913

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

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

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

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

Finger Print Expert Engaged.

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

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

Headquarter’s detectives Wednesday put Gordon Bailey, the negro eleveator boy of the pencil factory, through a grueling interrogation. He has been under arrest for three weeks, but Wednesday’s questioning was the most thorough examination to which he has yet been subjected. Nothing of significance was gained from him.

Believing that the missing mesh bag which Mary Phagan carried to the factory on the day of her disappearance holds a clue more important than any yet developed, Pinkerton men and police detectives are directing much of their efforts to the search for the lost bag. Harry Scott, assistant superintendent of the Atlanta branch of Pinkertons, said Wednesday that he predicted the unearthing of convincing evidence in the finding of the article.

Where is the Bag?

There whereabouts of the bag are as mysterious as any phase of the case. Every nook and corner of the factory building has been raked as though with a fine-tooth comb. The outside premises have been scoured, and the basement sawdust has been sifted. It has been advanced that it was burned in the cellar furnace.

Detectives also have been assigned to hunt the woman who is said by Mrs. A. A. Smith to have remarked on Whitehall street several days ago that she was with Mary Phagan at 4 o’clock on the afternoon of Memorial day. So far their efforts have been fruitless. Rumors come to police headquarters every day of the girl having been seen on the afternoon of her disappearance, but close investigation invariably proves them foundless.

Tobie After New Witness.

Chief C. W. Tobie, the William J. Burns agent, leaves Atlanta soon for a nearby city to find an intimate companion of Mary Phagan’s, who was with her a short time before her disappearance on Memorial day. This man, whose identity is kept secret, left the city on the day of the murder, and his whereabouts have been a mystery until he was located by the detective.

Tobie will not reveal the city in which he has located this new figure in the tragedy. He is presumed that he is in a south Georgia town, however. Neither will he tell his object in seeking an interview with him, other than that he was with the victim shortly before her death.

It is intimated by the detective, though, that the man has valuable testimony, and that it was because of a desire to refrain from talking that he disappeared. Even his immediate family, it is said, are not aware of his location.

The south’s most famous Bertillon expert, L. J. Fletcher, who also is an authority on handwriting, has been employed by Solicitor Dorsey. Fletcher is attached to the federal prison, and is in charge of the Bertillon measurement department. He has been connected in that capacity with the government for a number of years, and has made a life study of crime and criminals.

His work was begun Wednesday, when, with Expert Flak, who also has been retained by Dorsey, he and the solicitor visited the pencil factory to procure finger-print specimens, and the Tower, to get prints of the fingers of both suspects, Frank and Lee.

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Atlanta Constitution, May 22nd 1913, “Experts Are Here on Finger Prints,” 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

Wednesday, May 21^st, 1913

P. A. Flak, of New York, visits Scene of Crime and Also Takes Finger Prints of Men in the Tower

BURNS INVESTIGATOR INTERVIEWS NEWT LEE

He is Said to Be Convinced That Negro Is Innocent—Pinkertons Still Busy in Search for Additional Evidence

The employment by Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey of one of the best known finger print experts in the world on the Phagan mystery was Wednesday’s principal development in the sensational case.

P. A. Flak, of New York City, noted criminologist, and a recognized expert on finger prints, was brought to Atlanta by the “Southeastern Banker” and introduced to Mr. Dorsey.

The expert and the prosecuting officer spent the entire day Wednesday in an effort to find the murderer of Mary Phagan through finger prints.

Together they visited the scene of the crime, and also the jail, where they are said to have secured the finger prints of Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the pencil factory, and Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, the two men held by the coroner’s jury.

Finger prints, which may lead to the conviction of the murderer were found on the notes left beside the dead girl’s body, and they were closely examined by Mr. Flak and the solicitor general.

Mr. Flak recently attended a meeting of the Georgia Banker’s association at Macon and consented at the request of representatives of the Southeastern Banker to come here and look into the Phagan mystery.

Solicitor General Dorsey and the finger print expert spent practically the entire morning Wednesday together.

With the solicitor general, the city detectives and the Pinkertons practically ready for the grand jury hearing, which will commence on Friday morning, the latest addition to the ranks of the Phagan probers, C. W. Tobie, of the Burns agency, is delving into the past of Mary Phagan and the seemingly unimportant incidents in her life just before her murder.

Tobie is conducting a vigorous probe of the case, and Attorney Thomas B. Felder, who is responsible for the employment of the Burns people, is well pleased with the progress of his work up to this time.

SEES NEWT LEE.

Mr. Tobie spent an hour interviewing Newt Lee, the negro suspect, at the Tower Tuesday, and according to Attorney Felder, the detective developed an important fact from the negro, which was not brought out when Lee was on the stand at the coroner’s inquest.

As the result of his interview with Lee and subsequent developments, it is authoritatively reported that the Burns man is convinced that Lee is eliminated from the case as a suspect, and Mr. Tobie is of the opinion that the negro made a truthful statement to him, telling all he knows of the tragedy.

According to Mr. Felder, the Burns interrogator will be able to establish beyond any doubt the theory that Mary Phagan met her death between noon and 1 o’clock on the Saturday of April 26.

The Burns man, according to Mr. Felder, has dev[e]loped several additional facts of importance in the case.

“There is no doubt about it, Mr. Tobie will deliver the goods,” said Mr. Felder.

Gordon Bailey, the negro elevator boy, who has been held at police headquarters since a few days after the tragedy at the National Pencil factory, where he worked, was “sweated” again by the detectives at headquarters Wednesday morning.

Like James Connolly [sic], the negro sweeper, Bailey has been held since the crime largely because it was thought that a continued incarceration might result in the negro giving information, which the detectives think he has probably withheld. The detectives, who examined the negro Wednesday, made no comment, but it is authoritatively stated that he threw no light on the tragedy.

Rumors that Mary Phagan was seen in the afternoon of April 26 have again occupied the attention of the city detectives during the past twenty-four hours. Mrs. A. A. Smith, of 198 West Peachtree street, declares that on May 5, she heard three women discussing the tragedy on Whitehall street, and one of them stated positively that she saw Mary Phagan about 4 o’clock on Memorial day.

The revival of the rumors of the “red dress girl” about Kennesaw have resulted in the detectives again going over the territory between Atlanta and that place in hopes of finding a woman, who is supposed to have gone to the pencil factory with Mary Phagan.

PINKERTONS BUSY

It was rumored Wednesday that there had been important developments in the Pinkerton investigation of the tragedy. When asked about this rumor, officials of the Pinkerton agency here, who have been actively in charge of the probe, stated that there are no developments of unusual importance.

“We have,” said one of the officials, “found evidence recently which we consider material to the case, but its nature will not be divulged as it is against the policy of Pinkertons to try their cases in the newspapers.”

The Pinkerton men have not dropped the probe by any means and several men are devoting practically their entire time to the Phagan.

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Atlanta Journal, May 21st 1913, “Finger Print Expert Works With Dorsey to Solve Mystery,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)