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

Atlanta Journal

Wednesday, May 7^th, 1913

BY KENNETH TODD.

HOUSTON, Tex., May 7.—Although young Paul P. Bowen, arrested in Houston Monday as a suspect in the Mary Phagan case, has been released by the chief of police, the release was ordered against the wishes of the chief of detectives and the latter has been summarily discharged for opposing his superior in spite of the telegram from Chief Beavers, of Atlanta, to Chief Davison, of the local department.

Bowen was released twenty-four hours after the message was received. Chief of Detectives Peyton stubbornly refused to let the youth go free, so Chief Davison procured the keys and acted as turnkey. He also discharged Peyton and started a row that has the police department up in the air. Fourteen members of the department were discharged. Claiming that the discharge of Bowen was actuated largely by spite and before a thorough investigation had been made local Pinkerton’s agents as well as private detectives are doing some work on their own accord.

The row between the chief of police and the chief of detectives was caused when the latter gave out the story to an afternoon paper without consulting the head of the department and mentioning his name.

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Atlanta Journal, May 7th 1913, “Fourteen Houston Policemen Fired on Bowen’s Account,” 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 7^th, 1913

Detectives Said to Attach Much Importance to Testimony That Two Girls Will Give When Inquest Resumes

INQUEST WILL BE ENDED THURSDAY, SAYS DONEHOO

Paul P. Bowen Has Been Released by Houston Officials—Chief Detective and 14 Policemen Are Discharged

Two new witnesses, whom the detectives have recently located, are expected to give testimony of importance at the final session of the Phagan inquest Thursday.

One of the witnesses is Miss Grace Hix, of 100 McDonough road, daughter of James E. Hix. Miss Hix worked at the same machine with Mary Phagan, but has not been to the factory since the latter was slain. Miss Hix was closeted for two hours with the detectives Tuesday evening, but it is not known just what her testimony will be. [Appears to be missing words in the printing—Ed.] day Mary Phagan was killed, but did not see her, according to a statement she made to a Journal reporter Wednesday afternoon at 2:45 o’clock.

“The last time I saw Mary Phagan was on the Monday before she was killed,” said Miss Hix. “That was the day she got layed off. I was uptown Saturday, the day she was killed, but I did not see her.”

The name of the other witness has not been learned. That witness, a young woman, who works at the factory will testify according to the same report, that on the Saturday that Mary Phagan met her death, she (the witness) went to the factory to get her own envelope. According to the report the young woman will testify that she went to Superintendent Frank’s office between 12:10 and 12:20 o’clock (the time Mary Phagan is supposed to have gone for her pay) and waited about five minutes.

TO FINISH INQUEST.

The coroner’s inquest will be concluded Thursday, according to Coroner Paul Donehoo. The inquest has been probably the most thorough and exhaustive ever conducted in Georgia, the jurors having spent many hours in listening to testimony in the case and now the coroner is determined that the inquest itself shall be concluded at Thursday’s session and the jurors relieved from further duty in the case.

It is probable that the body of little Mary Phagan interred at Marietta a week ago will be again exhumed before the final session of the jury. It is said that one important point has now not been fully covered by the examination and this will necessitate the lifting of Mary Phagan’s body from the grave a second time. Before any action is taken, however, the parents of the slain girl will be consulted. It is probable that Dr. J. W. Hurt, the country physician, and Dr. H. F. Harris, of the state board of health, will make the second examination.

It was reported that the principal reason for exhuming the body again is to get some of the hair from the murdered child’s head in order that it might be compared with the hair found in the metal room at the pencil factory. It is understood that the hair which was in possession of the detectives has been lost.

Officials will make no definite statement relative to the second examination of the girl’s body, but it was learned from the coroner that at noon Wednesday the physicians, who are to make the examination, had not started for Marietta. It is said to be practically certain, however, that the body will be exhumed before the convening of the final session of the inquest.

NO EVIDENCE AGAINST BOWEN.

A development of interest in the case as the release of Paul Peniston Bowen, the former Atlantian [sic], who was arrested in Houston, Tex., as a suspect in the Phagan case. The release of Bowen carries out the prediction made Tuesday afternoon by The Journal, when after a vigorous investigation The Journal was able to show that it was practically impossible for Bowen, who left here about nine months ago, to have been in Atlanta or Georgia at the time of the murder.

Young Bowen is well and favorably known in Atlanta, where he worked for several years and has many friends here, who have received letters from him recently. He comes originally from Newnan, where his family is prominent. Interesting in connection with Bowen’s release is the announcement of the summary removal from office of Chief of Detectives George Peyton, of Houston, who made the arrest. Chief of Police Ben S. Davison declares that Peyton exceeded his authority in taking young Bowen into custody. Chief Beavers has wired Houston that Bowen is not wanted by the Atlanta police.

INQUEST AT 9:30.

Interest in the Phagan investigation is again centered in the coroner’s inquest, which is scheduled to resume its probe into the mystery on Thursday morning at 9:30 o’clock.

Just what witnesses will go before the coroner’s jury is not known, as the actions of the officials have been shrouded in mystery since the active entrance of Solicitor Dorsey in the case. It is probable, however, that in addition to recalling Newt Lee to the stand, the jurors will hear the testimony of Dr. Hurt, of Dr. Harris, and of Dr. Claude Smith, the city bacteriologist, who has examined the bloodstains on the shirt found at Lee’s home, on the floor of the factory and on the garments of the murdered girl.

NEWT LEE TO TESTIFY.

The examination of Newt Lee before the jurors will be a vigorous probe, similar to the questioning Monday afternoon of L. M. Frank, and especial emphasis will be laid on the conversation the two men had some days ago in the negro’s cell.

It is not improbable that Mr. Frank himself will be recalled to the stand. Despite the fact that he gave testimony for three hours and a half, the stenographic record of his statement is being examined by the officials in order that they may bring him back if they are able to find any pertinent question that was not put to him during the three and one-half hours examination Monday.

Lemmie Quinn, foreman of the tipping department in which Mary Phagan worked, may be another witness before the inquest. Quinn’s corroboration of Frank’s statement that he (Quinn) came to the factory a few minutes after Mary Phagan got her pay envelope will, it is said, be attacked by the detectives.

Few other witnesses will be examined Thursday, it is said, although it is probable that the two girls who are said to have been paid shortly before Mary Phagan arrived at the factory, may be put on the stand.

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Atlanta Journal, May 7th 1913, “Two New Witnesses in Phagan Mystery to Testify Thursday,” 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

Wednesday, May 7^th, 1913

Detectives Figure Strangling Was a Typical Mediterranean Crime—Solicitor Dorsey Grills Watchman Lee in Effort to Get New Points.

A new and sensational interpretation was given the Phagan mystery Wednesday afternoon when it was revealed that Pinkerton detectives are trailing a Greek now missing who was employed in a restaurant near the National Pencil factory before the crime was committed.

The reasons that the city detectives give for the adoption of the new theory are:

The slaying of Mary Phagan was not a negro crime, as the only negro who has been suspected in the case, Newt Lee, would have fled from the scene.

The notes which were left with the evident intention of diverting suspicion from the actual criminal were too subtle for Lee to have framed.

Strangulation, the method by which Mary Phagan was killed, is not a negro method of killing.

But this method is typical of the Mediterranean countries.

Working along these new lines, the detectives are of the opinion that the crime was not committed inside the National Pencil Factory. They believe that the girl was attacked outside the factory and that her body was taken inside with the intention of hiding it ultimately in the furnace, although the body never reached there.

Girls Eat at Near-by Café.

It is not the supposition that it was the intention to burn it, as there were no fires under the boilers. The assailant only wanted to hide the body so that he might have time to make his escape.

Girls employed in the pencil factory are in the habit of getting many of their midday lunches at a little Greek restaurant near the factory building. It was the most natural thing to suppose that Mary Phagan, after getting her money Saturday afternoon, stopped in at the restaurant to get something to eat.

One of the important developments in the search for the slayer of Mary Phagan came Wednesday afternoon in the surprising information that the authorities ordered a second exhumation of the body to confirm the statement of an expert physician that the crime, which was taken for granted by all to have preceded the actual killing of the girl, was not accomplished.

One physician whose opinion has great weight in medical circles and who made a minute examination of the body, declared that he virtually was certain that the girl had not been outraged before she was killed and left in the basement of the National Pencil Factory.

Dr. J. W. Hurt, county physician, is understood to have said that he was not at all satisfied on this point.

The man under suspicion is said to have been employed at the restaurant. It is believed that Mary and the man became involved in a quarrel. The man was in love with Mary, the police argue, and in a rage of jealousy slew the girl, the killing probably taking place in an alleyway near the factory.

Took Body in Rear Door.

The theory holds that the man then gained entrance to the factory by the front door, went into the basement and forced the staple of the back door out. Then he went for the body of the girl, returning with it by the rear way.

Newt Lee’s testimony differed materially with that of the police in regard to the finding of the body. Lee said that he found it lying face up on the basement floor. The police declared that it was lying face downward, with the arms folded underneath.

This discrepancy is believed to be explained by the theory that as late as the hour of discovery the criminal was making efforts to hide the evidence of the crime and that he was interrupted when the alarm was given.

The police believe that the Greek still was in the basement when Lee made his gruesome discovery and that he was the one who disturbed the

NEW AND STARTLING TURN IN PHAGAN SLAYING MYSTERY

Continued From Page 1.

Position of the body before he made his escape out the rear door.

Trailed to Anniston.

The Pinnertons [sic] have trailed the Greek into Alabama and he is believed to be in Anniston, from where news of his arrest is expected hourly.

The detectives say that the new theory explains away all of the discrepancies which hitherto have puzzled those working on the case, except those of the hair found on one of the lathing machines on the second floor, where the struggle was supposed to have taken place. They are of the opinion, however, that too much weight may have been attached to these bits of evidence, and that the hair may have been that of some other girl and that the stains on the floor may not have been bloodstains.

It became evident that the State had taken up the trail of the Greek when Solicitor Dorsey, a Greek interpreter and a man said to be a Burns detective started out in an automobile Wednesday afternoon to gather evidence. The Solicitor would say nothing of the object of his trip, but in view of the most recent developments it immediately was surmised that the Solicitor had interested himself in the new phase of the case and was following down the clews on his own account.

The circumstances of the murder were such as to leave the killing without any understandable motive if this presupposed crime was not accomplished. For this reason the reports of the outrage were accepted by everyone as true, and the authorities themselves have been working on this theory.

Solicitor Would Clear Uncertainty.

If the examination on the second exhumation proves the contention of the expert physician, the detectives will have difficulty in fixing a motive for the murder.

Solicitor General Dorsey ordered that the body be exhumed a second time so that the opinion of the expert physician might be either positively established or disproved beyond a doubt. The conflicting theories which have arisen since the body was exhumed last Monday have cast a shadow of uncertainty over the investigation that the Solicitor was desirous of dispelling at once and for good.

The order for the second exhumation was given by Solicitor Dorsey, but it had not been made up to 2 o’clock on Wednesday.

Coroner Donehoo admitted that Dorsey’s order had been given, but said it had not been carried out. He would make no further statement.

The report published in an early edition of The Georgian that the body had been exhumed was made on statements by officials, and that it was for the purpose of making a microscopic examination of every wound on the body for finger prints and other clews.

It is undoubtedly the intention of the authorities to exhume the body again.

Dorsey Maintains Silence.

Very properly Solicitor Dorsey is not making public every move that the prosecution is engaged in, nor is he giving to the public such evidence as he is enabled to obtain.

It would seem probably that the exhumation will be made, if not on Wednesday, at least some other day soon; for the belief is growing that there still may be some clews that are worthy of further examination.

Parents Object to Exhumation.

Solicitor Dorsey instructed Coroner Donehoo to secure the permission of the girl’s parents before ordering the exhumation of the body, and Coroner Donehoo said Wednesday afternoon that the father of the dead girl, J. W. Coleman, was very much excited over the reports that the body had been exhumed Wednesday morning. The Coroner called on Mr. Coleman and assured him that the body had not been taken from its grave in Marietta.

Though none of the officials would make a statement to that effect, it is probable that the opposition which developed from the girl’s parents has caused the officials to abandon their plans to exhume the body, for the present, at least.

It was reported that the finger prints on the body were to be photographed and compared with the finger prints of persons under suspicion; which may, or may not have any basis in facts and might, or might not be of value. After the remains were discovered in the factory basement they were handled by several p[e]rsons—embalmers and others—and whether there are any finger prints now on the body is problematic.

It is said that a complete chart will be prepared by medical experts to be used at the trial, showing every wound and mark.

Notwithstanding these speculations as to the purpose of the exhumation, Solicitor Dorsey declared Wednesday forenoon that it was not for the purpose of obtaining a record of the fingerprints. One of the principal reasons for the action, he said, was to get a strand of the girl’s hair in order to compare it with the hair found on the lathing machine in the tipping department at the factory. It was at this point that the detectives discovered blood spots on the floor and other evidences of a struggle.

“I cannot talk in regard to the matter,” he said. “The body was exhumed, it is true, at my request. But to reveal further plans would be hurtful.”

Thinks She Didn’t Leave Factory.

The Solicitor is in entire accord with the theory that Mary Phagan never left the factory after she received her pay Saturday noon. He declared that if any search was being made for the man seen with a girl Saturday, April 26, by attaches of the Terminal Station, it was not being conducted under his direction.

The results of the chemical analysis in the laboratory of Dr. Harris in the State Capitol have not yet been made public. Dr. Harris would not admit Wednesday that traces of drugs had been found, bearing out the belief that the girl was drugged and rendered helpless before she was slain in the factory.

All of the remaining evidence in the case will be presented when the Coroner’s inquest resumes Thursday morning at 9:30 o’clock.

It is the purpose of Coroner Donehoo to limit testimony to the points that are regarded as essential, so that the hearing may be concluded by Thursday night.

Have Two Hundred Names.

The Coroner and the Solicitor General have the names of about 200 persons on whom they may call for testimony. These include girls and women employed at the pencil factory. It is unlikely, however, that more than a few of the girls will be placed on the witness stand, but will be held in readiness to testify as was the case last Monday afternoon when the roll-call room was filled with witnesses.

So far as the line of testimony can be anticipated from the information given out by the authorities, the most important will come from the physicians and chemists who have been at work on the mystery under the direction of Coroner Donehoo and Solicitor Dorsey.

Dr. H. F. Harris, director of the State Board of Health, will submit a report on his chemical analysis of the contents of Mary Phagan’s stomach. Dr. Harris also made a careful examination of the wounds and bruises on the body and will report on this to the jury.

Dr. J. W. Hurt, county physician, made the first examination of the girl’s body after it was found in the basement of the factory. He also was present when it was exhumed from its little grave in the Marietta cemetery and another examination made at the order of Solicitor General Dorsey. He will present the results of his observations to the jury some time during the hearing Thursday.

Dr. Smith to Be Quizzed.

Dr. Claude A. Smith, City Bacteriologist, has made a chemical examination of the bloodstains on a shirt found at Newt Lee’s home and of the pieces of wood chipped from the factory floor where the stains of blood were discovered, and will be questioned by Coroner Donehoo.

The recalling of Newt Lee also is regarded as an indication that the authorities expect the night watchman to tell something which he forgot or concealed in his previous examination.

The factory girls will tell of their acquaintance with Mary Phagan, of her companions and habits and of the conditions under which they have to work at the factory, so far as they have any relation to the mystery.

Bowen Released in Houston.

Accompanying mystifying new features of the hunt for the slayer was the news that Paul P. Bowen, held in Houston for the Atlanta authorities, had been released and relieved of all suspicion.

Bowen was employed with the Morrow Transfer Company in Atlanta as stenographer and shipping clerk, and later with the Southern Railway. He had many friends here and with them bore a good reputation.

His father and other relatives live in Newnan, Ga., and are among the best people of that part of the State. Chief of Police Davison, of Houston, was angered that his detective chief should have exceeded his authority in arresting Bowen, and promptly discharged him from authority.

By letters Bowen wrote from Texas and statements of friends it was proved conclusively that he could not have been connected with the Atlanta mystery and he was accordingly freed.

Dr. Claude A. Smith, city bacteriologist, said Wednesday that he was hurrying the examination of the blood stains on Newt Lee’s shirt and probably would submit a report to Coroner Donehoo late in the afternoon.

The shirt was found by detectives in a barrel in Lee’s home when a search was made a few days after the killing of the Phagan girl.

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Atlanta Georgian, May 7th 1913, “Employe of Lunch Stand Near Pencil Factory is Trailed to Alabama,” 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

Wednesday, May 7^th, 1913

Former Atlantan, Who Was Taken Into Custody in Houston, Texas, Early on Monday Night, Released After an Investigation by Chief of Police Department, Who Says He Is Convinced of His Innocence.

BOWEN WAS IN CHINERO ON DAY OF THE MURDER HE TELLS DETECTIVES

His Father, Cal Bowen, of Newnan, Ga., Received a Message Last Night From His Son, Declaring That He Had Been Fired — Bowen Is Well Connected in Georgia and His Friends Are Indignant Over His Arrest.

Paul P. Bowen, former Atlantan, who was arrested in Houston, Texas, Monday night on suspicion of being connected with the Phagan murder mystery, as told in The Constitution extra Tuesday morning, was released from custody last night, and declare guiltless by the police chief of that city.

George Peyton, chief of the detective force, who led the arresting party, has been discharged as a result of the arrest, on the ground that he “exceeded his authority” in taking Bowen into custody.

Until nine or ten months ago Paul Bowen lived in Atlanta, and his reputation in this city was of the best, employers and friends speaking a good word for him on Tuesday afternoon.

His father and many relatives live in Newnan, Ga., and are among the best people in that section of the state. Mr. Bowen late Tuesday night received a telegram from his son in Houston announcing that he had been given his freedom.

Bowen Freed; Arrester Fired.

Here is the story from The Constitution’s correspondent in Houston of the release of Bowen and of the discharge of George Peyton chief of detectives:

Houston, Texas, May 6.—(Special.)—Paul Peniston Bowen, a railroad clerk, formerly of Atlanta, Ga., who was arrested Monday night by Chief of Detectives George Peyton, Detective Hilton and Night Chief of Police Gordon Murphy, for the purpose of an investigation which the departmental officials thought would connect him with the murder of Mary Phagan, aged 14 years, in Atlanta, was released from custody late Tuesday afternoon by the order of Chief of Police Ben S. Davison.

Chief Peyton was discharged this afternoon as a result of the arrest.

Bowen’s arrest came after an investigation

[The rest of this article is on page two of the Constitution which is unavailable – Ed]

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Atlanta Constitution, May 7th 1913, “Detective Chief Fired for Arresting Bowen as a Phagan Suspect,” 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 7^th, 1913

P. P. Bowen, who was arrested here yesterday on suspicion in connection with an Atlanta case and who was released last night, made this statement today:

“My father is S. C. Bowen. He lives at Newnan, Ga. I told the detectives that they had made a mistake at the time they arrested me, and knew that they would soon find this to be so, if they investigated my references and letters. Of course, I was scared when they entered my room. I did meet them at the door with an open knife, and before I knew who they were I did say that if I had a gun they would not have come into my room. I meant it, too.”

Bowen gives his record since 1908 as follows:

“Left home in 1908 to work for a transfer and storage company in Atlanta; in 1910 worked for the Southern railroad; in 1912 went to the Rock Island railroad at Eldorado, Ark., as a master car builder’s clerk; in 1913 went to Tyler, Tex., as  private stenographer to H. D. Earl, division superintendent of the Cotton Belt railroad. Left the employ of Mr. Earl April 28, last, and came to Houston Sunday night.

“I obtained a position with the Southern Pacific railroad as a master car builder’s clerk soon after I arrived in Houston and was to have started to work Tuesday morning. I guess that job is a chance gone by now.”

The statement of Bowen was substantiated by the chief of police, and Bowen’s final words as he left the police station were:

“I wish that you would print my statement. I am not a scoundrel; I really have been done an injustice by this thing. I don’t blame the men so much—that is their business to arrest suspects—but I don’t think they have treated me exactly right.”

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Atlanta Journal, May 7th 1913, “Bowen Given Liberty, Makes Full Statement,” 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

Wednesday, May 7^th, 1913

Third Time Unfortunate Victim’s Remains Have Been Exhumed—Dorsey Says Officials Are Not Looking for Finger Prints, but Other Clews.

The body of Mary Phagan was exhumed early Wednesday for the second time in two days.

The unofficial explanation is that the exhumation is made for the purpose of making a microscopic and minute examination of every wound on the body for finger prints and other clews as well.

Solicitor Dorsey let it be known that the police are not working on the idea that the finger prints would be helpful in solving the mystery, if indeed there are any finger prints to be found, as the body has been embalmed and has been handled by many persons since it was first discovered in the basement of the pencil factory.

Nevertheless, it may be safely said that a microscopital [sic] examination will be made of every mark on the body.

It was reported before the departure was made for Marietta that a Bertillon expert had been engaged and that if any finger prints were found, photographs would be taken and the most careful measurements made for the purpose of comparison.

Will Compare Finger Marks.

With these records in their possession, the authorities will be able to compare them with the finger prints of Frank and Lee, as well as with those of any suspects that are taken later.

Notwithstanding these speculations as to the purpose of the exhumation, Solicitor Dorsey declared Wednesday forenoon that it was not for the purpose of obtaining a record of the fingerprints. One of the principal reasons for the action, he said, was to get a strand of the girl’s hair in order to compare it with the hair found on the lathing machine in the tipping department at the factory. It was at this point that the detectives discovered blood spots on the floor and other evidences of a struggle.

Solicitor Dorsey, on whose order the body was exhumed on both occasions, refused to go further into the reasons for his action.

“I cannot talk in regard to the matter,” he said, “The body was exhumed, it is true, at my request. But to reveal further plans would be hurtful.”

Thinks She Didn’t Leave Factory.

The Solicitor is in entire accord with theory that Mary Phagan never left the factory after she received her pay Saturday noon. He declared that if any search was being made for the man seen with a girl Saturday, April 26, by attaches of the Terminal station, it was not being conducted under his direction.

Dr. Harris will make a more thorough examination of the wounds of the girl than has been made previously. It is believed that this examination is being made to confirm a new theory that has been advanced either by Dr. Harris or the Solicitor General.

The results of the chemical analysis in the laboratory of Dr. Harris in the State Capitol have not yet been made public. Dr. Harris would not admit Wednesday that traces of drugs had been found, bearing out the belief that the girl was drugged and rendered helpless before she was slain in the factory.

Bowen Released in Houston.

Accompanying mystifying new features of the hunt for the slayer was the news that Paul P. Bowen, held in Houston for the Atlanta authorities, had been released and relieved of all suspicion.

Bowen was employed with the Morrow Transfer Company in Atlanta, as stenographer and shipping clerk, and later with the Southern Railway. He had many friends here and with them bore a good reputation.

His father and other relatives live

Finger-Prints Clew Sought in Phagan Case

Continued From Page 1.

in Newnan, Ga., and are among the best people of that part of the State. Chief of Police Davison, of Houston, was angered that his detective chief should have exceeded his authority in arresting Bowen, and promptly discharged him from authority.

By letters Bowen wrote from Texas and statements of friends it was proved conclusively that he could not have been connected with the Atlanta mystery and he was accordingly freed.

At the same time a search was begun for the strange man who had a part in a sensational scene at the Terminal station the afternoon of the tragedy, when a girl strongly resembling Mary Phagan is said to have protested weepingly against the man carrying out his intention of boarding a train for the North.

The new evidence gathered by the Solicitor General and his aides Tuesday and Wednesday will be presented in the most part to the Coroner’s Jury when it resumes its sessions Thursday morning at 9:30 o’clock.

Newt Lee probably will be called back to the stand, and a number of employees of the pencil factory will be asked to tell of the conditions under which they work and of what they know of Mary Phagan.

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Atlanta Georgian, May 7th 1913, “Phagan Girl’s Body Again Exhumed for Finger-Print Clews,” 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

Wednesday, May 7^th, 1913

Inquest, To Be Resumed Thursday, Will Bring Out Important Facts Not Yet Made Public—Medical Experts To Be Called by Coroner.

New mystery was added to the Mary Phagan case on Wednesday, when the authorities for some reason not yet disclosed, did not follow out the order given by Solicitor Dorsey for the exhumation of the remains.

It was said by Solicitor Dorsey that he had given this order in the hope that new clews might be discovered.

A difference of opinion as to the advisability of the exhumation evidently has arisen, but the officials concerned were reticent. Coroner Donehoo admitted that Dorsey’s order had been given, but said it had not been carried out. He would make no further statement.

The report published in an early edition of The Georgian that the body had been exhumed was made on statements by officials, and that it was for the purpose of making a microscopic examination of every wound on the body for finger prints and other clews.

It is undoubtedly the intention of the authorities to exhume the body again.

Dorsey Maintains Silence.

Very properly Solicitor Dorsey is not making public every move that the prosecution is engaged in, nor is he giving to the public such evidence as he is enabled to obtain.

It would seem probably that the exhumation will be made, if not on Wednesday, at least some other day soon; for the belief is growing that there still may be some clews that are worthy of further examination.

It was reported that the finger prints on the body were to be photographed and compared with the finger prints of persons under suspicion; which may, or may not have any basis in facts and might, or might not be of value. After the remains were discovered in the factory basement they were handled by several persons—embalmers and others—and whether there are any finger prints now on the body is problematic.

Chart May Be Made.

It is said, that a complete chart will be prepared by medical experts to be used at the trial, showing every wound and mark.

Notwithstanding these speculations as to the purpose of the exhumation, Solicitor Dorsey declared Wednesday forenoon that it was not for the purpose of obtaining a record of the fingerprints. One of the principal reasons for the action, he said, was to get a strand of the girl’s hair in order to compare it with the hair found on the lathing machine in the tipping department at the factory. It was at this point that the detectives discovered blood spots on the floor and other evidence of a struggle.

“I cannot talk in regard to the matter,” he said. “The body was exhumed, it is true, at my request. But to reveal further plans would be hurtful.”

Thinks She Didn’t Leave Factory.

The Solicitor is in entire accord with the theory that Mary Phagan never left the factory after she received her pay Saturday noon. He declared that if any search was being made for the man seen with a girl Saturday, April 26, by attaches of the Terminal Station, it was not being conducted under his direction.

The results of the chemical analysis in the laboratory of Dr. Harris in the State Capitol have not yet been made public. Dr. Harris would not admit Wednesday that traces of drugs had been found, bearing out the belief that the girl was drugged and rendered helpless before she was slain in the factory.

All of the remaining evidence in the case will be presented when the Coroner’s inquest resumes Thursday morning at 9:30 o’clock.

It is the purpose of Coroner Donehoo to limit testimony to the points that are regarded as essential, so that

DORSEY ORDERS BODY EXHUMED IN PHAGAN CASE

the hearing may be concluded by Thursday night.

Have Two Hundred Names.

The Coroner and the Solicitor General have the names of about 200 persons on whom they may call for testimony. These include girls and women employed at the pencil factory. It is unlikely, however, that more than a few of the girls will be placed on the witness stand, but will be held in readiness to testify as was the case last Monday afternoon when the roll call room was filled with witnesses.

So far as the line of testimony can be anticipated from the information given out by the authorities, the most important will come from the physicians and chemists who have been at work on the mystery under the direction of Coroner Donehoo and Solicitor Dorsey.

Dr. H. F. Harris, director of the State Board of Health, will submit a report on his chemical analysis of the contents of Mary Phagan’s stomach. Dr. Harris also made a careful examination of the wounds and bruises on the body and will report on this to the jury.

Dr. J. W. Hurt, county physician, made the first examination of the girl’s body after it was found in the basement of the factory. He also was present when it was exhumed from its little grave in the Marietta cemetery and another examination made at the order of Solicitor General Dorsey. He will present the results of his observations to the jury some time during the hearing Thursday.

Dr. Smith to Be Quizzed.

Dr. Claude A. Smith, City Bacteriologist, has made a chemical examination of the bloodstains on a shirt found at Newt Lee’s home and of the pieces of wood chipped from the factory floor where the stains of blood were discovered, and will be questioned by Coroner Donehoo.

The recalling of Newt Lee also is regarded as an indication that the authorities expect the night watchman to tell something which he forgot or concealed in his previous examination.

The factory girls will tell of their acquaintance with Mary Phagan, of her companions and habits and of the conditions under which they have to work at the factory, so far as they have any relation to the mystery.

Bowen Released in Houston.

Accompanying mystifying new features of the hunt for the slayer was the news that Paul P. Bowen, held in Houston for the Atlanta authorities, had been released and relieved of all suspicion.

Bowen was employed with the Morrow Transfer Company in Atlanta as stenographer and shipping clerk, and later with the Southern Railway. He had many friends here and with them a good reputation.

His father and other relatives live in Newman, Ga., and are among the best people of that part of the State. Chief of Police Davison, of Houston, was angered that his detective chief should have exceeded his authority in arresting Bowen, and promptly discharged him from authority.

By letters Bowen wrote from Texas and statements of friends it was proved conclusively that he could not have been connected with the Atlanta mystery and he was accordingly freed.

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Atlanta Georgian, May 7th 1913, “Solicitor Dorsey Orders Body Exhumed in the Hope of Getting New Evidence,” 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

Tuesday, May 6^th, 1913

Negative Alibi Seems Established for Young Man Held in Texas City as Suspected Murderer of Mary Phagan in Atlanta — Police There Say “Strong Evidence,” but Nothing Shows Young Man Was Around Here April 26

BROTHER, IN NEWNAN, SAYS PAUL HAS BEEN IN HOUSTON SIX WEEKS; OUT WEST SINCE OCTOBER

Two Friends, Young Men in Atlanta, Report Recent Letters From Him—Brother Has Had One—So Has Father—Detectives Say Quinn Changed His Story—Newt Lee Declares Murder Must Have Occurred During the Afternoon

A negative alibi established for Paul P. Bowen by several authorities, among whom are his brother and his father Newnan, seems to clear the young man arrested Monday night in Houston, Tex, from any suspicious connection with the murder of Mary Phagan in Atlanta on the night of April 26.

Strong evidence against the man whom they have arrested and are holding (at request of the Atlanta police) as a suspect, is reported by the police of Houston in telegrams to the Atlanta police. One dispatch says they found a photograph of Mary Phagan in the young man’s trunk. Another says they found there, too, a girl’s vest, with blood on it. Letters from Atlanta signed “Mary,” and others initialed “M. P.,” or “M. J. P.,” are described among other finds in the trunk. A woman’s shirt, “blood-stained and full of holes,” was found in the alley back of the hotel where Bowen had been stopping, just before he moved to the boarding house where the police arrested him. The suspicions of a woman whose room adjoined that of Bowen in the hotel, led the police to him. She saw him manifest emotion over the details of the Mary Phagan murder, the dispatches state, and heard him moan that he wished he hadn’t “done it,” and that if he had his life to live over he would not make the same mistake, or words to that effect.

LEFT HERE LAST FALL.

Yet there remains the fact that in no wa[y]s does The Journal’s searching and thorough investigation connect young Bowen with Atlanta or even with Georgia since he left here for Arkansas last October. Nor have the police and detectives found that vital connection. Friends and relatives of Bowen say that he has not been in Georgia, so far as they know, since last October. Charley Kimball, of the Southern master mechanic’s office at Inman Yards, reports receiving a letter from Bowen, dated at Houston, April 23. The young man’s father reports a postal card from him there recently. Paul’s brother says he received a letter from Paul about two weeks ago. No one who knows Bowen has seen him in Atlanta or Georgia recently, as far as appears; and he is reported to have been employed for the past six weeks as a secretary, traveling with the general manager of some railroad in Texas, living in Houston.

In short, the Houston end of the story tends to involve young Bowen, uon [sic] more or less authority, in the murder.

The Atlanta end of it absolves him of any connection with it.

SEEMS TO HAVE ALIBI.

Either Paul P. Bowen is suspected wrongfully in Houston, Tex., or the man under arrest there has assumed the name of Paul P. Bowen. It is, of course, entirely possible that Paul P. Bowen may have been in Georgia on April 26—but it does not seem probable, and the indications are that his alibi in Houston is as good as established.

The following investigation by The Journal and its correspondents in Houston seems to have revealed very pertinent fact about the life and movements of Paul P. Bowen, who was unknown publicly until Tuesday morning.

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Atlanta Journal, May 6th 1913, “Paul Bowen, Held in Houston, Known Here But Left Atlanta in October; Hasn’t Been Back,” 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

Tuesday, May 6^th, 1913

Paul P. Bowen, arrested in Houston, Texas, on suspicion of complicity in the murder of Mary Phagan, could not have been connected with the Atlanta mystery, according to members of his family here.

Albert Bowen, a brother, said Paul Bowen has been in the West since last August, when he went to Arkansas to work for the Rock Island Railraod. He has never been back to Georgia since, he declared, but has spent the time in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

On April 21, Albert Bowen declared, he received a letter from Paul written at Alto, Texas, April 17 and mailed at Tyler, Texas, April 18, in which he mentioned having been to Lufkin a few days before. Another letter, he said, was written from El Reno, Okla., April 4, and one was received just previous to that from Warren, Ark.

The Bowen family stands well here, the brother, Albert and father being connected with mercantile establishments here in responsible positions. Friends of the family declare their belief in Paul Bowen’s innocence.

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Atlanta Georgian, May 6th 1913, “Brother Declares Bowen Left Georgia in August,” 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

Tuesday, May 6^th, 1913

Atlanta Police Do Not Believe He is Implicated in Tragedy—Letters From Women and 50 Photographs of Girls Found in Prisoners Trunk.

The Atlanta police and State officials say they place little importance in the arrest of Paul P. Bowen, the former Atlanta youth who is being held by the Houston authorities.

In Bowen’s trunk was found a mass of clippings telling of the Phagan killing, and at least 50 photographs of girls and young women. Several times while he was being questioned, Bowen is said to have contradicted himself.

Bowen stoutly maintains his innocence. Relatives and friends of his in Atlanta say his arrest is preposterous.

Atlanta detectives have investigated thoroughly Bowen’s history in Atlanta and declared Tuesday afternoon that they have virtually established an alibi for him. Having satisfied themselves of the probability of Bowen’s innocence, they are continuing on their original line of investigation and have abandoned the theory that Bowen could have been involved.

The local authorities have asked, however, that Bowen be held until a more complete investigation can be made. They think he will be able to prove his innocence and say that they have letters in their possession which practically establish that Bowen could not have been in Atlanta on the date of the crime.

One letter, addressed to Charles Kimball, a clerk in the Southern Railway office, was postmarked April 23 at Lukin, Texas, and did not reach Atlanta until April 27, the day after the killing in the National Pencil Factory basement.

Another letter, which is in the possession of Solicitor Dorsey, was written by Bowen to an Atlanta friend and was mailed at Tyler, Texas, April 20 as Bowen was on his way to Texarkana, Ark. These letters lead the local authorities to believe that Bowen can not reasonably be supposed to have come the hundreds of miles just in time to commit the crime and then immediately jump a train to return Westward.

HOUSTON, TEXAS, May 6.—Paul P. Bowen, arrested because of the suspicion of the local authorities that he was connected with the murder of Mary Phagan in Atlanta, denied Tuesday all knowledge of the girl and the crime except as he read of it in the newspapers.

A score of clippings telling the story of the little girl’s death were found in the young man’s room. His only explanation was that Atlanta was his home town, and he was particularly interested in the crime because of that.

The police here regard as more significant than the clippings, the stories of Bowen’s actions in his room at the St. Jean Hotel, and later at a rooming house. Roomers in adjoining rooms are said to have been disturbed by his moans and mutterings and by his constant pacing of the floor.

“Why did I do it? Why did I do it?” he is declared to have repeated to himself incessantly. Complaint was first made to the hotel authorities and later the police were notified.

Bowen was arrested last night by Chief of Police Davison, Chief of Detectives Peyton and Detective Hilton at 1520 Texas Avenue.

“A night of terror,” as officers term it, led to the detention of Bowen.

Sunday night in room 214, at the St. Jean Hotel, the young man paced the floor and moaned. Persons in adjoining rooms were unable to sleep, and reported to the management that something was wrong in the room. An investigation disclosed Bowen poring over letters and newspaper accounts of the murder and crying aloud.

“Oh, why did I do it?” he is said to have cried.

“I would not have done it. I ought not to have done that. If I had it to do over I wouldn’t do it,” were repeatedly heard by those who listened and who frequently walked through the hall in an effort to ascertain some cause for the peculiar actions of the man.

Monday the young man was shadowed and the matter was reported to the detective department. About 5 o’clock he registered off and moved to Texas Avenue and Crawford Street. There he engaged a room for a week.

Man Held by Houston, Tex., Police as Phagan Suspect Denies Knowledge of Crime

Continued From Page 1.

Last night, shortly after midnight, two officers went to the place. Bowen answered a knock at his room door, and then straightened himself and looked directly at the officers.

Holds Knife in Hand.

“Who are you fellows and what do you want here?” he asked.

The officers answered that they wanted to talk to him and he then invited them into his room. He kept a distance from them, however, and held an open knife in his right hand. Bowen appeared nervous throughout the conversations of perhaps fifteen minutes, but replied to all queries promptly and to the point.

When one of them told him to “consider yourself under arrest” he coolly answered, “That’s all right, but you’ve got the wrong man.”

Bowen closed his knife and handed it to an officer and sat on the side of the bed. To one officer he pointed out his trunk and suitcase—a small affair in the nature of a travelling man’s grip. As the officers opened the trunk they lifted out clothes—some nice ones that indicated a well-dressed man—and these, with letters, postcards and pictures, were piled on the floor.

“If I had a gun you never would go through that trunk,” said Bowen. “The things in there are mine, and not yours. I don’t know anything about this affair and you’ll have to show me strong.”

Stoutly Denies Crime.

Officers talked to him for more than an hour at the police station, but Bowen stoutly denied any knowledge of the killing of the young girl. He continued to show nervousness, though, and frequently inquired of the detectives why he should be treated the way they were doing him.

“If I had the least suspicion that this would happen to me, I would not have been in Houston this long,” he said. “I would have left here Sunday night.”

Bowen was taken from the rooming house to the police station and was placed in a cell across the hall from the Chief of Detectives’ offices. He slept but little and did not undress to lie down. This morning he was at the cell door early and looked haggard.

Bowen complained of being hungry. He declared that he was tired—almost worn out. He walked the floor nervously, then sat down on the side of his cot. Next he stepped to the grating and inquired if he was going to be allowed to starve to death or would he be given some breakfast. About 9 o’clock he was taken into a private office with Chief of Detectives Peyton and Detective Andrew F. Shelly. He admitted that he lived in Atlanta and had come from that city to Houston, but stoutly denied that he even knew Mary Phagan.

Only Interested, He Says.

When shown the pictures in his trunk and grip, he pointed out a number of persons, including several young women, though he declared that none of them was “Mary Phagan or any of her kinfolk.”

Bowen Well Educated.

Bowen is 22 years of age and has light hair. He is well dressed and well educated. He has been a bookkeeper and stenographer, and claimed that he worked in Atlanta for the Morrow Transfer Company. He gave his home address as 108 Ivy Street.

He claimed this was his first visit to Houston. He declined to talk to officers or to tell anything about his kinspeople or any of his business connections except as given above.

Bowen is slight of build, perhaps 5 feet, 6 or 7 inches in height. He weighs about 125 pounds and appears brisk and energetic.

He admitted to officers that he had lived in Atlanta nearly all his life. He denied, however, that he knows anything about the National Pencil Factory, Leo Frank, the manager, or any persons connected with or employed in the factory.

He talked freely about some matters and evasively about others. Efforts to corner the young man in every instance proved futile.

Letter Signed “M. J. P.”

A hundred pictures in his trunk show auto rides and picnic parties, individual pictures and groups and couples. When shown them he merely laughed and made a jocular remark about some girl “being pretty.”

There are batches of letters and postcards.

The letters were nearly all from young women, some of them were endearing ones. A few were from young men friends.

Many of the letters are signed “Mary,” but none is signed “Mary Phagan.” The signature to one letter is merely the initials, “M. J. P.”

This is believed by the Houston police to have been written by the Phagan girl.

Woman’s Bloodstained Vest.

Hanging from the window of room 214 in the St. Jean Hotel was found a woman’s bloodstained undervest. It was of small size, as if for a girl from 14 to 16 years of age. The discovery of the undervest was made yesterday morning. A guest at the hotel saw it fluttering from the window and advised an attaché of the place. It was wrapped in a paper and sent to the police station.

It is believed that an effort was made to throw the vest out of the window and that it caught on the hedge. It was not seen there before Monday morning, and two guests at the hotel declared that it was not there Sunday night. The vest was bloodstained toward the top of the breast and about halfway down the front. The vest is being held in connection with other properties by the detectives.

Bowen told the officers again and again that he had never heard of the girl, but admitted that he knew the place where she had worked. Bowen failed to explain the newspaper clippings containing accounts of the murder. He was shown them and portions of them were read to him. He admitted that he is familiar with the story of the crime, though reading the papers, and said his interest was simply because Atlanta is his home.

Bowen came to Houston Sunday night, presumably from New Orleans, although this has not been determined, as the prisoner declined to talk about his arrival as freely as he did other matters. He went directly to the St. Jean Hotel and asked for a dollar room.

“Sorry, sir, but we haven’t got anything less than dollar-fifty,” said the clerk. Bowen turned and walked to the door with his grip in his hand. The clerk called him, but he did not heed it and started out. The clerk ran to the door and explained that he had just discovered a dollar room vacant. The young man returned and registered. On the book he wrote  “Paul P. Bowen, Atlanta, Ga.,” boldly. There was no effort to conceal his identity or the city from whence he came.

The young man went to his room and few minutes later went out for supper. He had registered at 7:45 o’clock. Before 9 o’clock he was in his room. He did not retire at that hour, though.

Opening his grip, it developed, Bowen read and reread some letters. Most of them were from young women.

He wept and then threw aside the missives. Picking from among the contents of the grip a number of newspaper clippings, he pored over them as if eager to get every word of every sentence. Then he moaned aloud: “Oh, if I hadn’t done that! What did I do it for?”

A youth named Paul A. Bowen lived at the Atlanta Y. M. C. A. until February of 1912, when he left for Houston, Texas, according to Secretary J. C. Bell, of the Atlanta association.

Mr. Bell said Bowen was an ideal young man and stood high in the estimation of the Y. M. C. A. workers of Atlanta. He was a clerk at the Inman Yards of the Southern Railway.

Defends Bowen.

Charles Kimball, a clerk in the master mechanic’s office at the Southern Railway shops and a close personal friend of Paul P. Bowen’s, said this morning, when seen by a Georgian reporter, that he did not believe his friend could be in any way implicated in the murder of little Mary Phagan.

“I have just come back from the detectives office, where I went to carry a letter which I received from Paul on Sunday morning, April 27,” he said. “There is nothing unusual about the letter. It is simply a personal letter about affairs in which we were both interested and my only idea of showing it to the detectives at all is that it bears a postmark which might serve to divert suspicion from him. The letter is dated and postmarked Lufkin, Texas, April 22. I have the letter to Detectives Black and Harry Scott.

“As for Bowen, personally, he had a great many friends here in Atlanta and I am sure that they do not take any stock in the theory that he had anything to do with the murder or was even in Atlanta at the time.

“He left here in the early part of last spring and went to El Dorado, Ark., where he was employed in the offices of the Rock Island lines as a clerk. He later became private secretary to the superintendent of the St. Louis and Southwestern line, and spent a great deal of his time traveling over the lines in the superintendent’s private car.

“I have been in correspondence with him almost continually since he left here and have received letters from him from a great many points out West.”

All the local authorities were inclined to belittle the importance of the Bowen arrest.

Innocent, Says Lanford.

Chief of Detectives Lanford declared his belief in the innocence of Paul Bowen Tuesday. He said that the detectives of his department had been tracing the movements of Bowen since he left Atlanta about a year ago after he had left the employ of the Morrow Transfer Company, of which he was secretary. In all this time, said the chief of detectives, they were unable to find that he had returned to Atlanta.

On the contrary, Bowen had written to friends in Atlanta from various points and had never suggested returning home.

“Bowen didn’t know the girl,” said the chief. “He didn’t know the girl’s family. It is preposterous to think that he would make a hurried and secret trip into the city from Lufkin, Texas, where he was heard from in a letter bearing the date of April 23, and then make his way back to Houston, where he was captured.

“Our disbelief in his guilt, however, does not mean that we are going to overlook any possibility that he might have been concerned. He is being held for us.”

Another Defends Him.

Clarence Duncan, a student at the Atlanta Dental College, and Bowen’s room mate at the Young Men’s Christian Association, declared Tuesday afternoon that Bowen had not been in Atlanta, to his knowledge, since last June.

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Atlanta Georgian, May 6th 1913, “Bowen Still Held by Houston Police in the Phagan Case,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)